Hoengseong Korean Beef Festival draws 400,000 visitors, posts record 4.4 billion won in sales

【Financial News, Hoengseong—Reporter Kim Gi-seop】The Hoengseong Korean Beef Festival, which drew 100,000 people in a single day of the Hangul Day holiday weekend, posted a record 400,000 visitors and 4.4 billion won in sales.
According to Hoengseong County and the Hoengseong Culture and Tourism Foundation on the 12th, the 22nd Hoengseong Korean Beef Festival, held for five days from the 7th to the 11th on the banks of the Seom River, drew 400,163 visitors and generated 4.4 billion won in sales at the festival grounds. Compared with last year’s 326,000 visitors and 3.6 billion won in sales, visitor numbers rose 23% and sales increased 22%. The foundation plans to incorporate visitor satisfaction surveys and evaluation findings into preparations for next year’s festival.
The Hangul Day holiday weekend drove the festival’s success. On the first day of the holiday, the 9th, 100,000 people visited the festival grounds, leaving the area packed, while the access road from the Hoengseong Interchange to the festival site was congested throughout the holiday period.
Local Hanwoo beef was at the heart of the sales figures. All 300 head of Hoengseong Hanwoo supplied by three livestock organizations sold out, and long lines formed at lunchtime and dinner at the grilling area, where prices matched those at directly operated stores.


The “festival that keeps visitors around” strategy, introduced for the first time this year, also paid off. The Seom River Starlight Lantern Festa, which filled the riverside with lights; the Woo-ah-han Music Festa, held onstage every night; and the Woo-ju Fireworks Show, which lit up the sky on the 7th and 10th, kept daytime visitors at the festival grounds into the night. The newly added Retro Carnival and Memories Playground Kids Park were bustling with families.
The festival’s impact spread to tourist attractions throughout Hoengseong. During the festival, about 7,000 people visited the Hoengseong Lake Trail, up 37% from 4,694 during the preceding five days, while visitors to the Hoengseong Luge Experience Center, which offered a festival-linked discount, rose 32% to about 4,000. The foundation said the tourism spillover was clearly evident, given that the preceding five days coincided with the National Foundation Day holiday weekend and the Anheung Steamed Bun Festival. The average number of daily visitors to the Hanwoo Experience Center, connected to the festival grounds by shuttle bus, also rose to 2.3 times its usual level.
“All 300 head of Hoengseong Hanwoo sold out, and people kept coming late into the night to enjoy the lanterns, performances and fireworks. Seeing that confirmed that the idea of a festival where people stay longer really works,” said Kim Dae-jung, head of the Hoengseong Culture and Tourism Foundation. “This was an achievement made together by county residents and livestock farmers, so we’ll carefully consider visitors’ feedback and return next year with a festival where people will want to stay even longer.”



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