▲ This Yonhap file photo shows visitors enjoying the annual Gangneung Coffee Festival. (Yonhap)

 

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- The 18th Gangneung Coffee Festival kicked off Wednesday for a five-day run through Oct. 25 at Gangneung Coffee Street and other locations across the city.

 

Held under the slogan "Coffeeful Gangneung," this year's festival combines Gangneung's coffee culture with the city's unique attractions, including the sea, pine forests, cuisine and leisure activities. It is designed as a destination festival where visitors can stay and experience the city, rather than simply drink coffee.

 

In particular, this year's festival introduces a large-scale open-air cafe, with 200 sets of outdoor tables arranged along a 350-meter stretch of Gangneung Coffee Street, transforming the entire street into an open cafe.

 

▲ This Yonhap file photo shows visitors enjoying the annual Gangneung Coffee Festival. (Yonhap)

 

A "coffee picnic" area equipped with camping chairs, hammocks and tables has also been set up in the expansive Songjeong pine forest, while the "Starry Night" program will be held at Anmok Beach in the evening.

 

The festival's signature "100 People, 100 Flavors" program will bring together 100 participants, who will brew coffee using their own beans and brewing equipment and share it with residents and tourists.

 

"Variety of Gangneung Coffee," featuring 20 local cafes, and "Variety of Coffee Bean Shops," offering coffee beans and drip bags, will also operate during the festival.

 

At the coffee experience zone, visitors can try various activities, including hand-drip brewing, siphon brewing and roasting.

 

At Gangneung Port, the "Coffee Wave" program will allow visitors to enjoy coffee aboard a yacht. A new leisure program, "Coffee Therapy," combines coffee with singing bowl meditation and yoga.

 

In conjunction with the Gangneung ITS World Congress, held from Oct. 19-23 and dubbed the "Olympics of transportation," the festival is also offering "Barista's Table" and "I, Too, Am a Barista," which allow visitors to experience Gangneung's coffee culture firsthand.

 

"Barista's Table" is a food program featuring signature coffee prepared by baristas alongside traditional desserts such as Gangneung hangwa, dried persimmons and yakgwa.

 

For families, the Songjeong pine forest coffee picnic area will feature a variety of programs, including "Book Trip," coffee busking, a children's playground, a coffee sports event and fireworks.

 

Festival activities will also extend beyond the main venue at Anmok Coffee Street to Jumunjin, Okgye, Jungang Market and Ojukheon, where the "Coffee Festival, Our Neighborhood Branch" will offer coffee tastings, hands-on activities and busking performances.

 

Five shuttle buses have also been newly added to improve transportation convenience for visitors.

 

Gangneung City and the Gangneung Culture and Arts Foundation completed preparations for the opening by installing major facilities, conducting final safety inspections and setting up booths for participating businesses.

 

"At this year's Gangneung Coffee Festival, we have incorporated Gangneung's unique attractions, including the sea, pine forests, cuisine and leisure," Eom Geum-mun, head of the city's Culture, Tourism and Marine Affairs Bureau, said. "We will make it possible for visitors to experience the appeal of Gangneung as a city of coffee throughout the city."

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]