Official Cancellation of Imsil N Cheese Festival Amid COVID-19 Spread

Festival Organizing Committee Prioritizes Resident Safety Above All

Photo by Imsil-gun Provided

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Nosik] Imsil-gun, Jeonbuk, has officially canceled this year's Imsil N Cheese Festival, prioritizing residents' safety amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19.

On the 18th, the festival committee of the Imsil N Cheese Festival (hereafter ‘the Committee’) announced the cancellation of the ‘2020 Imsil N Cheese Festival,’ which was scheduled to be held from October 8 to 11 at the Imsil Cheese Theme Park and Imsil Cheese Village.

The Committee held an extraordinary general meeting to decide whether to proceed with the ‘2020 Imsil N Cheese Festival,’ less than two months away, amid the continuous occurrence of COVID-19 infections in Korea, and made the official decision to cancel the event.

At the extraordinary general meeting, after in-depth discussions with the committee members, it was concluded that although it is regrettable, holding the festival amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19 is inappropriate, and thus the festival was fully canceled for this year.

The cancellation decision was significantly influenced by public sentiment due to the continuous occurrence of COVID-19 infections, the clean image of Imsil-gun where not a single infection has been reported so far, and above all, the fact that the region has a large elderly population, making residents' safety the top priority.

However, concerns have also been raised about the sales of local specialties such as Imsil N Cheese, yogurt, and clean agricultural and livestock products, which have been performing poorly this year due to COVID-19, following the festival's cancellation.

This is because the direct economic effect generated by last year’s Imsil N Cheese Festival reached approximately 16.1 billion KRW, and the annual festival has had a significant impact on farmers' income and regional economic revitalization.

Accordingly, although the festival is canceled, the county plans to prepare separate measures to sell local specialties to visitors who voluntarily visit tourist sites in the fall, aiming to increase farmers' income.

An official from Imsil-gun said, “It is very regrettable that we cannot hold this year’s festival due to COVID-19, but we will take this as a time to pause and prepare, and enhance the quality and substance of next year’s Imsil N Cheese Festival. We also expect many tourists to visit in the fall, so we will do our utmost to ensure safety and thorough COVID-19 prevention.”

Meanwhile, the Imsil N Cheese Festival was selected as a Promising Festival in 2018, an Excellent Festival in 2019, and a Cultural Tourism Festival from 2020 to 2021 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s festival evaluation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.