The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is a unique local winter event that takes place in Hwacheon, a small town located in the northern part of South Korea.
This annual festival celebrates the season of the Sancheoneo, a type of mountain trout known for its fresh and delicious taste.
Visitors from all over the world come to experience ice fishing on the frozen rivers and lakes.
The festival offers a variety of activities including ice fishing, bare-hand fishing, and ice sledding, making it a fun and exciting event for people of all ages.
The highlight of the festival is the opportunity to catch your own fish and either release it or have it prepared to eat on the spot.
It’s a great way to enjoy the beauty of the Korean winter landscape while participating in a unique cultural tradition.
As soon as we arrived, we enjoyed Makguksu and Bossam, which were absolutely delicious. You can find more details in a separate post under the food category.
This is the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival‘s comprehensive information center.
Next to the door, banners about various event booths, such as instant photo taking and letter writing, are set up.
It’s very warm inside, so it’s nice to take a look around while warming up.
In keeping with the hwacheon sancheoneo ice festival, there were sculptures carved out of ice.
The day was warmer than expected, which made me worry they might melt.
This is a map showing the locations of booths at the hwacheon sancheoneo ice festival site.
For ice fishing, there is a spot for on-site reservations and a separate reserved fishing area for online bookers.
Convenient markers for the fishing registration desk, event booths, restrooms, and resting areas are displayed.
Below, there’s information that staying in Hwacheon allows free access to park golf, night fishing, and ice fishing on weekdays.
Hwacheon, being a northern region with many mountains, saw an early sunset even in winter.
As it gradually got darker, people started to leave.
Among those passing by, the majority were Koreans, but there were also a significant number of foreigners.
I had trout sashimi and spicy stew at a local restaurant. The sancheoneo sashimi had a sweet and slightly savory taste, without any fishy smell, and it was delicious. The spicy stew was refreshing and savory, which I liked.
The next morning, I went ice fishing early. Since I had made a reservation in advance, I showed the mobile booking link and they attached the entrance ticket to my jacket’s zipper.
The fishing methods for using both a worm and a metal jig are hung on the wall.
” 3 Minutes mastering fishing in Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival.”
The fishing methods using worms and metal jigs are described, with the common approach being to maintain a rhythm while shaking to lure the fish to bite.
Because it was the last day of the event, many holes had already been drilled.
I rigged a jig on the fishing rod I brought and gave it a shake, and a trout bit.
I did catch a trout, but it wasn’t because it bit the bait; it seemed to have been caught by the side as it passed by.
Before leaving, we had a hearty late lunch.
We ordered wild vegetable bibimbap for two and a spicy catfish stew in a hot pot, which turned out to be a famous restaurant locally. Surprisingly, it was crowded even though it wasn’t the usual mealtime.
Please refer to a separate posting in the food category for more details.
http://140.245.78.84/gangwon-namulbap-chaewon-restaurant/
It was a bit far, but it was so fun that I plan to go again next year. Besides skiing and snowboarding in the winter, it has a unique charm of its own.
I’ll be going to go to Hwacheon sancheoneo ice festival next year.
