28th Bonghwa Sweet Smelt Festival wraps up with 240,000 visitors, W17.5b economic impact

The 28th Bonghwa Sweet Smelt Festival closed Sunday with a farewell performance and fireworks show on a special outdoor stage along the Naeseong River.

Bonghwa-gun said Tuesday that this year's festival, held from July 25 through Aug. 9, drew 240,000 visitors and generated an estimated economic impact of about 17.5 billion won ($12.2 million), driven by expanded indoor spaces and newly introduced family-oriented programs.

The festival grounds featured large air-conditioned indoor venues — including a kids cafe, a community center and a relaxation station — where visitors could cool off after catching smelt and splashing in the water.

The kids cafe proved especially popular with families, offering a comfortable indoor space where young children could play freely in the cool air.

Newly introduced family programs also helped fuel the festival's success. "Family Playground," which invited parents and children to team up for missions and games, drew steady participation from families looking to enjoy the activities together.

A children's water park and sand play area were expanded in both size and amenities, ensuring that even the youngest visitors who could not take part in the smelt-catching experience had plenty to enjoy. With water play, sand play and indoor recreation all available within the same festival grounds, families could mix and match activities based on their children's ages and the weather.

The festival's signature smelt-catching experience remained a crowd favorite through the final weekend, underscoring the enduring appeal of the event in its 28th year.

On Saturday, the bare-hands smelt-catching experience ran four sessions of 300 participants each, with all 1,200 tickets selling out across every session.

The "Sweet Smelt Bandu Catching Master Contest," held the same day, also sold out its 800-ticket allotment, bringing the combined total of bare-hands and bandu-catching tickets sold that day to 2,000 — a complete sellout.

Even amid a prolonged heat wave, visitors flocked to the festival's signature bandu and bare-hands catching events, reaffirming the 28-year-old smelt-catching tradition's draw and the festival's standing as one of South Korea's premier summer events.

On Sunday, the final day of the festival, the "Sweet Smelt Bare-Hands Catching Master Contest" was held. After the closing performance, a fireworks display lit up the night sky over the Naeseong River.

"I am deeply grateful to all the visitors who showed such enthusiasm, with the bandu and bare-hands catching experiences selling out through the final weekend," Bonghwa-gun chief Choi Gi-yeong said. "We will continue to develop this into a premier summer festival that everyone — young and old — can enjoy."