Busan Mackerel Festival

About the festival

The Busan Mackerel Festival is held every October since 2008 at Songdo Beach, which is recognized as Korea's first public beach and a hot place in Korea, boasting various tourist resources such as Songdoyonggunggureumda-ri, Songdo Cloud Walking Trail, and Songdo Marine Cable Car. Utilizing the regional characteristics where about 90% of mackerel caught in the coastal waters are harvested by the large-scale purse seine fishing cooperative and where 80% of the national mackerel volume is traded at Busangongdongeo-Market, the festival aims to revitalize the local economy and foster the tourism industry through the commercialization of tourism products linked with food, cultural arts, and tourist resources. The festival, themed around the national fish mackerel, is planned and promoted collaboratively by fisheries industry stakeholders and local residents, evolving into a cultural arts festival that offers not just food but also attractions and activities, enhancing its reputation as a representative seafood culture festival in Korea that fosters and develops the fisheries-related industry. It operates unique and innovative experience, tour, exhibition, competition, and performance programs such as hands-on experiences at Busangongdongeo-Market, barehanded mackerel catching, surprise mackerel auctions, kayaking to find mackerel, mackerel paper boat racing, seafood direct transaction market, and mackerel food market, providing domestic and international tourists with opportunities to enjoy a distinctive festival experience.

Source: Korea Tourism Organization · TourAPI