Gangjin Ham Festival Expands Spending to Downtown Businesses Beyond Festival Grounds

Opening Delayed by One Hour and More Shuttles Added
Encouraging Use of Restaurants, Cafes, and Accommodations

Gangjin County in Jeonnam Gwangju Metropolitan City will be shifting the focus of this year’s Ham Festival from visitor numbers to spending that translates into benefits for the local commercial district.

According to Gangjin County on August 25, the 4th Gangjin Ham Festival will be held from the 27th to the 29th at Gangjin Sports Complex. The operating hours are from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily. Compared to last year, opening has been delayed by one hour. This adjustment is intended to avoid the midday heat and to give visitors enough time to patronize the downtown commercial area before coming to the festival.

Last year's Gangjin Haemak Festival site. Photo by Gangjin County

Transportation linking the festival site and local businesses will also be expanded. For the first time, shuttle taxis will operate between Gangjin Station and the festival venue. The shuttle bus, which stops by the CNS 2nd Apartment commercial area and connects the venue with downtown businesses, will continue to run. The taxi stand will be moved further inside the entrance of the sports complex.

The number of vendors at the festival site will be reduced from 26 last year to 18 this year. All 10 food vendors are local Gangjin businesses. This reflects feedback from last year’s participants that a higher number of vendors led to dispersed sales. In addition, vendors that previously sold alcoholic beverages outside the venue will now operate inside the site and focus mainly on side dishes.

There will be no agricultural and specialty product booths or free camping area in operation. Last year, sales of agricultural products reached only 1.18 million won over three days. The campground, which hosted 20 teams per day last year, has been removed to encourage the use of local accommodations.

Gangjin County also confirmed that local spending increased during last year’s festival period. From August 28 to 30, 2025, sales on Gangjin’s section of the public delivery app ‘Meokgaebi’ reached 72,482,400 won, a 73.5% increase compared to the three days prior to the festival. Water usage in 125 restaurants and cafes in Gangjin-eup rose by 5.17% compared to normal levels.

Last year’s festival attracted 75,019 visitors. The total sales of vendors at the festival venue amounted to 139.22 million won.

Gangjin County Mayor Kang Jinwon stated, “We cannot judge the success of the festival solely by the number of visitors and festival venue sales. We will operate the festival so that its excitement extends to local commercial districts.”

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