The 8th Hongcheon Wild Greens Festival — a feast of spring flavors and mountain aromas nurtured across Hongcheon’s hills and fields — opened on the 1st at Tori Forest in the City Forest Park. Designed to encourage locals to enjoy wild greens produced in the region, the festival brings together 29 groups from the Hongcheon Wild Greens Research Association, 10 groups from the Hongcheon Mountain Ginseng Association, and the Hongcheon County chapter of the Korea Professional Foresters Association. They’re showcasing pristine Hongcheon wild greens such as gomchwi, myeongi-namul, and cham dureup, along with mountain-cultivated ginseng and other forest products.
There’s plenty to eat and do to keep visitors entertained.
Local eateries are serving dishes made with Hongcheon myeongi — registered as Geographical Indication No. 46 for forest products — including myeongi hot dogs, assorted wild-green pancakes, and surichwi injeolmi. All are prepared with regional ingredients.
The festival also runs a self-serve dining area where visitors can buy fresh wild greens and grill them alongside Hongcheon Han-don pork.
A variety of hands-on experiences continues for families. Activities include planting wild-green seedlings, foraging for wild greens, wild-green art workshops, make-your-own-goods stations, moru doll making, and natural dyeing. At the Wild Greens Exhibition Hall and the Wildflower Exhibition Hall, visitors can see Hongcheon’s diverse wild greens and native plants all in one place.
Onstage, local club performances, wild-greens contests, the Hongcheon Rock Dance Festival, and the "Thumbs Up" guerrilla concert run through the 3rd.
Through the 2nd, festival shuttle buses will also take visitors to Palbong Mountain to join a Dangsanje ceremony — a traditional ritual praying for the village’s well-being and a bountiful harvest.
Jeon Myung-joon, chairman of the Hongcheon Cultural Foundation, said, "This year’s Wild Greens Festival fully captures the pristine spring of Hongcheon. With Family Month underway, we hope families will share the season’s energy through Hongcheon’s food and traditional culture and enjoy a meaningful time together."
