A massive 50-ton kimchi workshop kicks off in Seoul – join the Seoul Kimchi-Making Festival this winter!

▲ Seoul Kimchi-Making Winter Festival, photo from the 2014 event. (Image / from?聘?钎桓衷?official website, the same below)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Seoul Plaza is about to turn into a sea of red as the 3rd Seoul Kimchi-Making Winter Festival is set to take place from November 4th to 6th. The 6,000-square-meter Seoul Plaza will become a “super-sized kimchi workshop” where up to 50 tons of winter kimchi will be prepared, attracting travelers from around the world and locals to share, make, and taste the UNESCO-recognized Intangible Cultural Heritage — “Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in winter.”

▲ The event has drawn large crowds since its first edition. Photo from the 2014 event.

The 3rd Seoul Kimchi-Making Winter Festival will feature a variety of activities, including a Kimjang Street Market where you can taste and buy delicious kimchi, lively music performances, a Hanbok Day to experience traditional Korean culture, and kimchi-making workshops. The previous two editions of the festival attracted both domestic participants and international friends who love Korean culture, creating a vibrant atmosphere.

▲ Many foreign visitors participated in the kimchi-making activity.

Making winter kimchi is a traditional Korean cultural practice. To prepare for the long, cold winter, people would make large quantities of kimchi in advance. Due to the scale of preparation, neighbors and families often helped each other, turning it into an opportunity to strengthen community bonds. Since it represents more than just “making” kimchi — it’s a collaborative folk custom and a way of coexisting with nature — the tradition of winter kimchi-making has been designated by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

▲ Korea’s Seoul Kimchi-Making Winter Culture will be held at Seoul Plaza, covering 6,000 square meters.

This year, to help descendants of Goguryeo who settled in Japan 1,300 years ago continue their unique culinary heritage from Korea, a “Tokyo Kimchi-Making Winter Festival” will gather a thousand people to make kimchi simultaneously in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. For the first time, both Korea and Japan will hold opening ceremonies together to celebrate the kimchi-making winter festival.

Seoul Kimchi-Making Winter Festival (聘?钎桓衷?)
Date: November 4–6, 2016
Venue: Seoul Plaza, Sejong-daero, Muhan-ro