Chuncheon's Gongji Stream festival revives memories of first love with coffee, jazz and gardens

As an Ethiopian traditional festival held in Chuncheon — born of a blood-forged friendship between Ethiopia and the city — wraps up its late-September run, Gongji Stream is reinventing itself as a venue for coffee, jazz and lakeside festivities ahead of Hangul Day on Oct. 9. The Ethiopia Korean War Memorial Hall, a landmark on the stream's banks, stands as a reminder of that enduring bond.

Even after the Korean War, young people from Chuncheon, the greater Seoul area and the central regions of the country never lost hope. They strolled along Gongji Stream as romances blossomed, drawn by the curiosity and exotic atmosphere of "Ethiopia House" — a hybrid cafe and museum on the waterfront — where they savored Arabica coffee and the stream's unhurried charm.

That culture lives on in 2026, now enriched with the aroma of coffee, the lilt of jazz and the lyricism of a lakeside garden.

The Gongji Stream Coffee, Jazz and Lake Garden Festa opens Thursday along the Gongji Stream walking path and the area around 586 Onui-dong, running for three days.

"He promised me eternal love right here at Gongji Stream back then … I wonder how that oppa is doing now."

Gongji Stream: memories of first love

Anyone who studied or worked in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, Gangwon Province or the Chungcheong region knows the culture of Gongji Stream. Beautiful romances bloomed here, and so did the bittersweet ache of partings that can now be recalled with a smile. For those who sent their boyfriends off to military bases near the Gangwon border, the stream was also where they reunited with their loved ones.

This festival is designed to carry everyone who holds a memory of Chuncheon back to their younger days, and to reaffirm that the romance-filled city remains, at heart, a city of youth.

Making its debut this year, the Gongji Stream lake festival is structured so that visitors do not need to seek out separate venues. Instead, they encounter the programs of the Gongji Stream Jazz Festa, the Chuncheon Coffee Festa and the Chuncheon Lake Garden Festa naturally as they walk along the stream.

In the morning and through midday, visitors can sample coffee and desserts and wander through civic and corporate gardens at a leisurely pace, before settling in for jazz performances from the afternoon onward.

After sunset, the focus shifts to street food stalls along the stream and evening jazz sets, with the night extending all the way to a midnight jazz club — a deliberate "connection of time" that carries the festival from dusk to the small hours.

The overarching concept is "Secret Garden" — an invitation for visitors to rediscover the familiar Gongji Stream through fresh eyes during the festival, crafting their own experience as they follow performances, coffee stalls and garden installations scattered along the walking path.

The Chuncheon Coffee Festa takes shape as a road-style festival along the Gongji Stream promenade, where visitors can taste and experience Chuncheon's coffee culture on the move.

Twenty-six local coffee and dessert businesses are taking part, including coffee roasters and cafes such as Soyang Food, Where Coffee, Cafe di Quad, Veraca Bean, Cafe Gongji-ro 268, Rieu Roasting Lab and Bulls Coffee Roasters, alongside local dessert and bakery brands including Daewondang and Gamja Bat. They will showcase a range of Chuncheon brands — whole beans, drip bags, baked goods and desserts — and visitors can stroll the promenade and find whatever suits their taste.

Latte art competitions at the Onui Stage will add competitive energy to the mix. On the opening day, Thursday, professional baristas from Korea and abroad will compete in the 2026 Chuncheon Latte Art Battle; on Friday, the 2026 Chuncheon Latte Art Challenge opens the stage to students and beginners in the field.

A hands-on "Gongji Stream Cafe Activity Zone" will also be in operation, offering programs that include syphon roasting, making signature drip bags, crafting mugs and tea coasters, an eco-friendly spent-coffee-grounds experience and moka pot brewing.

Also drawing attention is a tasting pop-up by the Chuncheon Coffee Association featuring its signature blend "Gongji Chuncheon," which captures the clear waters of Gongji Stream, the forests of Chuncheon and the sunset over Uiam Lake in a single cup.

The Gongji Stream Jazz Festa runs alongside the coffee trail, with three days of performances by Korean and international jazz artists as well as fringe sets by emerging musicians.

On the opening day, Thursday, Noh&Ye Duo, the Ahn Hyun-bin Quartet and MJ Collective take the stage, followed in the evening by the Kim Ye-jung Band, 9&4 and Alto for Two. On Friday, Park Seong-eun Trio, On the Rug and the Jeon Jae-geun Trio perform before the evening lineup — Robinson Khoury MŸA, HEOLOGY and Jung Mi-jo — fills Gongji Stream's autumn night.

On the final day, Saturday, Park Su-jin and Jo Esther Duo, the Lee Gwan-woo Quartet and Caminhada Mar offer afternoon sets. At 5 p.m. on the Onui Stage, jazz critic Kim Jin-muk hosts a lecture program, "What Is Jazz, Anyway?", breaking down the genre's characteristics and how to listen to it in an accessible and entertaining way, with a demonstration performance by Im Eun-hyeok. The evening then closes out the festival with French jazz vocalist Camille Bertault, VERB and Park Ju-won & Gypsy Band.

Even after the main performances end, the festival night continues. On Oct. 9 and Oct. 10, a ticketed late-night program called "Midnight Jazz Club" runs at Hades and Gamja Island, bringing the audience up close to live musicians and extending the jazz night that begins at Gongji Stream into venues across the city center.

Rounding out the offerings are "Gongji Pojang," a street food zone with 13 local vendors, and "Taste Market," a pop-up where visitors can make and share handcrafted items such as wood magnets, floral postcards and bookbinding projects — both running throughout the festival.

Between the coffee and the jazz lies a garden embracing the lake. The Chuncheon Lake Garden Festa is a garden culture festival set against the natural backdrop of Gongji Stream, created together by residents, local organizations and garden-related businesses.

Ten teams made up of citizens and students will each design and build their own civic garden, bringing individual ideas and personalities to the project. The hallmark of the event is a garden culture in which residents go beyond being passive spectators to become active creators.

Garden and landscaping companies — including Daelim Horticulture, Jade Garden, Nami Island and Chorogeseo — are also participating, creating corporate gardens that reflect their professional expertise and brand identity, offering a window into new directions in garden culture and the garden industry all in one place.

The Lake Garden Lounge will feature exhibitions and hands-on experiences themed around Chuncheon's lakes and gardens, with public participation programs including seed bomb making, terrarium building, nature tactile activities, sachet crafting and garden drawing.

The National Garden Material Center, which plays a central role in the garden industry, will also take part, introducing the institution, displaying entries from its native flower exhibition and offering commemorative gifts to visitors who join a brief hands-on activity.

It is, in effect, a second season of making memories in Chuncheon.

The city of Chuncheon and the Chuncheon Culture Foundation plan to use the Gongji Stream Lake Festival to transform the waterfront from a place people simply pass through into a cultural destination where visitors linger and enjoy themselves from morning to night.

Local coffee and food vendors, garden companies and residents are all joining in, and organizers expect the festival to bring fresh energy to both the local culture scene and the surrounding commercial district.