Beat cold with ice fishing

People enjoy ice fishing at the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival in this 2011 file photo. This year’s festival will take place from Jan. 5 to 27. / Korea Times file

Every winter, vacationers and tourists head bravely and purposefully toward Hwacheon, Gangwon Province.

Some clad in half sleeves and shorts forget the biting cold and dive into icy waters to catch “sancheoneo,” a mountain trout, with their bare hands. Others bundle themselves up waiting for the fish in the frozen river.

Since the festival first began in 2003, the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival has attracted more than 1 million visitors every year. Named as one of the seven wonders of winter by CNNGo, it is becoming a magnet for winter activities such as skiing, skating, snowboarding and sledding.

People participate in lure fishing as part of the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival. Festival-goers can enjoy ice fishing on the frozen river or catching fish with their bare hands. / Courtesy of Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival

The event is seeking to vie with the world top winter festivals such as Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, China’s Harbin Ice Festival and Canada’s Quebec Winter Carnival.

Notable for its beautiful shapes with unique dotted patterns on its back and marks on its side, the fish inhabits fresh, cold and clean waters of 20 degrees Celsius and below. The Hwacheon municipal government has raised “sancheoneo” on farms and releases them into the river during the festival.

The annual event features, among others, ice fishing with lines and hooks through some 12,000 holes on a frozen river. Also lure fishing and catching fish with your bare hands is possible. Lure fishing can be applied on a first-come-first-served basis on the spot without prior reservations. Fishing tools are available at the venue.

“Sancheoneo” or mountain trout

After catching the fish, visitors can cook it or enjoy it as “sashimi” or “sushi” on the spot. The species has firm flesh with a sweet nutty taste and contains nutritious elements.

The festival, which will take place from Jan. 5 to 27, has diverse cultural programs on offer.

Hot spot for foreigners

The event is drawing an increasing number of foreigners seeking a new winter adventure.

Since the festival began in 2003, it has been widely known not only at home but also abroad.

Some 20,000 trout-shaped lamps will be turned on in the main streets of Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, during the festival.

The number of foreign visitors to the festival has risen from 1,200 in 2006 to 1,370 in 2007, 2,050 in 2008, 3,030 in 2009, 7,000 in 2010 and 25,721 in 2012.

The recent rise in the number of foreign participants is attributed to an MOU that the Hwacheon municipal government established with nine travel agencies in Singapore, Taiwan, China and Thailand in 2009. Also, CNN’s introduction of the festival as one of the seven wonders of winter last year increased its popularity.

“Many tourists from these countries are seeking winter activities because for them it is rare to see snow. So they usually go to ski in Korea. But now they are increasingly rushing to our festival because they think it’s unique aside from other activities such as skiing or snowboarding,” Oh Se-bin, official of the festival organizer, said.

An increasing number of foreigners take part in the festival seeking new winter experiences. / Courtesy of Hwacheon Mountain Trout Ice Festival

He also said that reflecting the explosive popularity of foreign visitors, the organizer launched the foreigners-only fishing zone in the festival from 2010. The zone can accommodate some 1,000 people at a time to give more opportunities for them to enjoy the festival.

“Recently, individual foreigners not from the travel agencies are calling us for inquiries to visit the festival. It’s a really good sign. The popularity goes viral through word of mouth among non-Koreans,” he said.

Responding to the rising number of the foreign tourists, the organizers offer interpreters fluent in English, Japanese and Chinese at the venue to help them use the program.

Ice, art and light

This year, the festival will launch a new art project called the Snow Fun Park. At the park, media artist Ryu Bi-ho, painter Cha Hye-lim, sculptors Yoon Du-jin and Kim Taik-gi who are leading the Korea art scene will present their works in collaboration with 10 rising artists.

The project is designed to create a platform to communicate with the public through art. Consisting of six themes, the media art will be installed along with the snow sculptures.

The festival offers other activities which can be done on the ice such as skating, ice hockey, sledding, curling, bobsleighing and ice soccer.

To add more interests to the festival, the organizers will open the Asia Ice Lights Square and World Winter City Square on the main streets of the region, decorating them with colorful, luminescent lights.

In the Asia Ice Lights Square, works are shaped like the world’s famous buildings such as the Taj Mahal, the Lotus Temple and Sungnyemun (National Treasure No. 1), and animation characters.

Some 20,000 trout-shaped lamps will be turned on during the festival and “hanji” (traditional mulberry paper) lanterns will light up the festival night.

A sled-making contest is also one of the favorite programs among the festival-goers. Every year, the program attracts a large number of participants to showcase various individually crafted sleds. There is no limit in size and design as long as the sled can hold more than one person. Unique sleds shaped like fish, spacecraft and a toilet were eye-catching among visitors last year. Most of the participants for the sled making join the program as a team to build up their solidarity while working together.

Visitors can make reservations on the official website, www.narafestival.com.

For more information, call 1688-3005. <The Korea Times/Chung Ah-young>