Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival Achieves Record Highs with 60,000 Visitors and 3 Billion KRW in Sales

2025 Pyeongchang Kimchi Festival Draws Huge Crowds Over 13 Days
Premium Kimchi Salted with Deep Ocean Water
and Local Mandu Soup Receive Enthusiastic Response

The 2025 Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival (Chairman Jang Moonhyuk, hereinafter referred to as the Kimchi Festival) successfully concluded its 13-day schedule on November 17. At the closing ceremony, the Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival Committee announced record-breaking numbers, reporting approximately 60,000 visitors and sales of about 3 billion KRW.

Participants of the 2025 Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival are taking a commemorative photo on the 17th after completing the 13-day schedule. Provided by Pyeongchang County

This represents an increase of 20,000 visitors and over 900 million KRW in sales compared to last year.

Jang Moonhyuk, Chairman of the Kimchi Festival, attributed the festival’s success to the outstanding quality of Pyeongchang highland cabbage, more than a decade of continuous efforts to improve seasoning flavors, and the popularity of premium kimchi salted with deep ocean water salt.

The Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival began in 2016. Starting with sales of 250 million KRW in its first year, it grew to reach the 1 billion KRW mark in 2021, surpassed 2 billion KRW in 2024, and set a new record of approximately 3 billion KRW this year.

Chairman Jang cited “delicious kimchi, the convenience of being able to participate with just yourself, and the friendly service of local residents” as the keys to steady growth. He explained that satisfaction is so high that many visitors return the following year with friends or family. The festival also received praise for teaching beginners how to mix kimchi and for its attentive service, such as helping load the finished kimchi directly into visitors’ vehicles.

The success of the Kimchi Festival has helped spread kimchi-making culture not only in Jinbu-myeon but throughout Pyeongchang County. The neighboring Daehwa-myeon held its fourth annual “Premium Daehwacho Kimchi Party” this year, using its local specialty, Daehwa chili peppers. The Bangnim and Gyechon regions, known for their classical music festivals, also hosted their first “Classical Kimchi Festival” this year.

Building on this momentum, Pyeongchang County declared November 11 as “Kimchi Day” and held an official proclamation ceremony on November 5, the opening day of the festival. Shim Jaeguk, Mayor of Pyeongchang, stated, “We will drive regional development by combining the kimchi festival with the kimchi industry.” The plan is to connect agriculture, jobs, and tourism to boost the local economy.

A child is holding up kimchi at the Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival. Provided by Pyeongchang County

This year’s Kimchi Festival also achieved high levels of customer satisfaction. Instead of the previous vinyl greenhouse-style venue, a new large-scale tent structure covering 1,768 square meters was introduced, greatly improving the environment. By also utilizing the Pyeongchang Trout Performance Experience Center, the festival provided enough space for more than 600 people to experience kimchi-making simultaneously each hour.

The mandu soup served at the experience center was also a big hit. Based on “freshly made mandu,” a local specialty of Pyeongchang, the festival offered mandu soup made with kimchi and pork, simmered in Daegwallyeong Korean beef broth, which was very well received. The handmade dumplings, crafted daily by local residents, were so popular that there were days when sales had to be halted due to high demand.

The main ingredients used at the Kimchi Festival, such as cabbage, radish, and green onions, were all Pyeongchang highland agricultural products. Except for fish sauce and a few items, all ingredients were locally grown. Cabbage and radish were supplied through contract farming, chili powder was managed under a real-name system, and local elders meticulously trimmed the chili stems to ensure quality. The seasoning was based on Jinbu’s traditional methods, but is improved each year by incorporating customer feedback.

Every day, between 150 and 250 local residents participated in running the festival. The Jinbu-myeon village leaders’ association managed traffic and kimchi transportation, while the Saemaeul Women’s Association and the Leaders’ Council organized the experience center and assisted beginners. The Jinbu Association, a group of local leaders, was responsible for preparing packaging materials, and the Jinbu Women’s Association contributed to developing local cuisine as a tourism resource by hand-making more than 4,000 dumplings daily.

The 2025 Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival is taking place. Photo by Pyeongchang County

Jang Moonhyuk, Chairman of the Pyeongchang Highland Kimchi Festival, stated, “This year’s festival marked an important starting point for developing kimchi-making culture into an industry,” and added, “We will continue to develop kimchi-making experience programs and create a variety of content using local specialties.”

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