[On-the-Ground Report] Cauldron Rice and Trot Fever... '2026 Haenam Minam Festival' Delights All Five Senses, Wraps Up Successfully

More than 70,000 visitors on opening day... Kim Yongbin and Seongri fan clubs fill the seats
Plenty of activities, including rice tasting, monaka-making, and sweet potato digging
Fewer food stalls and no play equipment... Restroom shortages and other disappointments also noted

At 6 p.m. on October 30, the main event venue at Duryunsan Provincial Park in Samsan-myeon, Haenam County, South Jeolla Province, was already so packed that it was difficult to find an empty seat, ahead of the “Minam Trot Celebration Show,” the evening performance on the first day of the 2026 Haenam Minam (味南) Festival.

Members of Kim Yongbin’s fan club, holding matching colored cheering items, filled the front rows early. After Choi Yuna and Hong Jiyoon took turns heating up the stage, cheers erupted throughout the audience as Kim Yongbin appeared for the final act.

At the "Minam Trot Celebration Show," held at the main venue on the first day of the 2026 Haenam Minam Festival, singer Kim Yongbin delivers a passionate performance. Choi Yuna and Hong Jiyun also took the stage, drawing cheers from the audience. Photo by Lee Jungkyung

The audience changed the following evening, October 31. At the “Minam Romantic Concert,” which began at 6:30 p.m., Seongri’s fan club filled the seats. Fans’ cheers reverberated through the venue when singers Jadu and Seongri appeared. Earlier, from 3:30 p.m., the youth festival “Back to the Youth” had taken over the main stage. Both nights ended with a closing performance by the band The Blue Years. Fandoms helped draw crowds to the festival.

This year’s Minam Festival, organized by Haenam County under the theme “Be Immersed in the Flavors of Haenam,” was held across Duryunsan Provincial Park for three days, from October 30 to November 1. It is a leading culinary festival in the Jeolla region, where visitors can taste and experience local agricultural and marine products, with Haenam rice at its center.

National Assembly member Park Jiwon, Haenam County Governor Myung Hyeongwan, and Haenam County Council Chair Min Gyeongmae attended the 'Haenam Minam Festival' to celebrate its opening. Reporter Lee Junkyung

Assemblyman Park Jiwon, Haenam County Governor Myung Hyungwan, Haenam County Council Chair Min Gyeongmae, provincial council members, and county council members were among the many who attended the festival, adding to the excitement and lending distinction to this signature local food festival. According to Haenam County, more than 70,000 cumulative visitors attended on the first day alone.

Long Lines for Rice Cooked in a Cauldron... Plenty of Rice-Based Activities

On the morning of the opening day, October 30, local residents opened the festival with a performance of women’s farming songs on the main stage. Seniors in the audience clapped along to the rhythms of the work songs once sung in the fields.

A large arch woven in layers of yellow, purple, and orange chrysanthemums decorated the venue entrance. Tourists kept pulling out their phones in the “Chrysanthemum Festival Zone,” where animal sculptures made of chrysanthemums stood along an archway. Even on Friday afternoon, people had filled areas throughout the venue early, and crowds grew further on Saturday, October 31, as families arrived.

This year's Minam Festival featured a variety of food stalls, in addition to the food and snack halls. Reporter Lee Junkyung

The rice-tasting corner drew the most attention. Visitors eagerly reached out as steaming rice from a huge cauldron was served on Haenam gopchang-gim seaweed with kimjang kimchi on top. Samples of Haenam’s signature rice brands, “Hannune Banh an Ssal” and “Ttangkkeut Haetsal,” were offered twice a day, free of charge to the first 100 people each time.

The rice-based cooking experience area was also bustling. Activities were held once or twice a day to make “Haenam Sammi (Three Flavors) Monaka,” filling monaka wafers made with Haenam rice with red bean paste, and “Haenam’s Ssukgulle.” Each session was free and open to 120 people. Half of the spots were filled through online advance registration, and the other half through on-site registration. Many of the participants were families, with children in tow and aprons on.

