The 2026 Hwacheon Tomato Festival, which ran for 10 days, has drawn praise for strengthening its financial foundations and making a significant contribution to the local economy.
Hwacheon-gun in Gangwon Province said Monday — one day after the festival closed — that this year's extended edition focused on three goals: raising visitor satisfaction, improving program quality and boosting the festival's contribution to the local economy.
Officials said the festival delivered meaningful results on all fronts, citing the successful introduction of a paid entry format for the main event "Find the Golden Ring," a local gift-voucher scheme tied to admission fees that spurred additional spending, and strong turnout from both domestic and international tourists for new content.
Despite record heat, organizers counted about 58,000 visitors at the festival grounds. The notably high number of foreign tourists raised hopes that the event could grow into a full-fledged international festival.
Visitors who paid the 3,000-won admission fee received a 3,000-won Hwacheon Love gift voucher in return, which they could spend at local stores — and many added their own money on top, channeling further spending into the local retail economy.
In effect, visitors attended the festival for free, while the vouchers they received flowed directly back into the local economy.
The strong sense of ownership shown by local merchants and vendors also helped uphold the festival's reputation: not a single complaint of price gouging was reported throughout the event.
A significantly expanded festival grounds eliminated the pedestrian congestion that had drawn complaints in previous years.
A sheep farm program, introduced for the first time this year by a ranch operating in Sanae-myeon, proved a hit with young visitors.
The expanded military equipment exhibition went beyond the usual look-only format, letting visitors don combat uniforms, try shooting simulations and take part in mine-detection exercises.
Food offerings also won over the crowds — highlights included tomato ice cream developed by the Hwacheon Healing Center and sold by young farmers from the 4-H Hwacheon County Federation, a lineup of Hwacheon agricultural products expanded to more than 30 items, cold draft beer at affordable prices, and a variety of drinks made from locally grown tomatoes.
"On behalf of the people of Hwacheon, I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who visited the Hwacheon Tomato Festival over the past 10 days," Hwacheon County chief Kim Se-hun said. "We will be back next year with a festival that is even more exciting, even more delicious and even cooler."
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