"How Well Have Cheongsong Apples Ripened?"... 19th Cheongsong Apple Festival Report Card Revealed

Cheongsong County, which wraps up the year with apples, held the 19th Cheongsong Apple Festival Evaluation Report Meeting to thoroughly review its achievements and areas for improvement.

On December 9, Cheongsong County in North Gyeongsang Province held the 19th Cheongsong Apple Festival Evaluation Report Meeting in the county office’s main conference room.

The 19th Cheongsong Apple Festival Evaluation Meeting. Provided by Cheongsong County

The meeting was attended by Cheongsong County Mayor Yoon Kyunghee, Festival Promotion Committee Chairman Kim Yangtae, members of the festival promotion and executive committees, the leadership of the Apple Association, heads of agricultural organizations, and representatives from participating groups, totaling around 60 people.

Participants took the opportunity to assess the overall operation of the 19th Cheongsong Apple Festival, recognize the current status of the festival, and collect suggestions from various fields to explore ways to further develop the festival.

According to the results report from KTOP Institute, the organization responsible for the evaluation, the five-day festival generated a direct economic impact of 47.1 billion won and an indirect economic impact of 97.2 billion won. The festival has been highly praised as the best event driving the recovery of Cheongsong’s local economy following the large-scale wildfire damage in March.

Furthermore, the most fundamental indicator of festival evaluation-visitor satisfaction-was rated highly, with an average score of 6.06 out of 7. Notably, this is an increase of 0.13 points compared to the previous year, which is interpreted as evidence that the Cheongsong Apple Festival continues to develop and grow each year.

During the meeting, a variety of suggestions for future improvement were made, including enhancing the quality of festival experience programs, operating the festival in an eco-friendly manner, and expanding programs linked to local tourism.

In addition, the Cheongsong Apple Festival was positively evaluated as a model case for local government festival management in several areas, such as high resident participation, the establishment of fixed pricing at apple sales booths, nationwide promotional effects through online festivals, the operation of a complaints center for price gouging and inconveniences, and the introduction of an internal evaluation system. The festival was also recognized as one of Korea’s representative festivals.

The county stated, "The Cheongsong Apple Festival is a core content that enhances Cheongsong’s future competitiveness. Based on the diverse opinions presented at today’s evaluation report meeting, we will strive to create an even more refined festival," and added, "We ask for your continued interest and participation in the Cheongsong Apple Festival in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.