Korea Winter Festivals 2027: Ice Fishing, Snow Sculptures, and Which Ones Still Open

Korea's winter festivals are built on ice, and ice has become less reliable. The famous ones happen on rivers and reservoirs in Gangwon Province that freeze hard enough to walk on, with fishing through holes drilled in the ice, sled runs and snow sculptures. But a festival on a frozen river needs the river to freeze. In recent winters several have opened late, and some haven't opened at all.

The Inje Bingeo (smelt) Festival, which once drew around 200,000 visitors, did not take place in 2024, 2025 or 2026. The ice on its reservoir didn't form thick enough, and the water level stayed too high. In 2026 Andong's Amsan Ice Festival was cancelled for the same reason. The Pyeongchang Trout Festival, due to open on January 1, 2026, was pushed back to January 9 by a warm spell. Choosing a festival now means choosing one that has kept opening, and timing the trip for the weeks when the ice is most likely to hold.

The winter guide covers the two best known, Hwacheon's ice festival and Taebaek's snow festival. This one covers the others, and how to pick.

Why Ice Festivals Move: Warm Winters and Thin Ice

An ice-fishing festival needs ice thick enough to hold thousands of people, and organisers measure it before they open. A mild December, or a thaw in January, pushes opening day back or shuts sections of the ice partway through. That is why dates announced in autumn are provisional, and why the safest window is the middle of the season: from mid-January to early February the ice has had longest to form and the thaw hasn't started.

Snow festivals are less fragile. Their sculptures are built from snow the organisers make or collect, so a festival like Daegwallyeong's can go ahead in a dry winter, but even these depend on cold enough weather to keep the sculptures standing.

Pyeongchang Trout Festival: Ice Fishing on the Odaecheon

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival runs on the frozen Odaecheon stream in Jinbu, in Pyeongchang County. In 2026 it ran from January 9 to February 9. Visitors fish for trout through holes in the ice or in a bare-hand fishing pool, and the catch can be cooked at stalls on the grounds. Around the fishing there are other activities on and around the ice.

It is one of the easiest festivals to reach without a car. Jinbu has a KTX station on the Gangneung line, and the festival grounds are a short taxi ride from it. The station also serves Yongpyong and the other Pyeongchang ski resorts, which makes the festival easy to pair with skiing.

Hongcheon River Kkongkkong Festival: Ginseng Trout Near Seoul

The Hongcheon River Kkongkkong Festival is held on the frozen Hongcheon River in Hongcheon town, closer to Seoul than Pyeongchang or Hwacheon. In 2026 it ran from January 9 to 25. Its draw is the local ginseng trout, raised on Hongcheon's ginseng, which visitors catch through the ice and eat grilled or raw at the festival. Its run is shorter than the big festivals, a little over two weeks, so the dates matter more here.

Hongcheon is reached by intercity bus from Seoul, which makes it a realistic day trip for anyone staying in the capital. It is also near Vivaldi Park, one of the larger ski resorts.

Daegwallyeong Snow Festival: Snow Sculptures in Pyeongchang

The Daegwallyeong Snow Festival is a snow festival rather than an ice-fishing one, held on the plateau of Daegwallyeong, one of the snowiest and coldest places in South Korea. Its centrepieces are large snow and ice sculptures, alongside sledding and snow activities. The 2026 festival, the 34th, ran from February 13 to 22. Admission was around ₩10,000 for adults, though sources differed on weekend pricing.

It runs later than the ice-fishing festivals, in mid-February, which matters for planning. In 2026 it opened four days after the Pyeongchang Trout Festival closed, so the two did not overlap, even though they sit a short drive apart.

Hwacheon and Taebaek

Hwacheon's Sancheoneo Ice Festival is the largest of them all, with more than a million visitors across its run. In 2026 it ran from January 10 to February 1. Taebaek's snow festival, in Korea's highest city, runs in late January and early February. Both are covered in the winter guide, along with how to reach Hwacheon, which has no train station.

Choosing a Festival and Building the Trip Around It

The festivals group by place, and the groups decide the trip shape.

Pyeongchang is the one cluster where several things sit together: the trout festival in Jinbu, the snow festival on Daegwallyeong and the big ski resorts, all within a short drive of each other and on the KTX line that runs on to Gangneung. Staying one or two nights there covers a festival and a day of skiing. Catching both festivals in one stay depends on the year's dates: in 2026 the gap between them was four days.

Hongcheon and Hwacheon work as separate day trips from Seoul. They sit in different directions, and the winter guide's advice on Hwacheon applies to both: treat each as its own day rather than trying to link them.

Timing comes before the festival choice. Mid-January to early February is the window when the ice festivals are most likely to be open, and in 2027 that window contains Seollal, February 6 to 9, when roads into Gangwon fill and the festivals are at their busiest. The Seollal guide covers what the holiday does to travel. A trip's dates, and how many of them can go to Gangwon, decide which cluster fits.

Practical Notes

All of the 2027 dates are still to be announced, and the ice festivals usually confirm their opening only once the ice has been measured, so check close to the trip and keep a fallback day. Gangwon's interior is much colder than Seoul, often well below freezing through the day, and standing on ice for hours is colder still: insulated boots, gloves and a hat matter more than anything else on the packing list. Fishing gear is sold or rented at the festival grounds, so there is nothing to bring. Weekends are far busier than weekdays at every festival, and a weekday morning is the best time to get a good spot on the ice.