Visitors to the Hwacheon Tomato Festival on Aug. 2 look for the golden ring in a vast tomato pool in Sachang-ri, a village in Sanae-myeon Township of Hwacheon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province.

By Kim Seon Ah
Photos = Lee Jeongwoo

Hwacheon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, is famous for sancheoneo (mountain trout) and tomatoes.

From Aug. 1-3, the county hosted the 21st Hwacheon Tomato Festival. The attendance of 1,800 foreign visitors among the some 120,000 who went punctuated the event's growing international profile.

Hwacheon tomatoes are both tasty and famous due to the area's clean environment and unique climate. The high altitude and big temperature gap between day and night heighten the fruit's sweetness and taste, with just one bite enough to win people over.

Yet not all the tomatoes produced in the region are marketable. To prevent economic loss, the festival's organizing committee has the county purchase tomatoes to be discarded from farmers. This helps stimulate the regional economy and tourism as well as promotion of regional tomatoes.

This year's festival featured about 40 programs, the most popular being "Find the Golden Ring."

Foreign tourists on Aug. 2 give a thumbs up at the annual Hwacheon Tomato Festival in Sachangri, a village in Sanae-myeon Township of Hwacheon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province.

A gargantuan tomato pool in Culture Village of Sachang-ri, a village in Sanae-myeon Township of Hwacheon-gun, brimmed with tomatoes.

As soon as the host hollered, "Find the golden ring!" everyone jumped into the pool. The participants were of all ages and seemed eager and excited about their task.

They searched through the tomatoes with their feet, hands and arms, and some looked quite serious in digging into the tomato one by one. As soon as someone yelled, "I found it!" everyone instantly turned toward the voice.

A golden ring shined through the winner's fingers. Everyone looked happy as they smiled, their faces red from tomatoes.

Lee Hyeonseo, a visitor from Seoul, said, "Finding the golden ring was hard due to the throngs of people, but it was so much fun. At first, I thought it was a waste of tomatoes but I heard that the festival uses tomatoes that would have been thrown away."

Lee Eunbi from Paju, Gyeonggi-do Province, said, "The festival was a unique and fun experience packed with prizes. I plan to come again."

sofiakim218@korea.kr