Nowon District's Hwarangdae Railroad Park and Nowon Moonlight Walk Selected for "Local 100"

Two of Seoul’s Ten Local 100 Sites Are in Nowon

Nowon District in Seoul (Mayor Oh Seungrok) announced on February 9 that two of its entries were finally selected for the “2nd Korea Local 100.” Hwarangdae Railroad Park and Nowon Light Garden (Nowon Craft Beer Festival) were selected in the cultural attraction (space) category, and Nowon Moonlight Walk was selected in the cultural content category.

A view of Hwarangdae Cheoldo Gongwon. A distinctive full-size train (a Czech tram) blends well with the surrounding scenery. Provided by Nowon District.

Local 100 (Top 100 Local Cultural Attractions) is a project by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Regional Culture Promotion Agency to discover local cultural assets and foster them into nationwide brands. Starting with the 1st round of selections in 2023, more than 1,000 cultural assets across the country competed last year, and after intense competition and screening, 100 attractions and pieces of content were finally chosen.

The selection criteria included attractiveness, uniqueness, connection with local culture, and the impact on enjoyment for residents and visitors. The process involved expert evaluations, a nationwide online vote, and big data analysis.

In the Seoul metropolitan area, only 10 cases were chosen as Local 100, and Nowon District is the only autonomous district in Seoul that had two selections and at the same time swept both the space and content categories.

Hwarangdae Railroad Park is one of 22 cases nationwide that were selected consecutively in both the 1st and 2nd rounds of Local 100. The railroad park, which forms the highlight of the more than 6 km Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail, had already featured the Light Garden, a landscape with a café train, and the Train Village Switzerland Pavilion. Recently, a European-style express train restaurant, Express Nowon, and the Train Village Italy Pavilion were each added.

The Nowon Craft Beer Festival, held here over the past three years, has further amplified the park’s appeal. An analysis of actual festival visitor data showed that visitors from other areas outnumbered district residents.

Nowon Moonlight Walk is a nighttime lighting festival that has illuminated the autumn of Danghyeoncheon Stream with light every year since 2020. It has moved away from the conventional method of renting existing works and floating them along the waterfront, and has been reborn as a premium festival that balances public interest, artistic quality, and popularity. The exhibits are newly curated each year, and collaboration with residents is promoted, creating opportunities to share a natural cultural sensibility along the walking paths.

In 2024, overseas guest works linked to the “Yuejin Lantern Festival” in Tainan City, Taiwan, were exhibited at Nowon Moonlight Walk. Building on this, last year a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed to facilitate ongoing cultural exchange.

At Hwarangdae Railroad Park's newly opened Nowon Train Village - Italy Pavilion, Oh Seungrok, mayor of Nowon District, is introducing the exhibit (Daejeoncha Gyeonggijang) to visitors. The second person from the right is Gatto Emilia, Ambassador of Italy to Korea. Provided by Nowon District.

According to KT big data analysis, the number of visitors in 2023 reached 956,000 (196,000 of them, or about 20%, from outside the district), an increase of 44% compared with the previous year. In 2024, it was selected as an exemplary case for the Local Government Productivity Award, and in 2025 it attracted 1.32 million visitors.

Oh Seungrok, Mayor of Nowon District, said, “It has been proven that Nowon’s cultural assets have risen to a level where they can proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with Korea’s most attractive cultural offerings,” adding, “We will create a fully realized cultural city where people can share cultural abundance throughout the year.”

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