The Ttukseom Hangang River Winter Festival

There are a variety of winter festivals and activities in Korea from ice fishing to skiing, but almost of all of them require a trip outside of Seoul. Inside of Seoul, there’s the Lantern Festival, Christmas Markets, and the Hangang River Winter Festival. This year, the Hangang River Winter Festival is a great chance to go sledding, play carnival games, and catch some fish (with some caveats regarding the fish). The Hangang River Winter Festival will run until February 12, 2024, so don’t miss out!

Sledding Through the Snow in Seoul

This year, the Hangang River Winter Festival is being held at Yeoudio, Jamwon, and Ttukseom. All three location have sledding slopes available for the public. You just have to pay the 6,000 KRW entry fee (sled included) and stand in line for a few minutes.

The line for the sledding slope looked long… because it was. Thankfully, that didn’t deter us because the line moved fairly quickly. There were maybe 100 people in line with 20 – 30 people riding down the slopes at a time. The longest we waited was 15 minutes, while the shortest wait was however long it took to walk up the slope itself.

I haven’t been sledding since I was 10, riding plastic trash can lids down the slopes of the California mountains. And Alexis… grew up in Texas. Neither of us had much expectation for what might be the least impressive snow sport. But it was awesome. Ridiculously fun. All the festival locations have two sledding slopes, one for toddlers and younger children and one for just about everyone else. And while there were a lot of kids on the slopes, there were a whole lot of college students and older joy-seekers giggling and screaming (us included).

Winter Festivities, Carnival Rides, and Food

And if sledding were all there was, it’d be enough. The 6,000 KRW entry fee gets you unlimited rides on the slopes and access to the festival area. There you can play carnival games, ride some small carnival rides, or head over to the snack tent to indulge in Korean snack foods. All for additional fees, of course.

The carnival rides were mostly for children with miniature versions of the swinging Viking boat and a sliding tea cup-style ride. The disco pang-pang was definitely meant more for older audiences. The real eye-opener was the bungee “ride” which straps in riders to a mechanically-powered bungee system that hurdles you 20+ feet into the air. It’s fun to see a grown adult bouncing two stories into the air. It’s a whole other feeling to see a 3 year old bouncing that high up.

The last game was similar to goldfish catching games I’ve played at carnivals in California, but with one small difference.

Fish are Friends… but also Food

For 6,000 KRW, we were handed a small plastic cup and a stick with a shallow metal net on the end of it. The ticket attendant pointed us to a pool of water and wished us luck. Officially, the rules allow you to catch up to 15 small smelt (think anchovies, but smaller) within a 20 minute time limit. Unofficially, we cursed and swung our arms for half an hour trying to catch the little buggers.

Smelt aren’t goldfish. They’re thin, silvery, and wriggle like the Dickens when they’re caught. Alexis kept an eye out for small schools of the fish while I did my best to scoop them up against the walls of the pool. But holy hell are they fast. And small enough that spotting them in the water takes a lot of getting used to. But after 30 minutes of herding the fish into corners, watching the smelt wriggle through the net itself, and waving the net around like a wand… we caught 10 fish and called it a day.

And that’s when we noticed the tent conveniently located right next to the fishing area. One that proudly proclaims, “We fry smelt” in Korean. Yes, dear friends. We offered up our newly caught fish and for an additional 4,000 KRW, we received a bowl of smelt battered in tempura and fried in oil. The guilt was strong, but faded quickly when we realized just how good the fish tasted when dipped soy sauce.

Is this weird? Yes. Was it worth the experience? Definitely, yes.

When is the Ttukseom Hangang River Winter Festival?

The festival started on December 22nd and will run until February 12, 2024. Visitors can enjoy the festivities from 9 AM to 8 PM until December 31st. After that, it’ll be open from 9 AM to 5 PM. The park shuts down for a short break from 12 PM to 12:40 PM every day to refresh the snow.