Sokcho City to Host Integrated "Seorak Cultural Festival & Sokcho Gourmet Week" Merging Culture and Cuisine

Sokcho Transforms into a Citywide Festival from October 21 to 27
60th Seorak Cultural Festival and 2025 Sokcho Gourmet Week Held as One
An Urban Integrated Festival Blending Tradition and Modernity
City Center Business Collaboration Expected to Boost Local Economy... Over 200,000 Visitors Anticipated

The 60th Seorak Cultural Festival, hosted by Sokcho City and organized by the Sokcho Culture & Tourism Foundation, along with the 2025 Sokcho Gourmet Week, will be held across Sokcho from October 21 to 27.

This year, for the first time, the two events will be combined into an integrated festival that merges "culture" and "gourmet," establishing itself as Sokcho's signature autumn festival where tradition and modernity, citizens and tourists, art and food all come together.

Poster of the 60th Seorak Cultural Festival. Provided by Sokcho City

◆60 Years of Tradition: The Seorak Cultural Festival with Citizens

Celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Seorak Cultural Festival will be held from October 24 to 26 under the theme "60 Years of Seorak, Becoming the Story of Sokcho," as a festival for and with the citizens.

This year, the festival venues are divided between the Sokcho Expo Lawn Square and Seorak Rodeo Street. The Lawn Square will host the main stage and official events, while Rodeo Street will feature a parade linked to local businesses, fringe performances, local experience booths, and a receipt event. In particular, the "Support Local Businesses Event" will offer instant prizes to those who present receipts of 30,000 won or more from nearby shops, restaurants, or cafes during the festival period.

Additionally, there will be sales zones and experience booths operated by local youth and merchant organizations, the citizen-led "Sokcho's Got Talent," cultural experience booths with participation from eight neighborhoods, and generational participation programs such as "Sokcho! 60 Olympics" and the "Hangung Competition." Traditional ceremonies, a drone show, and a fireworks display will further enrich the three-day festival by blending tradition and modernity.

International cultural exchange will also be a highlight. Four performing arts groups from three EATOF (East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum) member countries-Malaysia, Mongolia, and Vietnam-will present traditional and fusion performances, while the arts troupe from Sokcho's Japanese sister city Yonago will prepare a stage combining traditional music and performance. These performances will be showcased to citizens and tourists during the opening ceremony and main programs.

Sokcho Gourmet Week Poster. Provided by Sokcho City

◆Sokcho Gourmet Week: Connecting the City’s Flavors and Emotions

The "2025 Sokcho Gourmet Week," running from October 21 to 27, is a "gourmet city branding project" under the theme "Connecting Through Taste, Awakening the City (EAT, CONNECT, RE:VIVE SOKCHO)," fusing Sokcho's food culture with tourism and the arts.

Major domestic and international programs will take place around Sokcho Beach and the Centermark area of the Central Market, including the Global Gourmet Forum, Sokcho International Food Film Festival, gourmet tours and gourmet roads, Synergy Week, and gourmet dining experiences.

Notably, the forum will feature world-renowned culinary experts such as Joe Yonan, Food Editor at The Washington Post, Matt Rodbard, Editor-in-Chief of TASTE Magazine, and Food Director Nadia Joe, who will introduce Sokcho’s food culture to the international stage.

The Sokcho International Food Film Festival (SIFFF), now in its second year, has expanded its venues to Sokcho Beach and Centermark, and extended the festival period to four days. The festival will open with a special ceremony combining a cinema concert and Spanish gourmet cuisine, and will include screenings of domestic and international food films ("The True Color of Food"), a "Gourmet Theater" where audiences can eat while watching films, the interactive "Delicious Talk" program, and international and Korean short film competitions designed to stimulate all five senses. To further encourage citizen participation, programs such as the SIFFF Academy, SIFFF Food Cinema Lab, and SIFFF Cinema Snack Bar will be held, transforming the festival into a true community event.

◆An Urban Integrated Festival for Local Business Coexistence... Sokcho's Leap as a City of Culture and Gourmet

This festival is designed not just as a cultural event, but as an "urban integrated festival" that connects the entire city and local economy. By linking Seorak Rodeo Street with local businesses, prioritizing local companies for services, and encouraging tourism centered on accommodations, the festival aims to create meaningful intersections between culture and the economy. A local brand collaboration conference involving Sokcho, Goseong, and Yangyang is also scheduled, with expectations for inter-regional synergy.

More than 200,000 domestic and international tourists are expected to visit the Seorak Cultural Festival and Gourmet Week, which is projected to drive consumption in accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, and more. Increased participation from local small business owners and entrepreneurs is drawing attention to the festival as a sustainable model for a virtuous local economic cycle.

Lee Byungseon, Mayor of Sokcho (Chairman of the Sokcho Culture & Tourism Foundation), stated, "This year’s Seorak Cultural Festival is designed to allow the city center and local businesses to breathe together, which will provide real help in revitalizing the local economy. By adding the creativity of Gourmet Week to 60 years of tradition, we will transform all of Sokcho into a festival city, realize a truly cooperative cultural city where citizens and tourists enjoy together, and bring new vitality to the community."

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