“Half-price six-year-grown ginseng and Neulpureum Hanwoo” ... Hongcheon Premium Ginseng and Hanwoo Festival opens on the 8th

【Financial News, Hongcheon = Reporter Kim Gi-seop】The 24th Hongcheon Premium Ginseng and Hanwoo Festival, where visitors can buy Hongcheon’s six-year-grown fresh ginseng at half price and Neulpureum Hanwoo at up to 50% off, opened on the 8th at Tori Forest, an urban forest park in Hongcheon-eup.
According to Hongcheon County and the Hongcheon Cultural Foundation on the 8th, the festival will run through the 11th for four days across the Tori Forest area. The biggest draw for visitors is the discounts. No. 4 and No. 5 fresh ginseng are being sold at half price, while prices on other ginseng products have been cut by at least 21%. Hanwoo is discounted by at least 15%, depending on the cut and product, with some items available at up to 50% off.
The county budget is helping fund the half-price sale of fresh ginseng. As rising ginseng prices led more consumers to hesitate to buy, the county allocated 150 million won in discount support in its second supplementary budget. Having seen the impact last year, when it spent 120 million won and sold at least 10 metric tons of fresh ginseng, the county increased this year’s support by 30 million won (25%) so more visitors could benefit.
Anyone who spends at least 50,000 won on ginseng or Hanwoo can get a raffle ticket at the place of purchase. The drawing will be held at 6 p.m. on the final day, the 11th, and the winners will have a red ginseng set or a Hanwoo set delivered to them.
There is a wide range of activities at the festival, too. Experience booths include “A Happy 10,000 Won Hanwoo Soup-Bone Deal,” one of the festival’s signature events, along with a traditional Korean medicine experience for pain relief and a ginseng-and-Hanwoo cookie workshop. An alkkagi (flicking game) tournament will also be held. Visitors can get an overview of local agricultural and livestock products at the Hongcheon Neulpureum Hanwoo Promotion Center, the Gangwon Ginseng Agricultural Cooperative Promotion Center, and the Ginseng and Hanwoo Checkoff Promotion and Experience Center.


Food stalls offer snacks and local dishes, including handmade fried foods, chicken skewers, myeongi hot dogs and Hongchongtteok, as well as tastings of local specialty liquors. The agricultural and local specialty products market features Hongcheon-grown shiitake mushrooms, honey, kabocha squash, apples and jujubes, along with processed foods such as doenjang.
The festival has also put measures in place to prevent price gouging. Menus, prices and serving weights for festival food have been published in advance on Food Alio, part of the Korea Tourism Organization’s Korea Travel Guide website. An on-site verification event will also let visitors check whether what is actually being sold matches the published information.
Various performances will take place on the special stage at Tori Forest. Evening shows will run daily from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. through the 10th. On opening day, the Hongcheongang Singing Contest, where residents from Hongcheon’s 10 towns and townships compete in singing, will be held, with invited singers Kimmi, Hong Ji-ho and Lee Sang-beon taking the stage. This will be followed by performances donated by local singers and clubs, including the Love Sharing Concert, the Hongcheon Comprehensive Arts Festival and the One Heart Concert. Kim Soo-hee and Jeon Young-rok will also perform, bringing together audiences across generations.


For visitors’ convenience, shuttle buses circling downtown Hongcheon will run more than 20 times a day during the festival. The service is part of an effort to reduce private car use and make the festival car-free. A pet rest area has been set up at the gateball court beside the Hanwoo Self-Service Restaurant, addressing both pet owners’ convenience and restaurant hygiene. A souvenir giveaway event will also be held.
Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae said, “I hope this festival will be more than just a chance to taste ginseng and Hanwoo; visitors can also enjoy the cookie workshop and traditional Korean medicine experience and experience firsthand the value of Hongcheon’s agricultural and livestock products.” He added, “We will work to help the ginseng, cultivated with six years of care, and Neulpureum Hanwoo expand beyond Korea into overseas markets.”
Hongcheon Cultural Foundation Chairman Jeon Myeong-jun said, “We have prepared the festival so that anyone can visit with peace of mind by publishing menus, prices and serving weights in advance and providing shuttle buses and a pet rest area.” He added, “I hope people will shop for half-price fresh ginseng and discounted Hanwoo during the day, enjoy performances on the special stage at night, and make the most of autumn in Hongcheon with family and partners.”


[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter