Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival
화천산천어축제 · Hwacheon, Gangwon
– Confirmed dates
2027 dates confirmed on the organizer's own English site (9–31 January). Not in the tourism dataset, so this one is checked against narafestival.com directly.
Festival dates move every year — confirm on the organizer's own site before booking.
Last verified: 2026-08-31.
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The Hwacheoncheon freezes solid enough to fish through by hand. Consistently among Korea's biggest winter draws.
Who it suits: Winter visitors who want an activity rather than a viewing — ice fishing by hand, and the one festival here with real day-tour inventory from Seoul.
When, where, how much
From the organizer
Organized by Hwacheon County. These pages are the organizer's own and open on their site. They are usually Korean only — but that is where the confirmed programme, stage times and site map appear first, and times and prices read the same in any language.
Read our full guide to this festival →
Where it is
Where it is in the country — 88 km north-east of Seoul
About 155 km across — 5 other places we cover sit inside it. The pick of them is listed below.
88 km north-east of Seoul, in Hwacheon, Gangwon (straight-line distance from Seoul City Hall, calculated from the venue's official coordinates).
We have not timed these connections ourselves, so rather than print a number we have not checked, here is the route on the two apps Koreans actually use — Hwacheon Stream, in the town centre as the destination, already filled in:
- Directions on Kakao Map — live bus and train times, and which platform
- Naver Map — the stronger of the two in English
From Seoul, journeys to Hwacheon start at Seoul Station (KTX and regular rail) or the Express Bus Terminal. Which of the two wins depends on how many cities you are stringing together — our rail pass guide works through the break-even, and getting around Korea covers why these two apps beat Google Maps once you are on the ground.
Getting there and staying
There is a guided day trip to this festival, which solves the transport question if the venue is awkward to reach on your own:
Festival weeks fill local rooms earlier than you would expect. What is available in Gangwon right now:
Outside the big cities, wifi is not something to plan around. Shuttle stops, stage times and the day's program are posted on the organizer's Korean-language page or a Naver Map pin, and they change on the day. A Korean eSIM is the cheapest way to have it working before you land.
Planning a trip around it
Nothing else on this calendar falls within ten days of it, so this one does not compete with another festival for your dates.
Other festivals in Gangwon
Same province, different times of year — useful if you are choosing when to visit Gangwon rather than when to leave home.
- Pyeongchang Trout Festival — January, Pyeongchang, Gangwon
- Cheorwon Hantangang River Ice Trekking Festival — January, Cheorwon, Gangwon
- Daegwallyeong Snow Festival — February, Pyeongchang, Gangwon
- Chuncheon Mime Festival — May, Chuncheon, Gangwon
- Gangneung National Heritage Night — August, Gangneung, Gangwon
Other museums within reach
- Chuncheon National Museum — Chuncheon, Gangwon State, about 28 km away.
A mountain in the same trip
Korea's national parks charge nothing to enter, and these are close enough to pair with the rest of this trip rather than needing one of their own.
- Seoraksan Hiking — about 73 km away.