Winter Festivals are very popular in Korea, and the Pyeongchang Trout Festival is an event you don’t want to miss out on! This past Saturday we took a day trip to Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do to experience firsthand what these festivals have to offer.
The bus picked up our group members in 3 different locations around Seoul, and then we departed the city at 8:30am. We arrived in Pyeongchang around 11am, gathered together for a group picture, and then we were free to take part in many of the different festival activities.
Unfortunately, due to rain and warm weather earlier in the week, the ice was too thin for ice fishing, so instead we were given coupons to participate in bare-handed fishing which was just as exciting! Many people gathered around the pool to witness the brave souls who were willing to jump into icy cold water to participate in bare-handed fishing.
The announcer did a great job of pumping up the crowd before the bare-handed fishing event by playing popular trot music and holding dance battles that resulted in prizes such as bags of rice cakes, and even free trout!
I joined along in the dance-off and was lucky enough to win a free trout without having to fish for one in the icy water.
More than 20 participants gathered around the freezing cold pool ready to jump in while a large crowd of spectators gathered around the fence to watch.
The announcer said it was time for everyone to hop in and catch some trout and the large group of participants jumped into the icy water and tested their skills at bare-handed fishing. They splashed around and tried many different techniques to catch the trout, and most of the participants were successful and waved their trout in the air before putting it in a plastic bag to take to the restaurant.
We got hungry as lunchtime approached, so we brought our freshly caught trout to a large tented restaurant to have it prepared as a meal. I chose to have mine grilled. The restaurant was filled with groups and families sitting down to enjoy the delicious trout meals. A variety of other foods were offered and it was a great place to sit down and socialize with others while taking a break from festival activities.
We spent the rest of our time enjoying some of the free activities such as ice sledding and snow sledding. We hopped on the sleighs provided and pushed each other around and felt like we were flying across the ice. We also sat on small sleighs and used ice picks to glide ourselves across the ice.
Beautiful detailed ice sculptures were on display throughout the festival which provided the perfect opportunity to take memorable photos. We were able to walk into igloos and experience being surrounded by snow and ice creations.
Other activities were taking place at the festival for an extra cost. These activities included snow rafting, ATV rides, and snow tubing. The tour guide was able to trade in my bare-handed fishing coupon for a free snow rafting ticket. I hopped into a 6-person yellow raft that was pulled by a snowmobile across a large area of snow and hills. No words could describe the thrilling experience of flying through the snow at high speeds and gliding across snowy hills.
Overall, the trip was an amazing experience full of exciting winter festival activities. Our tour guide was very helpful and gave us free reign to participate in many activities as he took photos of videos to send to us so we could look back on this unforgettable trip. I look forward to returning to the trout festival when the ice is thick enough for ice fishing. We departed Pyeongchang at 4:30 and arrived back to Seoul around 7:00pm.
This festival was a great way to celebrate winter and spend time with friends and family while participating in unique activities and enjoying delicious freshly-caught trout. It was great to travel outside of the big city and enjoy breathtaking views of mountains and snow. The Pyeongchang Trout Festival is happening everyday from January 17th-February 16th. Instead of staying indoors during the winter season, grab 5 or more of your friends and family and come along on this exciting winter experience!
Written by Diandra Freese
