Winter Festivals

[Anchor Lead]

Winter festivals across Korea that had been delayed due to the warm weather are finally seeing their return thanks to the cold spell gripping the nation. Let’s check it out.

[Pkg]

The icy forest glitters in a vast snowfield. People have fun riding a three-meter-tall swing made with frozen pine trees. They enjoy catching smelt with scoop nets.

[Soundbite] Lee Jung-hwa(Seoul Resident) : "It's more fun to fish in places like this, because children can catch more fish here than on real ice."

Winter festivals in Korea are trying to add diversity in addition to traditional events, such as ice fishing and sledding. Some two million people from Korea and abroad visited winter festivals in Gangwon-do Province during the Lunar New Year holiday period to enjoy various programs offered there.

[Soundbite] Choi Moon-soon(Governor, Hwacheon-gun County) : "We will develop new products and improve services so that tourists can make the best of their stay."

Although winter festivals are drawing to a close, their popularity is as high as ever thanks to their efforts to diversify.