Yeoncheon County's Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival Wins '2026 Brand of the Year Award'

Yeoncheon County Sees 770,000 Consumer Votes
Top 1% in Campaign Category with Strong Support from People in Their 20s and 30s

The Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival, a representative historical and cultural event in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, has received the 2026 Brand of the Year Award, selected directly by consumers.

Kim Deokhyun, governor of Yeoncheon County, is holding the award plaque received for the Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival in the Campaign category of the 2026 Brand of the Year Awards and posing for a commemorative photo. Provided by Yeoncheon County

On September 3, Yeoncheon County announced that the Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival had been selected as a winner in the Campaign category at the 2026 Brand of the Year Awards, hosted by the Korea Consumer Forum.

Now in its 24th year, the Brand of the Year Awards is the nation’s largest brand award ceremony, where standout brands of the year are selected through consumer voting. This year, a new Campaign category was established to recognize outstanding campaigns carried out by companies and local governments.

The selection was based on the results of online and individual telephone surveys conducted between June 29 and July 12. A total of 772,399 people participated, casting 7,954,023 votes. The Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival ranked among the top 1% of campaigns through this national consumer vote.

Notably, support from the younger generation stood out. By age group, those in their 20s accounted for 39.21%, and those in their 30s for 38.28%, together making up over 77% of the total. By gender, women comprised 54.29% and men 45.71%. Regionally, Gyeonggi and Incheon reached 35.96%, followed by Seoul with 24.83%. The festival also garnered wide support across various occupations, including office workers, homemakers, students, and professionals.

The Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival is a prehistoric cultural event held against the backdrop of the Jeongok-ri site, where the earliest traces of humanity on the Korean Peninsula have been discovered. It features modern reinterpretations of prehistoric culture, including Paleolithic barbecues, a global Paleolithic experience zone, Jeongokrian costume studio, Paleolithic Olympics, and Paleolithic performances.

The festival was also included in the '2026-2027 Cultural Tourism Festival' list selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. As a result, it has been designated as a cultural tourism festival for eight consecutive years, from 2020 to 2027.

Yeoncheon, where the festival is held, is home to the Jeongok-ri site, the Hantan River UNESCO Global Geopark, and the Imjingang UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, offering diverse historical and ecological tourism resources. Based on these assets, Yeoncheon County plans to develop the Paleolithic Festival into a global prehistoric cultural event that transcends Korea.

In particular, there are plans to transform Yeoncheon into a preeminent prehistoric tourism city visited by people from around the world, in connection with the ‘2029 Yeoncheon World Paleolithic Expo.’

County Governor Kim Deokhyun stated, “It is a truly meaningful achievement for the Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival to be selected by consumers as one of the top 1% in the Campaign category of the 2026 Brand of the Year Awards.” He added, “Based on the world-class asset that is the Jeongok-ri site, we will promote the historical and cultural value of K-culture and grow the festival into a global brand that attracts people from all over the world.”

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