At the agricultural and seafood sales zone at the 2026 Haenam Minam Festival, local residents sell Kimjang kimchi made with Haenam cabbage and Haenam rice. Photo by Lee Junkyung

At 1 p.m. on October 31, visitors took part in a kimchi-mixing experience using cabbage grown in Haenam. At the experience site in Gurim-ri, Samsan-myeon, “Sweet Potatoes in My Arms,” where visitors could dig up and take home their own sweet potatoes, was held four times a day.

The “Nostalgic Roasting Area” looked like a campsite transported to the venue. Visitors sat around fire pits beneath shade tents, roasting and eating sweet potatoes, sausages, garaetteok rice cakes, and marshmallows. At the multicultural food experience booths, visitors could sample Chinese xiaolongbao, Japanese takoyaki, and Vietnamese banh mi for free, and try on traditional clothing and hats.

The themed pavilion, under the theme “A Canvas of Rice, Haenam’s Wind, and a Farmer’s Devotion,” showcased the journey of Haenam rice, from rice ears to milled rice. Rice gelato presented by the Haenam Cultural Tourism Foundation was popular with younger visitors. Lines also formed for an on-site event offering keychains shaped like sweet potatoes, cabbage, seaweed, and rice to visitors who followed Haenam County’s social media accounts.

The themed pavilion at the Haenam Minam Festival showcases the journey of Haenam rice, from rice ears to milled rice, as well as the region's signature rice brand, "Hanune Banhan Ssal." Reporter Lee Junkyung

14 Food and Snack Stalls... From a Jeolla-Style Feast to Treats

Food offerings were divided between a food hall and a snack hall. Seven local restaurants set up in the food hall, serving a Jeolla-style spread that included duck soup, spicy braised ribs, seasoned skate, Hwangchil pork wraps, abalone and beef soup, and Korean beef soup with rice. At lunchtime, the hall was so crowded that it was difficult to find an empty seat.

The seven snack stalls were mainly run by local organizations, including the Haenam County Council of the Korean Red Cross Volunteer Corps and the residents’ councils of Okcheon, Hwasan, and Sani-myeon. Snacks made with Haenam produce caught visitors’ attention, from five kinds of fried food, tteokbokki, and large chicken skewers to Sani Bogam bread, ginseng hotteok, chestnut pumpkin sikhye, and cactus cider. The venue also had a nursing room, stroller and wheelchair rental services, and a children’s rest area.

At the snack pavilion, members of the local residents' council are selling treats such as fried foods and tteokbokki made with agricultural products from Haenam. Reporter Lee Junkyung.

Fewer Food Stalls and No Play Equipment... “Still, I’ll Come Again Next Year”

There were also some disappointments. The number of food stalls was noticeably lower this year than last year. This may have contributed to the crowds at the food hall around lunchtime. Visitors also regretted that outdoor play equipment such as the air bounce attractions, which had been popular with children last year, was not installed this year. Although convenience facilities were available, some said there was not enough space for children to run and play freely.

Managing facilities during peak hours, when visitors gathered all at once, also remained a challenge. Around the celebratory performance on the first evening, when more than 70,000 people had visited, one restroom at the venue broke down under the heavy demand, inconveniencing visitors. The restroom was soon repaired, but the incident pointed to the need for facility inspections timed to performances expected to draw large crowds, as well as additional temporary restrooms.

Family groups of tourists are sampling a variety of Haenam foods at food stalls and taking part in hands-on activities. Photo by Lee Junkyung

A Kim in his 30s, who said he had visited the festival with his son this year after attending last year, said, “We came because there was so much food and so many things to do last year that my child asked to go again. But I was a little disappointed that outdoor rides like the air bounce attractions from last year weren’t here this year.” He added, “There’s such a wide variety of food that we’ll definitely come back next year.”

The festival wrapped up its three-day program on November 1 with a rice ball-making activity and the finals of the O Gitaek Song Festival.

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