SEOUL, January 13 (AJP) -A small borderland county of some 20,000 residents readies itself each winter for a global influx of visitors, as Hwacheon opens its doors to the world-famous Ice Fishing Festival.
The first glow appears on Seondeung Street, the gateway to Hwacheon-gun in Gangwon Province. Lined with some 27,000 handcrafted mountain-trout lanterns and LED lights, the street becomes a river of light at dusk.
Each lantern is made of hanji, traditional Korean paper, painted with trout motifs and crafted over the past year by about 120 elderly residents from five local townships — a quiet collective effort that turns into a dazzling public spectacle.
On Saturdays during the festival, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., traffic is halted and the Seondeung Street Festival takes over. K-pop cover dances, pop-up dance battles, DJ sets, magic, bubble and fire shows animate the street, while visitors drift between park-golf experiences, luck games, tarot readings and face painting.
Seondeung Street lights up daily from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., continuing through Feb. 8 — a winter night market where handmade lanterns, local rhythms and cold mountain air welcome winter guests long after the sun goes down.
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