Late autumn brings a chilly breeze that makes warming up with good food and high spirits essential. November is surprisingly a peak month for culinary celebrations across South Korea, offering plenty of exciting food festivals to explore.
Savoring Fresh Ramen and Noodles
Since the pandemic, B-grade snack festivals have surged in popularity, with iconic events like the Gimcheon Gimbap Festival and Wonju Mandu Festival leading the way. The Gumi Ramen Festival, held from November 6 to 8, is another absolute must-visit for noodle lovers. Gumi is home to Nongshim’s largest domestic ramen production plant, making it a true mecca for instant noodles. Visitors to the festival can taste freshly manufactured, piping-hot noodles straight from the factory. This year’s event also features a limited-edition domestic wheat ramen, with exactly 200,000 packs available for purchase, alongside unique local variations infused with monkfish, snow crab, and pine mushrooms.
Meanwhile, the Daejeon Noodle Festival runs from November 13 to 15, putting the spotlight squarely on noodles. Daejeon is renowned for its kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), boasting over 700 noodle shops. The city’s noodle culture traces back to the aftermath of the Korean War when wheat flour arrived as relief aid, naturally giving birth to affordable and fast noodle dishes. This year’s festival lineup includes exciting cooking shows by famous chefs such as Hong Seok-cheon and Raymon Kim.
Tteokbokki and Seasonal Harvest Festivals
In Sunchang, Jeollabuk-do, the Sunchang Korea Tteokbokki Festa takes place on November 21 and 22. Attendees can watch a live cooking show by Chef Cho Kwang-hyo, who appeared on Netflix’s Physical: 100 style culinary show Black and White Chef 2, and join a hands-on tteokbokki sauce-making workshop hosted by Kang Soon-ok, South Korea’s sole certified master of gochujang (red pepper paste). The event also offers scenic trekking courses through the Sunchang Fermentation Theme Park and local folk villages.
Festivals celebrating seasonal fruits and seafood are also unmissable. Goheung, the country’s top producer of yuzu, hosts the Goheung Yuzu Festival from November 12 to 15, where visitors can stroll through fragrant orchards and make their own yuzu preserves. Down on Jeju Island, the southernmost Moseulpo Port hosts the Yellowtail Festival from November 19 to 22. Festival-goers can enjoy bare-handed yellowtail catching, cage fishing experiences, and traditional singing performances by Jeju’s famed female divers, haenyeo.
