Hoengseong Korean Beef Festival wraps up today amid huge crowds after drawing 100,000 on the first day of the holiday

【Financial News | Hoengseong—Reporter Kim Gi-seop】The 22nd Hoengseong Korean Beef Festival, which drew 100,000 people on the first day of the Hangeul Day holiday, will wrap up on the 11th, leaving behind the excitement of hundreds-of-meters-long lines at the grill area and a fireworks show lighting up the night sky over the Seom River.
According to Hoengseong County and the Hoengseong Culture and Tourism Foundation on the 11th, 100,000 visitors came to the festival grounds on the banks of the Seom River on the 9th, the first day of the holiday. Cars carrying day-trippers began arriving in the morning, and the area around the Hoengseong Interchange and roads leading to the festival grounds temporarily came to a standstill. The grounds were packed with barely room to move until late afternoon.
The grill area was by far the busiest spot. Around lunchtime, visitors hoping to sample local Korean beef queued for hundreds of meters. Those who chose meat at the sales stalls put it on the grill as soon as they sat down. The area around the grills was filled all day with the smoke and smell of cooking meat.

Time-Slip Retro Street, unveiled for the first time this year, was also bustling with families. Each time Retro Carnival, a 1970s-and-'80s-style retro parade, passed through, parents took out their phones to capture nostalgic scenes. At the adjacent Memories Playground Kids Park, children ran among the rides, while the area in front of the Kids Dream busking stage was packed with children and parents.
Festival crowds also spread to tourist attractions around Hoengseong. About 1,300 people visited the nearby Hoengseong Luge Experience Center on the 9th alone, and the number of riders rose to roughly 10 times the previous weekend's level. On the morning of the 10th, the second day of the holiday, county residents and tourists took part together in the Hoengseong Residents' One-Heart Oxygen Trail Walk, which set off from the festival's main stage, and walked the autumn Oxygen Trail.
After sunset, the festival grounds took on a different appearance. Couples and families flocked to the Seom River Starlight Lantern Festival, with lights lining the riverbank, and the audience seats at the main stage's U-ah-han Music Festa were also full. When the performance ended at 9 p.m. on the 10th, the second and final Wooju Fireworks Show lit up the night sky over the Seom River. Cheers rang out among spectators each time fireworks burst in time with the music. Many visitors who had come during the day stayed through the fireworks and enjoyed the festival late into the night.
On the final day, the 11th, major attractions including the grill area, sales stalls, Retro Street and Kids Park will operate from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. In the evening, the closing performance, the U-ah-han Music Festa, will bring the five-day festival to a grand close.

[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter