Gangwon Province: Music Bank Concert and Hanwoo Festival Experience

Do you like Korean music? Are you also one of the millions of people around the world who love K-POP? Fangirl? Fanboy? For those who enjoy and love Korean music, attending a concert in Korea is really a dream come true. Actually, I like Korean music, too. I often listen to ballad songs and some k-pop music. However, I am not an avid fan of any Korean soloist or any K-pop group. Or I should say I’m just a low-key fan. I also fancy watching live concerts in Korea because I’ve never been to any concerts before and I want to experience it. Yes, getting a ticket is really hard yet, I was able to attend a music bank concert and Hanwoo festival as well, in Gangwon Province. Besides, this concert and festival tour were all free. 

Gangwon Province

The province of Gangwon is located east of Seoul. Gangwon a fascinating province filled with the beauty of nature that gives you spectacular sceneries and attractions. Chuncheon is the capital of Gangwon Province. International sports games such as the 2018 Winter Olympics, and 2018 Winter Paralympics, were also held in Pyeongchang County in Gangwon. 

FEstivals In gangwon

Several festivals are held in different regions of Gangwon Province. As a matter of fact, one of its festivals, the Gangneung Danoje, was registered in UNESCO‘s Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. I hope someday I will be able to witness and experience this remarkable festival in Gangneung. Nevertheless, I got a chance to attend other festivals in Gangwon, the Hanwoo Festival in Hoengseong County.

By joining a one day tour with a group of amazing foreigners to Gangwon Province, I experienced these two special programs for free, the Hanwoo Festival and the K-POP music bank concert. Round-trip transportation (Seoul<->Gangwon) and K-pop concert standing tickets were all free. And from Seoul to the Hanwoo Festival location, it took about two hours to ride by a tour bus.

Hanwoo Festival

The Hanwoo or Korean Beef Festival of Heongseong is an annual festival that lures and attracts a huge number of people to come and taste the tender Korean beef at affordable prices. There are a lot of booths that sell various kinds of foods at the festival venue. There are also performances that you can watch and various agricultural experience programs during festival celebrations. 

Music Bank Concert

Right after having lunch at the Hanwoo Festival, our group headed to Gangneung for the K-POP concert. The concert venue was in Gangneung Stadium, located within the Gangneung Olympic Park, one of the main sites of the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was a music bank concert, a South Korean music program, wherein some famous artists and K-pop groups appeared during the live broadcast show. Baek Ji Young, Twice, Red Velvet, NCT Dream, Seventeen, and a lot more performed at the concert. 

As expected, numerous people attended the k-pop concert, mostly foreigners. It was my first time to join such lively shows, so I was overwhelmed with the ambiance of the concert grounds. The fans were so energetic, and the whole stadium was so loud. It was just so fun while you sing along with your favorite K-pop groups with or without your lightsticks on. The concert lasted for about 2 hours, I enjoyed it a lot, and I really had a great time. On our way back to Seoul, they also gave us a tumbler cup as a souvenir from the tour. 

This one day free tour to Gangwon was made available for foreigners only. It is one way of promoting local tourism of the province to foreigners. This kind of opportunity is very rare. I am so lucky they gave me this limited offer and got a chance to live one of my bucket list in Korea, attending a concert and festival experiences. 

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