The 9th annual event runs through Nov. 16, offering kimchi-making, local produce and autumn scenery
The Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival is back, drawing multigenerational families, foreign visitors and solo travelers looking to pack three experiences into one autumn trip.
Even members of the MZ generation living alone are expected to show up with friends — stocking up on kimchi they can later pull out when telling those same friends to stay for ramyun on a long winter night.
Pyeongchang's highland napa cabbage grows in cool, high-altitude conditions with wide daily temperature swings, giving it a crisp texture and a rich, nutty flavor.
After finishing the kimchi-making session, many visitors head to nearby Woljeongsa Temple on Odaesan and its fir-tree forest path, or explore the scenic spots around Daegwallyeong Pass to soak in the late-autumn atmosphere.
The festival combines a journey through the pristine Baekdudaegan mountain range and the literary landscape associated with writer Yi Hyo-seok, the satisfaction of preparing a large batch of kimchi at a reasonable price using pre-salted cabbage and radish with ready-made seasoning, and the joy of building warm memories across three generations. Its greatest appeal is turning what might otherwise be a source of family friction — who does what during kimchi-making season — into a shared holiday.
The 9th Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival runs Wednesday through Nov. 16 — 13 days in total — at Jinbu-myeon Community Sports Park in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon Province.
The festival committee increased this year's kimchi-making capacity by about 20 percent over last year and added more work stations. It also separated the hands-on activity area from the food and dining space to improve visitor convenience.
Participation fees are 69,000 won ($51) for the standard kimchi-making package — 7 kilograms of pre-salted cabbage and 3 kilograms of seasoning — 79,000 won for the premium package, and 70,000 won for the bachelor kimchi option.
The committee provides aprons, gloves and packaging materials to participants, who can also arrange on-site courier delivery for the kimchi they make.
The festival runs daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Advance reservations are available through the official website at gimjang700. A range of side events will also be held throughout the run.
This year's festival will also feature a local produce market with more than 20 participating farms, as well as a special sales booth for Daegwallyeong Hanwoo beef. Visitors can buy a wide variety of Pyeongchang agricultural products in one place alongside the kimchi-making experience.
Jang Dong-sik, chairman of the Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival committee, said Pyeongchang's highland cabbage is "an agricultural product that farmers have grown with great care in a pristine natural environment with wide temperature swings," adding that he hopes the National Assembly tasting event "will help spread awareness of the quality and competitiveness of Pyeongchang's produce and provide real support for local farmers' income and market expansion."
"This year we diversified the festival's offerings by expanding the kimchi-making volume and introducing a special promotional event for Pyeongchang highland apples for the first time," Jang added. "We hope visitors will come to Pyeongchang with family and friends, make kimchi, taste the sweet Pyeongchang apples, and enjoy the beautiful late-autumn scenery of Odaesan and Daegwallyeong."
A special promotional showcase for Pyeongchang highland apples makes its debut at this year's festival — the first such event since the festival began. Organized by the Pyeongchang-gun Apple Research Association, it will let visitors taste and buy apples grown at high altitude, where the wide daily temperature range boosts their sugar content.
The committee plans to use the showcase as a springboard to broaden Pyeongchang's agricultural promotions beyond cabbage to include apples, and to help apple-growing farms open up new sales channels.
Ahead of the opening, Pyeongchang residents promoting the festival visited the National Assembly on Monday to showcase local agricultural products. They held a kimchi tasting and produce fair in the plaza outside the National Assembly's press briefing room.
The event featured kimchi-making demonstrations, a tasting session and a display and sales booth for Pyeongchang agricultural specialties. Lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties, along with local representatives from Pyeongchang, attended the opening ceremony, making kimchi together as a gesture of unity and cooperation.
Assembly member Yoo Sang-bum, who represents the Pyeongchang constituency, made kimchi alongside fellow lawmakers Yang Hyang-ja and Kim Eun-hye, and fed bites of the finished kimchi to both.
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