The Hwacheon Sancheon Fish Festival, which has been selected as the representative festival of the Republic of Korea for four consecutive years, announced its opening on the 14th. Thanks to the powerful cold weather that had been visited two or three days ago, Hwacheoncheon was not frozen. More than 200,000 tourists went to the first weekend. They faced the wind and heated up fishing for trout. The best part of the Mountain Trout Festival is silk fishing. From zip wires to ice sleds, you won't have 24 hours a day to chill out. Let's go to the winter kingdom Hwacheon to fully enjoy this winter.

Hwacheon is a beautiful country rich in mountain resources. Surrounded by Ilsan, Byeongpungsan, Maebongsan and Duryu, the Bukhangang River flows southwest of the county. In particular, Lake Paro is famous for its superb view of the lush trees that surround it. However, it did not receive much attention as a tourist destination due to the surrounding cities such as Chuncheon and Pocheon. One of the reasons was the relatively low accessibility due to the twisted national road and the limited development of tourism resources due to the military area.

In this situation, villagers developed a winter festival that reversed the closed environment. The main program is to catch mountain trout, a first-class cold water native fish, on the ice. Hwacheon's average winter temperature of minus 7 degrees made the burdensome content of ice fishing possible. The festival, which was first launched in 2003, was selected as the 'Festival Festival' selected by the Ministry of Education in 2006, followed by the 'Excellent Festival' and 'Best Festival'. Now its reputation and recognition are comparable to the world's three major winter festivals, such as the Sapporo Snow Festival, Harbin Ice Festival and the Canadian Winter Carnival.

This year's Mountain Trout Festival will be held for 23 days from January 14 to February 5. In order to prevent tourists from escaping at low tide in the evening, the city has greatly enhanced the benefits such as expanding night ice fishing and free admission to night fishing when using accommodations in Hwacheon-gun. Hwacheon's strategy of attempting to transform into a stay-type festival without compromising on the exceptional record of mobilizing more than 1 million tourists for 10 consecutive years is already ahead of expectations.

The early-bird spirit is needed to enjoy the Mountain Trout Festival more effectively. The festival is so large and crowded that the series of experiences leading to entry, fishing, dining, and night events is not memorable.

Usually, people line up like dawn to get a ticket. The time required for grilling and circuit-cooking the caught mackerel is at least 30 minutes, so it is important to be prepared to start fishing at 9:00 am, the opening time. If you settle well, you can achieve '3 per person,' which is allowed during the morning. If you ever get out of the fishing field empty hands do not need to be too sad. There are many restaurants selling wild trouts throughout the festival. If you meet your talented neighbor Kang Tae-gong and get a free fish, you can get a free prize.

The taste of wild trout sashimi is very sweet. It is cloudy and dark in color compared to the red-colored trout, but lacks the earthy or fishy taste of freshwater fish. It's even slightly oily like saltwater fish. Moderate salted grilled sea trout also grabs the taste of both ages.

It is a big fish with a length of 2 ~ 30cm and its flesh is thick. The lack of taste attracts tourists to Hwacheon every winter.

From late afternoon after fishing and eating, you can enjoy ice skating at the Ice Sled Square and the event booth. You can experience ice sledding, figure skating, snow sledding, bobsleigh and other items at a low price of about 5,000 won.

There is also a wide range of winter culture villages where you can experience skiing across rivers, make sweets, make traditional games, and burn wishes with straw wire.

If you have time, you can drop by at Santa Post Office and send a message directly to Santa. The pure eyes of the children expecting Santa's reply color the white hearts of the passing adults.

Hwacheon night is more beautiful than day. A bright red with thousands of bulbs is a sign that another world is open.

On the first street, there are big and small events such as free beer tasting, pierrot ballooning, celebrations, and spinning wheels.

A glass of free beer reflects the spirit of Hwacheon residents who overcome the winter with an unconventional spirit.

You can feel the romance of winter night even in indoor ice sculpture square. Created by the ice sculpture experts of Harbin Ice Festival, this space is colorfully decorated with landmarks from around the world. There are many cute photo zones, and lovers and young children are particularly happy. The indoor ice sculpture plaza is located a little away from the riverside, but if you take a slow walk through the food plaza and the leading street, you can arrive in about 15 minutes. In front of the indoor ice sculpture plaza, there is also an event where the Cho Kyung Chul Observatory installs an astronomical telescope and allows tourists to observe the moon and the planet.

If you enjoy playing, seeing and eating, the day feels very short. If you want to experience the best of the festival and Hwacheon's specialty, we recommend you to visit for a night instead of the day. Staying at Hwacheon will give you the benefits of free night fishing, so be sure to stay motivated. In addition to the entrance fee, there will be various additional costs, but most of them are cheap and a certain amount can be returned to Hwacheon Love Gift Certificate. Hwacheon Love Gift Certificates can be used like cash at farms and specialty stores located throughout the festival. Popular items include tomato laver, tomato juice, and homemade jam. Hwacheon also hosts a tomato festival every August using its specialty tomato, so if you feel sorry to leave this small country village, let's pledge this summer.

Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival
-Address: Hwacheoncheon and Hwacheon-gun, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do
Contact: 1688-3005

http://www.narafestival.com/01_icenara/

Restaurants near
-Cheonggigi House: Freshwater Maeuntang / 18, Hwacheonsaesul-gil, Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do / 033-442-4440
-Daecheong Maru: Gondredolokbap, grilled sulfur sulfur / 8, Jungang-ro 5-gil, Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do / 033-442-1290
-Name: Sogarihoe / 57, Sangga-ro, Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do / 033-442-2957

Rooms
-Bae Saeng Park: 31-4, Jungang-ro 2-gil, Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do / 033-442-3009
-Yeonhee Motel: 2, Jungang-ro 4-gil, Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do / 033-441-0071

※ The above information was written in January 2017.It may change afterwards, so please check before you travel.
※ The information such as text, photos and videos used in this article is copyrighted by Korea Tourism Organization, so unauthorized use of the article is prohibited.