Boseong-gun Successfully Concludes Beolgyo Cockle Festival

Published 30 Oct.2023 11:41(KST)

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Over 100,000 Tourists Participate in Festival

Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that the ‘19th Beolgyo Cockle Festival,’ which opened on the 27th under the theme ‘Clean Mudflats and Cockles! And the Meeting of Literature,’ successfully concluded its three-day grand event with over 100,000 tourists visiting.

Hosted and organized by the Beolgyo Cockle Festival Promotion Committee (Chairman Choi Young-su), this year’s Beolgyo Cockle Festival was evaluated as having raised the brand value of Beolgyo cockles, a pride of Boseong, while promoting the excellence of Boseong Beolgyo cockles, the first seafood product to receive a geographical indication.

Beolgyo Cockle Festival_Tourists Experiencing Catching Golden Cockles [Photo by Boseong-gun]

The festival, held over three days along the Cheonbyeon area of Beolgyo-eup, attracted large crowds daily as visitors enjoyed the fresh and chewy flavor of cockles in season, along with various cultural and artistic performances and experiential events.

The Beolgyo Cockle Festival featured programs that highlighted its identity, including ▲a street parade, ▲making 1,000 servings of cockle bibimbap, ▲cockle singing contest, ▲cockle experiences (cockle throwing, cockle shelling, guessing cockle weight, cockle auction), ▲cockle cooking tasting, and ▲Beolgyo cockle catching experiences (catch the golden cockle, wheelbarrow race), which received enthusiastic responses from locals and tourists alike.

Additionally, the festival offered unique attractions such as a large drum performance announcing the opening and dance team performances by local youth, along with concerts spanning various music genres from trot to ballads, traditional Korean music, and opera, providing both auditory and visual enjoyment.

Moreover, in connection with the Beolgyo Cockle Festival, the 15th anniversary event of the Taebaek Mountain Range Literature Museum invited novelist Jo Jung-rae, author of the Taebaek Mountain Range novel, for a book concert with avid readers. Visitors also took a literary tour walking through the Beolgyo Taebaek Mountain Range Literature Street, the main setting of the novel, which was well received by tourists.

Kim Cheol-woo, the mayor of Boseong County, who visited the festival site, said, “Tasting the flavor of cockles in the cool autumn weather naturally brings back memories and romance.” He added, “I thank everyone who visited the festival and will accelerate the promotion of related industries so that Beolgyo cockles can be loved by even more people.”

Meanwhile, Boseong-gun is the main production area accounting for more than 70% of the nation’s cockle production. It has a history and tradition of living in harmony with the mudflats, including the Beolgyo mudflats registered as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, producing the first seafood product with a geographical indication, Boseong Beolgyo cockles, and the Boseong Beolbae fishery, designated as the second national important fishery heritage.