Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival: The Foreigners' Fishing Area and How to Get There (2026)

Every January the river in Hwacheon freezes and a festival opens on the ice: you drill a hole and fish for sancheoneo, a landlocked mountain trout. Thousands of people seated on a frozen river is the image it is known for.

For a foreign visitor, two things stand out. There is a separate fishing area reserved for foreigners, and a passport alone discounts every programme.

The 2027 dates are not announced

As of September 2026, the 2027 dates have not been announced. Every page of the festival’s own site, English included, carries a line saying the content belongs to the 2026 festival and that 2027 content is in preparation.

The last edition ran from Saturday 10 January to Sunday 1 February 2026, 23 days. In the official history, since 2010 it has opened without exception on the first or second Saturday of January and run 23 days — a pattern, not a promise. If dates matter, check the site around November.

Every price below is from the January 2026 edition. The 2027 prices are not out.

There is a fishing area just for foreigners

The most useful thing to know here. Its official name is the Foreigners & FAM Tourists Ice Fishing Area, downstream of the suspension bridge, in a zone separate from the general areas.

• Open 09:00–18:00 (ticketing 09:00–17:00). Unlike the general areas, there is no weekday or weekend split.
• Capacity 1,300.
• Individual foreign travellers (FIT) pay ₩10,000 (about $7.50) and get ₩5,000 (about $3.75) back as a Hwacheon local gift voucher. Overseas travel-agency groups (MOU) pay ₩15,000 (about $11) with a ₩10,000 voucher.
• Children under 4 are free.

The facilities are the real advantage. The official guide states that the area has a foreigners’ rest area, a Muslim prayer room and a grill zone, and the English page names the prayer room explicitly. That is unusual for a Korean festival.

Booking it is awkward. There is no online channel on the official site — only a phone number, the Hwacheon County Global Marketing Team on 033-440-2328. Whether advance booking is required is not stated.

Oddly, the price table for this area appears only on the English site, not the Korean one.

Bring your passport

Even if you skip the dedicated area, bring it. The festival’s fee table lists “foreigners (holders of a foreign passport)” among its discount categories, covering ice fishing, lure fishing, bare-hand catching, night fishing and the indoor ice sculpture hall. Programmes that cost ₩15,000 drop to ₩10,000.

The official text says proof must be presented and discounts cannot be combined, so bring the physical passport, not a photo.

What you actually do

Ice fishing is the centre of it, across three areas.

• Walk-up area — downstream, first come first served, capacity 8,000. The official guide warns that weekend slots often sell out during the morning.
• Reservation area — upstream, booked through NOL Interpark; whether foreigners can book that way, or whether overseas cards work, could not be confirmed.
• Foreigners’ area — above.

Gear is mostly not provided. The official packing list is a rod, bait, a chair and an ice auger — and the auger is the only item provided on site. There is a tackle shop inside the grounds, but whether rods can be rented is not stated. Only artificial bait is allowed, and only eco-certified tackle.

Bare-hand catching may be the more famous part

The scene most photographs come from: into the icy water, trout caught by hand.

• Seven sessions a day, on the hour from 10:00 to 16:00. Same-day sign-up, closing 20 minutes before each session.
• A T-shirt and shorts are issued, with changing rooms, lockers and a footbath.
• You go in with bare hands and bare feet, and have 3 minutes to catch up to 3 fish.
• Age 14 and over only. Pregnant people and anyone with a health condition are excluded.

You eat what you catch

Beside the fishing areas are a grill zone and a sashimi counter: hand over your trout and they cook it — the grill takes 15 to 20 minutes, sashimi about 10 minutes, both ₩3,000 (about $2.25) per fish.

There is an important limit. The official notice states that they do not sell fish other than the ones you caught — catch nothing and you cannot buy one. Taking fish home is capped at 3 per person.

Getting there from Seoul

Hwacheon has no railway station, so a bus is unavoidable.

Option 1 — direct from Dong Seoul Terminal. First bus 06:45, last 18:10, about 2 hours 55 minutes, ₩14,400 (about $11).

Option 2 — via Chuncheon, the route the festival’s own site recommends. ITX-Cheongchun from Cheongnyangni to Chuncheon Station, about 1 hour at ₩9,600 (about $7.20), or Namchuncheon, about 55 minutes at ₩8,300 (about $6.25), then an intercity bus to Hwacheon at ₩5,800 (about $4.35), every 30 to 60 minutes.

An official warning is attached. Because the buses are busy during the festival, boarding at Chuncheon Station may leave you without a seat. Boarding at the Chuncheon Intercity Bus Terminal is safer.

The terminal-to-festival leg is the problem

The shuttle to the festival site runs at weekends only: Sat–Sun 09:00–18:00, four buses every 20 minutes, the intercity bus terminal included on the loop.

No official weekday transport from the terminal to the site could be confirmed — the official site does not cover it, so if you arrive midweek, sort this leg out in advance. The programme overview lists a foreigner shuttle bus, but with no route, times or details anywhere.

Things people say about this festival

You will see “CNN named it one of the 7 wonders of winter” almost everywhere, and the Korea Tourism Organization’s own page says it was selected by CNN in 2011.

But check it. The festival’s own site makes the claim without naming CNN. Its invitation text calls the festival one of the 7 winter wonders of the world and one of the 4 great winter festivals, with no source given, and the word “CNN” appears nowhere on the site. The original article could not be located — treat it as the organiser’s own marketing phrase.

Visitor numbers need the same caution. The last edition with an official attendance figure is 2019, at 1.8 million; from 2020 onward there are none at all.

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism grades: Global Growth Festival in 2019, Korea Representative Festival 2014–2018. Nothing recorded after 2020.

Some years are missing

Three years are absent from the official history: 2011, 2021 and 2022. Every other year is listed, which reads as the festival not being held — but the site gives no reason.

2020 also opened unusually late, on 27 January, where neighbouring years all opened between 4 and 14 January. A postponement is implied; no official reason was found.

Fishing area rules

Not knowing these can get you turned back at the entrance.

• No outside food, checked at the entrance.
• No ice boxes, coolers or polystyrene boxes. Bags for your trout come from the operations booth.
• No tents, windbreaks, heaters or gas stoves — a sightline and fire-risk rule. Which means your clothing is your only protection from the cold.
• No smoking anywhere in the fishing area, and no pets.
• Take-home limit 3 fish per person.

Practical notes

• Dress for it. The official guide recommends a winter coat, boots, gloves and hand warmers, plus a large padded chair.
• Staying overnight in Hwacheon can make the fishing free. Use accommodation in Hwacheon County and keep the receipt: 2 free fishing vouchers under ₩100,000 (about $75), up to 6 at ₩150,000 (about $113) or more. A screenshot of a phone booking is not accepted as proof.

Wrapping up

This festival suits foreign visitors because it needs no language: you drill a hole, wait, catch something, and someone cooks it.

Three things to remember: bring your passport (everything is discounted), ask about the foreigners’ fishing area on 033-440-2328, and if you are going on a weekday, work out the terminal-to-site leg before you travel.

The 2027 dates look likely around November — check the official site again then.

Related reading: Skiing in Korea