Enjoying a Winter Festival in South Korea - Taebaek Winter Festival
After two weeks, we said goodbye to Seoul (for now). Taking a 3hr train, we were able to attend the 2023 30th Annual Mt. Taebaek Winter Festival (태백산 눈 축제). Staying in the town of Taebaek for 4 days.
Here’s all the information you’ll need if this is something you might want to do!
When: The festival starts on January 27th, and It is put on for five days (1.27-1.31). Every year it is typically scheduled for a long weekend anywhere between late January to early February.
The opening ceremony starts on the evening of the 27th. This is where they introduce the festival, and the town Mayor, and have performances from many Korean singers!
Kudos to the singers, because it was FREEZING!
There are more performances that happen throughout the days of the festival, and there are lots of festive lights in the town center to enjoy!
The next day we were able to get to Tabaek National Park - this is where the large ice sculptures are made every year! The sculptures are as tall as 7 meters! The ice sculptures are created by college students!
The festival also has all kinds of other activities!
traditional ice sledding
Igloo cafe - serving jujube tea, coffee, and hot chocolate
Polaroid photos for free
Snowman making
Trying Korean traditional teas
Tube sledding
Flying traditional kites
Cooking Korean traditional snacks on the fire
And of course lots of street food!
Oh daeng (Korean fish cakes) - essentially “meat” on a skewer, drink the broth as well!
Hoddeok - small snack-size pancake filled with brown sugar and sunflower seeds! Oliver’s favorite!
Red bean cakes - small bite-sized cakes filled with sweet red bean cream.
Ddeokbokki - rice cake cooked in a red pepper paste sauce
Try it with fish cake skewers (oh daeng)
One of the largest events they put on is a hiking competition! We didn’t participate in the competition but still got a nice hike in. Summiting Munsubong Peak.
There are PLENTY of places to stay in the town of Taebaek and around the National Park. The National Park alone has 15 properties with a total of 73 rooms.
Next time we visit, we’ll definitely be staying in the park.
If you want to stay in the National Park - rates for a room during peak season (months of January, February, July, and August) are: 45,000 KRW (2 person)
for a Family room 75,000 KRW (6 person)
And there are also houses for bigger groups.
Rates for a room during non peak season are: 30,000 KRW (2 person)
For a family room 55,000 KRW (6 person)
For reservations: https://reservation.knps.or.kr
Between the months of July and August Taebaek also holds another festival. Taebaek is known for the exploration of the Nakdong River and Han River. To commemorate, every year they hold a summer festival.
We’ll be in the city of Daegu for the next few weeks! Saying goodbye to the snow for now!
