Milyang Spicy Food Festival: Spicy Flavors from Across Korea Gather in Milyang

Around 40,000 Flock to Inaugural Milyang Spicy Food Festival

Crowds Show Its Potential as a Signature Event

Milyang City, South Gyeongsang Province, proved the potential of its ambitious new festival as a signature local event, drawing crowds of around 40,000 over two days to the first Milyang Spicy Food Festival.

Scenes from the Miryang Spicy Taste Festival. [Photo provided by Miryang City]

Held for the first time this year under the slogan “Take the Challenge! Extreme Spiciness Beyond Your Limits,” the Milyang Spicy Food Festival featured spicy food through a range of tourism offerings, including food, hands-on activities and performances. In particular, it was designed to showcase Milyang’s unique character by drawing on local resources, such as Matna Hyang chili peppers, a specialty of Muan-myeon in Milyang, and the Samyang Foods Milyang Plant.

The Milyang Culture and Tourism Foundation said the 2026 Milyang Spicy Food Festival, held over two days from October 31 to November 1 along the banks of the Milyang River, concluded successfully.

The festival grounds drew visitors with a variety of food and hands-on activities. The “Spicy Zone,” the festival’s main area, featured numerous spicy food specialists from across the country, including local businesses from Milyang, offering a wide selection ranging from popular spicy dishes to unusual menu items. A “Relax Zone,” where visitors could cool down after tasting spicy food, was also set up for their convenience.

“Challenge! Fill the Scoville Scale,” a participatory program inviting visitors to try increasingly spicy foods, received an enthusiastic response and became one of the festival’s signature attractions. At “The Chef’s Table,” featuring Chef Kang Leo, special cooking demonstrations and tasting events showcased dishes made with Matna Hyang chili peppers, helping promote the quality of the region’s agricultural specialties.

The foundation said the festival saw a notable influx of visitors from other regions and younger people, and demonstrated the potential to boost tourism through collaboration between local merchants and businesses from across the country.

A representative of the Milyang Culture and Tourism Foundation said, “The festival gave us a clear opportunity to confirm the potential of spicy food offerings based on local resources.” The representative added, “We will continue to improve the program based on feedback from visitors and participating businesses, and develop longer-stay tourism packages linked to major attractions so that the festival can help revitalize the local economy.”

The 2026 Milyang Spicy Food Festival’s draw of around 40,000 visitors over two days is expected to have a significant ripple effect on Milyang’s tourism industry, local economy, sales channels for agricultural specialties and city brand value, going beyond the success of a single festival.

In particular, because the festival brought together local industrial resources, including Matna Hyang chili peppers, one of Milyang’s signature agricultural products, and the Samyang Foods Milyang Plant, it has the potential to generate economic and industrial benefits beyond those of a one-off event.

If the Milyang Spicy Food Festival is developed not merely as a food event but as Milyang’s signature industrial tourism festival, integrating agriculture, the food industry and tourism, it is expected to lay the groundwork for the city to grow into a nationally recognized spicy food tourism destination and a hub for the spicy food industry.

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