Gimcheon City Unveils New Festival Trend with First 'Campnic Festival'

A Family-Friendly Healing Festival Combining Camping and Picnicking
To Be Held on September 5 at Sunnadeul Park near Buhang Dam
From Hot Air Balloon Rides and Bushcraft Activities to Sports Day and DJ Performances

Gimcheon City in North Gyeongsang Province is launching a new type of festival, combining camping and picnicking, following its previous initiatives with gimbap and graffiti, as part of efforts to diversify local tourism content.

Gimcheon City announced that it will hold the '2026 Gimcheon Campnic Festival' for the first time on September 5 at Sunnadeul Park near Buhang Dam.

'2026 Gimcheon Campnic Festival' Poster [Provided by Gimcheon City]

'Campnic' is a portmanteau of 'Camping' and 'Picnic,' characterized by allowing visitors to enjoy leisure time in nature without the need to prepare separate camping equipment. The city plans to foster this festival as an experiential tourism content targeting families, encouraging longer stays in the region.

The festival will feature unique programs such as hot air balloon rides that offer panoramic views of Buhang Dam's natural scenery, as well as bushcraft workshops where participants can learn essential survival skills for the outdoors.

Programs for families will also be available, including a recreational sports day, treasure hunts, bubble and balloon shows, and DJ performances. A dedicated children's play zone will be set up with a mini train, air bounce playground, and nostalgic arcade games to encourage families to extend their visit.

Free activity booths will also be operated, offering tattoo stickers, face painting, and Indian tent-making so that visitors can leisurely enjoy the festival in nature.

In particular, the Campnic Festival is expected not only to be a one-day event but also to enhance the usage of local tourism resources around Buhang Dam, extending visitor stays and stimulating the region’s economy by driving activity in local accommodations, restaurants, cafes, and tourist facilities. As more families visit, this is anticipated to boost revenue for local small businesses and the tourism sector, and help establish the Buhang area as a new hub for experiential tourism in Gimcheon.

Gimcheon City plans to actively promote the beautiful natural scenery and tourist resources of Buhang Dam through this festival and further develop it into an extended-stay tourism content linked to regional tourism products in the future.

Park Mijeong, Director of Gimcheon City's Tourism Policy Division, said, "As this is a festival starting on a small scale, we have focused on preparing programs that allow visitors to participate and enjoy themselves. Beginning with this festival, we aim to widely publicize Buhang area's excellent tourism resources and establish a new tourism model for Gimcheon, developing it into a leading regional festival that encourages longer visitor stays."

If the Gimcheon Campnic Festival successfully evolves beyond a one-off event and becomes an experiential festival linking regional tourism and local consumption, it has the potential to serve as a new growth driver for tourism in the Buhang area.

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