The 25th Hapcheon Hwangmaesan Royal Azalea Festival Canceled ... Disappointment for Many Spring Visitors

Plans to Intensively Promote and Enforce COVID-19 Prevention Guidelines

Hwangmaesan Royal Azalea Festival in Hapcheon [Image source=Hapcheon-gun]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] The Hwangmaesan Azalea Festival in Hapcheon, Gyeongnam, a representative spring festival nationwide, has been canceled due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Hapcheon County announced on the 26th that the 25th Hapcheon Hwangmaesan Azalea Festival, originally scheduled to be held from May 1 to May 16, has been completely canceled to block the spread of COVID-19 in the local community and to ensure the safety of residents and tourists, as many visitors from across the country visit the festival every year.

The Hwangmaesan Azalea Festival is held in the largest azalea colony in the country, and the connecting road is well developed up to an altitude of 850m, allowing vulnerable groups such as the elderly and those who usually find it difficult to visit mountains to easily see the Hwangmaesan azaleas.

Especially this year, Hwangmaesan County Park was selected as one of the 2021-2022 Korea Top 100 Tourist Attractions by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, adding to the disappointment of tourists who want to visit Hwangmaesan.

The county and the Hwangmaesan Azalea Committee expect that many tourists will visit the Hwangmaesan azalea colony this year, as vehicle access to the main parking lot will be possible unlike last year, even though the festival will not be held, and they plan to focus on promoting and enforcing COVID-19 prevention guidelines.

Moon Jun-hee, the mayor of Hapcheon County, said, "Although it is regrettable that the festival has been canceled for two consecutive years, vehicle access to the main parking lot will be possible this year, so we ask everyone to follow individual COVID-19 prevention guidelines while viewing the azaleas, and we hope that COVID-19 will end soon so that we can fully enjoy the festival."

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