2021 Jeonju Bibimbap Festival Kicks Off Under the Theme of 'World Bibim Week'

Jeonju, a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, announced that the 2021 Jeonju Bibimbap Festival, the typical gourmet festival of the city, is to be held on every weekend during October 9 - 31, 2021 in the vicinity of Jeonju Hyanggyo in Jeonju Hanok Village and online.

Under the title of the World Bibim Week, the bibimbap festival is designed and supervised by Ryu Jae-hyeon, Executive Director, focusing on a food festival to deliver the best taste while promoting sociability that is represented by ?mixture'. The event is to take place on a small groups reservation basis.

The four week-festival features ?day' programs on each weekend under different themes including Bibim Week (Day for Couples), Vitamin Week (Day for Wives), Protein Week (Day for Husbands) and World Week (Day for Families). And other special and standing programs and special exhibitions are also held.

On the first weekend of the Bibim Week (Day for Couples), the event delivers the life-changing meal program ?Insaeng Matchan', where selected couples are invited to the best restaurants with splendid views to enjoy the full course meals of experienced chefs.

On the second weekend of Vitamin Week (Day for Wives), healthy foods are served that can relieve stress and be beneficial for diets. The healthy and delicious food program 'Geongang Matchan' offers vegetarian meals, poke made of local food ingredients, and a variety of salads for those who want to experience a vegetarian diet or healthy foods. In addition, ?Buddhist Monk Daean', an artisan of temple cuisines, introduces gastronomy art, gastronomy & beautiful story meditation and gastronomic vegetarian foods.

The third weekend of the Protein Week (Day for Husbands) prepares a delicious meat foods program ?Gogi Matchan' to allow husbands to choose gravy-rich meats depending on their own taste.

The fourth weekend of the festival will feature World Week when family members can experience Oriental and Western tastes and culture. The World Week offers a ?Gastronomy Halloween' program and campaigns such as ?Dining with Parents'.

Standing programs this year include taste concert and experiences joined by artisans of Jeonju traditional foods; ?tastes and concert' that allows participants to taste foods and enjoy performances; a ?gastronomy theater', a wireless theater showing silent films featuring unusual foods; ?traditional Korean-style house picnic' that allows visitors to enjoy foods at quiet and still space of Korean-style houses; and special exhibitions using unoccupied stores along the Jeonju Hyanggyo, a Confucian School.

"A pitiful situation is that the limited number of citizens and tourists can enjoy the festival as only those people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are allowed to participate based on advance reservations in small groups," said an official at tourism industry division, Jeonju City government. "We look forward to seeing citizens and small business runners feel pleasure and comfort with traditional foods and elegant scenes of Hanok Village of Jeonju, the UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy".