A winter holiday is about trying out activities on snow and ice, and creating warm memories. The best Ice Festival in Korea is the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival that will finally return in 2023 after a 2 year break. The festival usually sees more than 1 million visitors.
There’s plenty to do in what many people deem the Best Ice Festival in Korea. In fact, it’s not possible to feature all the activities here. This is because there are approximately 60 programs related to sports, games and cultural experiences!
Ice Sledding
Sledding is great fun and is suitable for beginners to snow sports, as there’s not much to do other than slide down a snowy slope! Although it’s easy, you’ll find it thrilling as the sled picks up speed down the angled hill.
Ice Sculpture Plaza Exploring
Over at the Ice Sculpture Square, admire life-sized replicas of famous Korean landmarks, sculptured entirely from ice. It’s said to be the largest indoor ice sculpture plaza in the world. In addition to that, try your hand at traditional Korean folk games and snap photos at the designated photo zones.
Ice Fishing
The main draw of the festival certainly has to be ice fishing. Fish for sancheoneo, a type of local trout, in the clear waters of Hwacheon Stream. There are three ways to fish for sancheoneo. You can either try fishing through a hole drilled into the ice, bait fishing, or if you’re game enough, with your bare hands.
This requires a high tolerance to the cold, as you’ll need to jump into the freezing waters to catch the trout with your hands. A set of T-shirt and shorts will be provided for you to change into.
As an international visitor, you can head to the special visitor zone, where it’s easier to catch fish. Each visitor gets to catch up to 3 sancheoneo.
Ice Sports
Try your hand at sports that are typically held on land, such as golf and soccer, in this ice festival. There’s also curling, which involves sliding heavy granite stones across an icy surface. If you’re not the sporty type, you can build snowmen or have a snowball fight with your friends.
Korean Delicacies
At the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, you can grill and eat the sancheoneo that you’ve caught on the spot! Don’t worry even if you don’t manage to catch any fish, as you can still purchase it there. Eating steaming hot fish and broth in the freezing cold will not only warm your body, but your mood as well.
Festival Details
Dates: 7 January 2023 (Sat) to 29 January 2023 (Sun)
Venue: Hwacheon Riverside, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do
