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| ▲ This photo, provided by Hongcheon Cultural Foundation, shows the complete view of the Hongcheon River Winter Festival. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ In this file photo, a visitor is fishing trout at the indoor fishing site of the Hongcheon River Winter Festival. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ In this file photo, visitors are ice fishing at the Hongcheon River Winter Festival. (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) – The “Hongcheon River Winter Festival,” one of the major festivals held in Gangwon-do, will be held from Jan. 13 to Jan. 24 – for 12 days – at the riverside of the Hongcheon River located in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do.
The Festival, also known as the “Frozen Festival,” could not be held for 2 years in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic; the event also had to be delayed due to the abnormally high temperatures that continued in the winter season. The Festival will be returning after 3 years, for the 11th time, with the River’s fishing site frozen into ice more than 35 to 40 cm thick due to the recent subfreezing temperature.
As the Festival held in 2015 and 2018 both earned public interest with trouts fed with ginseng mixed feed, the 2023 Festival will also be held under the slogan of “Catch Hongcheon Ginseng Trout,” which would differentiate the event from other winter festivals held elsewhere.
According to the research conducted by a university’s industry-academic cooperation group late last year, the antioxidant effect of ginseng-fed trouts increased by more than 26% compared to that of ordinary trouts, proving the ingredient’s efficacy in making trouts taste even better.
The main program, “The Frozen Fishing Area,” will be opened in two different time slots – one in the morning and another in the afternoon – for safety reasons.
The morning slot will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by the afternoon slot which will be opened from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Trouts will be distributed in both slots to visitors who struggled to catch a trout during the program.
Alongside the fishing program, several other programs have been organized – indoor activities, such as feeding guinea pigs, making trout lanterns, and experiencing toy fishing, are also planned to be held at the riverside indoor center.
Performances by singers who were born in Hongcheon and several singing clubs, as well as impromptu singing contests, will be held on the stage at the indoor center every weekend and Lunar New Year holidays throughout the festival season.
The outdoor free ice playground will also be opened for visitors to enjoy ice sledding, curling, and ice hockey.
The Hongcheon Cultural Foundation, which was in charge of organizing the Festival, will also be distributing 5,000-won gift certificates to visitors who purchased tickets for activities other than the bare-handed fishing program for them to use at will at the Festival.
Jeong Myung-joon, the chairman of the Hongcheon Cultural Foundation, said, “Our ice fishing site could not properly operate for three whole years as an aftereffect of the COVID-19 pandemic and global warming; however, for this year, we have not yet found any potential safety program that may emerge due to the thickened ice in the cold,” adding, “We will make sure to organize the Festival's programs in a manner that would help revitalize the local economy.”
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
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