Chuncheon Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival Ranks First in Gangwon-do "2026-2027 Excellent Festival" Evaluation

Chuncheon City Builds on Local Autonomy Contents Awards Win with Continued Success
A City-Centered Festival Attracting 300,000 Visitors through a Complete Operational Overhaul

The Chuncheon Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival is once again solidifying its status as Chuncheon’s signature festival with a series of awards. The festival ranked first in the 2026-2027 Excellent Festivals evaluation conducted by Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province.

Scene from the Chuncheon Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival. Provided by Chuncheon City.

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province recently held an open call for festivals recommended by 18 cities and counties in the province, and carried out a comprehensive evaluation based on five criteria: content competitiveness, organizational and operational capacity, potential for festival development, contribution to the local community, and performance analysis. As a result, among the eight festivals selected, the Chuncheon Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival was chosen as the top festival, receiving high marks for its clear festival identity and an operating structure centered on the participation of local restaurants.

With this selection, the Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival will receive 30 million won in provincial funding and, through the recommendation of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, is also expected to be put forward as a preliminary Culture and Tourism Festival by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. If it is selected as a preliminary festival by the ministry, it will be able to lay the groundwork for becoming a full-fledged Culture and Tourism Festival in the future through festival evaluation and project support.

In November last year, the Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival also won the Grand Prize in the culture and tourism category at the 2025 Local Autonomy Contents Awards, once again proving the competitiveness of local festivals.

Last year, the Chuncheon Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival broke away from its existing operating model and carried out a full-scale overhaul to enhance its competitiveness. It designated the Gongjicheon riverside as the main venue, arranged programs by zone, and expanded the festival space to encompass the entire city. During the festival period, 300,000 people visited, making it a commercial success.

Scene from the Chuncheon Makguksu and Dakgalbi Festival. Provided by Chuncheon City

Moving away from a focus on night markets and trot-centered stage programs, the festival strengthened urban convergence content such as booths featuring popular local restaurants, a Farmers' Market, a Food Tech exhibition hall, and an International Pavilion, while also presenting performance programs designed to resonate with different generations.

The operating system was also improved. Instead of the previous model in which the organizing committee ran the festival on its own, the city took overall charge and shifted to a structure in which the organizing committee and the cultural foundation jointly participate in planning, thereby enhancing planning capabilities and operational stability.

At the festival site, programs highlighting the value of local ingredients and hands-on events in which citizens and tourists could participate together were held continuously, and win-win programs linked with local commercial districts, farms, and small business owners were expanded. By promoting the use of reusable containers and implementing a car-free festival, the organizers also worked to realize ESG values.

Experience-based content and video production programs targeting Millennials & Gen Z and family visitors, along with social media participation campaigns, received an enthusiastic response, boosting both the festival’s popularity and its reach.

Greeting the Chuncheon Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival mascot. Provided by Chuncheon City

The city plans to further enhance the overall quality of the festival this year and continue its strategy of expanding local gastronomic content into a core element of urban competitiveness.

Jeong Mikyung, head of the Tourism Policy Division, said, "This selection as an Excellent Festival is the result of the festival’s operational achievements, created jointly by local restaurants, farmers, local artists, and citizens, being recognized through an objective evaluation," adding, "We will continue to strengthen the festival’s competitiveness so that the Chuncheon Makguksu Dakgalbi Festival can grow into a gastronomic festival that represents all of Korea."

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