A 19-meter shrimp kimbap, kimjang and bossam: Mapo to become a “shrimp paradise” for three days

[Financial News] Ahead of kimjang season, Mapo’s signature autumn festival will offer visitors a chance to taste and buy salted shrimp from across the country in one place. This year, alongside expanding the number of salted-shrimp vendors, the festival has significantly increased hands-on programs featuring shrimp, including kimjang, making shrimp kimbap and a bossam feast.
Seoul’s Mapo District said on the 7th that it will hold the 19th Mapo Naru Salted Shrimp Festival at Peace Square in World Cup Park for three days, from the 16th to the 18th.
During the Joseon Dynasty, Mapo Naru was a transportation and logistics hub through which goods from across the country moved along the Han River. In particular, salt and salted shrimp brought up from the west coast were supplied to Hanyang via Mapo Naru. The district has revived this local history through an annual salted shrimp festival held ahead of kimjang season.
The festival has expanded its salted shrimp sales this year. It will operate 12 sales booths, four more than last year. Visitors can compare and buy varieties such as yukjeot, ojeot and chujeot, brought from major producing areas including Ganggyeong, Gwangcheon, Sinan, Buan and Sorae. Prices are expected to be set 10–15% below market rates.
Fourteen specialty-product markets will also open, featuring areas that have sister-city ties with Mapo District—including Gochang, Sinan, Yecheon, Namhae, Cheongyang and Ongjin—as well as local agricultural cooperatives.
The food area will have 12 booths. A new “Shrimp Food” booth will debut this year, offering dishes made with shrimp, such as shrimp pasta and shrimp fried rice. Barbecue, janchi guksu (banquet noodles) and mung-bean pancakes will also be sold.
The festival has also added more hands-on programs.
On the first day of the festival, the 16th, around 20 foreign nationals, members of the women’s association of Seoseoul Nonghyup and others will take part in an event to make kimchi with salted shrimp. The finished kimchi will be delivered to low-income households in the area.
On the 17th, culinary researcher Lee Hye-jeong and children will take on the challenge of making a 19-meter-long shrimp kimbap. The program marks the festival’s 19th edition, with 38 child participants making the kimbap in two teams.
On the 18th, a “Pork-Shrimp-Kimchi Bossam Feast” will be held for around 200 people. Participants will enjoy pork accompanied by kimchi and salted shrimp. Shrimp-catching, salted-shrimp-making and salted-shrimp auction experiences will be offered throughout the three-day festival.
There will also be an event recreating Mapo Naru’s past. Around 200 people—including a traditional military band, a folk music troupe, peddlers and residents—will take part in the “Magistrate’s Procession,” which will set off from Mapo District Office Square at 10:30 a.m. on the 16th. When the procession reaches Peace Square in World Cup Park, the festival will recreate the arrival of a yellow-sailed boat carrying salted shrimp.
An LED-lit yellow-sailed boat will be set afloat on Nanji Pond, providing a nighttime attraction. A “Mapo Naru Memory Tunnel” will also be installed, offering a look at Mapo’s past and present. At Sangam Bridge on Bulgwangcheon, a “Flag Bridge” featuring posters from past festivals will showcase the event’s history ahead of its 20th edition next year.
Performances will continue for all three days. Jeong Dong-ha, the Hong Kyung-min Band, Ali and Maya will appear on the opening-day stage on the 16th. At the “National Mom and Dad Singing Contest” on the 17th, 21 contestants who made it through the preliminaries will take the stage, with Kim Seong-hwan, Jadu and Yoon Soo-hyun among the guest singers.
On the final day, Park Hyun-bin, Hong Jin-young, Kim Yong-pil, Jeon Mi-kyung, Park Woo-cheol and Seo Ga-bi, among others, will perform at the closing show. The festival will wrap up with fireworks and a laser show.
Mapo District Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun said, “We have prepared high-quality salted shrimp and a wide variety of food, sights and activities,” adding, “For the 20th anniversary next year, we will build on Mapo Naru’s history and traditions and develop the festival into an even richer event.”

[email protected] Lee Seol-young Reporter