After an Unexpected Hit at Its First Event... Riding the Kedeheon Craze, This City Dreams of Becoming a "Gimbap Paradise"

Last Year’s Inaugural Festival Attracted 100,000 Visitors
This Year Features New Themed Zones and Enhanced Operations for an Even More Exciting Experience

The kimbap sold at the Gimcheon Kimbap Festival last year. Instead of disposable bowls, puffed rice snacks were used. Official website of the Gimcheon Kimbap Festival

Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang Province is once again transforming into the "city of gimbap." Following the huge success of last year's inaugural event, which drew more than 100,000 visitors, this year's festival is attracting even greater attention for its potential to bring in global tourists, fueled by the gimbap craze sparked by Netflix's "K-Pop Demon Hunters" (Kedeheon).

According to Gimcheon City on September 8, the 2025 Gimcheon Gimbap Festival will take place from October 25 to 26 at Jikji Culture Park and Samyeongdaesa Park. After attracting over 100,000 people at its first event last year, the festival is set to return this year with significantly upgraded content and an improved operations system.

To address issues raised during last year's festival, such as shortages of gimbap, shuttle bus congestion, and an inadequate purchasing system, Gimcheon City has expanded the festival venue to include Jikji Culture Park. The number of participating vendors has increased from 8 to around 30, and visitors will be able to enjoy more than 50 varieties of gimbap, ranging from frozen gimbap to regional specialties from across Korea, award-winning entries from the Gimbap Cooking Contest, and popular franchise menus.

Citizens visiting the Gimcheon Gimbap Festival last year. Official website of the Gimcheon Gimbap Festival

New Themed Zones and Diverse Events to Enhance the Experience

This year’s festival will feature three themed zones, each highlighting a key gimbap ingredient. The Mujiring Zone (pickled radish) will host main stage performances by singers Jadu, Norazo, and George, along with a flea market and local gimbap experiences. The Oing Zone (cucumber) will include a gimbap creation studio, a unique gimbap experience zone, and areas selling gimbap and other Korean snacks, encouraging active participation from visitors. The Hamjji Zone (ham) will offer attractions such as a dancing bear, random play dance events, a birthday party dome for the festival mascot "Kkodari," and a gimbap amusement park, all designed to appeal to families.

The festival’s operations system has also been significantly upgraded. Kiosks have been installed at each booth to make payments more convenient, and a large electronic display will show the number of gimbap remaining in real time. To address last year’s complaints about the shuttle bus, the city has revamped the routes and quadrupled the number of buses to improve transportation convenience.

Kedeheon Effect...Drawing Interest from Foreign Visitors

Still cut from K-Pop Demon Hunters. Netflix

This year’s festival is receiving even more attention thanks to the explosive popularity of the Netflix animation "K-Pop Demon Hunters." The appearance of K-food gimbap in the show has captured the interest of international fans. Online communities have been abuzz with jokes such as, "All 130,000 residents of Gimcheon would need to roll a gimbap each just to meet festival demand," bringing laughter to many. With gimbap now introduced on the global stage as a symbol of Korean culture, there is growing interest in whether international tourists will actually visit the Gimcheon Gimbap Festival.

Bae Nakho, Mayor of Gimcheon, stated, "Last year’s festival was a great success in promoting Gimcheon, but there were also many shortcomings. This year, we will do our best to address last year’s issues and improve visitor satisfaction."