Seorak Cultural Festival

The Seorak Cultural Festival is Sokcho's signature local cultural festival, continuing since the first Seorak Festival in 1966 and carrying the history and culture shaped around Seoraksan Mountain along with the lives and stories of Sokcho's residents. Marking its 61st edition this year under the theme ‘Seorak, Coloring Together’, the festival looks back on 60 years of tradition and history and takes a step further as a festival where residents and visitors create new stories together. While carrying on the festival's long-standing identity, it will present a new Seorak Cultural Festival through varied programs in which residents become the protagonists and take part directly. In particular, it revisits the historical meaning of ‘Seorak Sosa (雪嶽小祀)’, the central rite held since the first Seorak Festival, adding commentary and storytelling to the traditional ceremony so that residents and visitors can understand and relate to it more easily. The ‘Seorak Climbing Event’, which carries on the mountaineering culture that was part of the festival from the start, includes a climb along the normally closed Dalmabong Peak trail and a Seoraksan concert, letting participants take in the beauty of Seorak in autumn. The festival's signature ‘Street Parade’ is a community parade in which local residents, clubs, schools and arts groups take part directly. Staged on Seorak Rodeo Street, it brings together residents across generations and neighborhoods, offering the joy of a festival that people make and join rather than simply watch. At the Sokcho Expo Lawn Plaza, community programs including the ‘Sokcho! Cheerful Sports Day’ continue alongside performances by local arts groups, fringe performances and a club festival. There are also programs for the whole family, such as local culture experiences and a children's playground, and the ‘Seorak Rodeo Street Commercial Revitalization Project’ and the ‘Sokcho Culture City Gourmet Week’ are linked to the festival to make it even richer. After 61 years, the Seorak Cultural Festival now begins a new chapter and a new story.