Catch the Golden Trout

Catch Trouts with Bare Hands

The 14th Pyeongchang Trout Festival kicked off on Dec. 30. It runs through Jan. 29, 2023 at the Odaecheon Stream in Jinbu-myeon of Pyeongchang County. 

(제14회 평창송어축제)

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival has taken place every year since 2007 with the theme ‘Winter story with snow, ice, and trout’ and it returns after a three-year COVID-19 hiatus.

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival became the main winter festival with over 500,000 visitors, and it was designated as a cultural tourism festival by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

At the opening ceremony, the Committee of the Pyeongchang Trout Festival (Chairman Hwang Bong-gu) will be holding the Hanbok Fashion Show on December 30, 2022, at 3 P.M. CEO Isaiah, who planned the fashion show said, “I combined design elements of Han Dressia and the natural environment of Pyeongchang County for the fashion show. I hope to spread Hanbok to global markets in this fashion show”

The Committee of the Pyeongchang Trout Festival also plans to hold the ‘Catch Golden Trout’ event during the festival. Those who catch some trout with labels designated by the Committee of the Pyeongchang Trout Festival will receive pure gold.

Pyeongchang is the place where a trout farm first started in Korea. Pyeongchang trout is bigger, firmer, and tastier than trout from other areas.

Pyeongchang is at a 700-meter altitude with clean water, and the main festival programs are ice fishing holes drilled into the ice, tent fishing, lure fishing for trout, and bare-hand fishing for fighting off the cold weather. Even beginners can learn how to catch fish, and everyone can enjoy the thrill of fishing.

If you want to catch trout, with more thrills, try bare-hand fishing. In this program, you can snag some trout before it runs away with your bare hands. The bare-hand fishing provides a different thrill than traditional fishing.

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival also has an indoor fishing hole for children and a special fishing site for foreigners so that more people can enjoy the trout-fishing experience.

Any trout caught from ice fishing and lure fishing can be immediately prepared at nearby restaurants. You can either eat the trout like sashimi or roast the trout on the spot.

If you want to try different trout dishes, visit a fish restaurant that provides 15 different menus, including spicy raw trout salad, raw trout bibimbap, sweet and sour trout, and spicy trout stew.

The winter festival will be a great opportunity for anglers and other holidaymakers as it offers various winter sports as well as ice fishing.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8LCH16ruf0

Aside from ice fishing and lure fishing, visitors and family members can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sledding, skating, ice-bike riding, snow rafting, and riding four-wheel ATVs.

The children’s favorite snow sledding slope got much bigger, and it’s now 120 meters long and 40 meters wide. There is also an ice sledding rink right next to the snow sledding slope.

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival also features concerts and performances by local artists.

Chairman Hwang said, “Since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Pyeongchang has become a global winter festival city.” "We will try our best to ensure safety and create an environment where visitors can enjoy the trout festival in Pyeongchang.“