Hello, this is Sokcho Eottae. It is Thursday, September 17, 10 PM, and Sokcho (속초) is having a cool night at 20°C with a few clouds. The chance of rain is 0%, and all three access roads, Misiryeong-ro (미시령로), Donghae-daero (동해대로) and Seoraksan-ro (설악산로), are clear. Even at this hour, though, three spots are showing as 'crowded': Daepo Port (대포항) Observatory, Oeongchi Port (외옹치항) and Cheongchoho Lake (청초호). That means quite a few people are out walking by the sea and the lake, even on a weekday night.
Tonight's news isn't about the sea or the weather. It's about a chance to go from 'someone who watches festivals' to 'someone who makes them'. The N38 Food Culture Festival Academy, run by the Sokcho Culture and Tourism Foundation, is taking additional participants, and the deadline is Monday, September 21. Not counting tonight, that leaves four days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It also falls right before the Chuseok holiday (September 24–27), so if you miss this week, it can easily slip by.
N38 Food Culture Festival Academy: What Kind of Training Is It?
The 'N38' in the name stands for the 38th parallel north. Sokcho, Goseong (고성) and Yangyang (양양) are three neighboring areas near the 38th parallel. They share Seoraksan (설악산) and the East Sea (동해), and they have a shared culture of displaced North Korean families and a shared food culture. The Sokcho Culture and Tourism Foundation is running the 'N38 Sokcho-Goseong-Yangyang Regional Cultural Zone Project' to link these three areas into one cultural zone. This year the project won the top prize (the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award) in the cultural governance category of the national Best Practices in Local Culture awards. The academy builds on that project.
The main idea is simple: find the food stories in our own neighborhoods, and have residents turn them into small festivals themselves. It's not a course where you just listen to lectures. Participants form teams, research on-site, find festival themes, design programs, and present their festival plans.
- Training period: September 16 – November 4
- Class time: Every Wednesday, 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM, 8 sessions in total
- Fee: Free
- Eligibility: Residents of Sokcho, Goseong and Yangyang aged 18 or older with an interest in local culture and festivals
- Additional recruitment deadline: September 21 (Mon)
Most of the Work Happens Outside the Classroom
What makes this course stand out is that participants actually go into real festival sites. According to the published plan, participants will get the following hands-on experience.
- Field trip to the Andong International Mask Dance Festival: This year's festival runs for 11 days, from September 24 to October 4, around Andong Station, Maskdance Park, the old downtown and Hahoe Village. It's a chance to see firsthand how one of the country's biggest festivals plans visitor routes and draws crowds.
- Helping run a booth at the Yangyang Pine Mushroom & Salmon Festival: The 2026 Yangyang Pine Mushroom & Salmon Festival takes place October 16–18 on the Namdaecheon Stream banks in Yangyang. Going as a visitor and standing inside a booth are completely different experiences.
- Team pilot festivals in November: Teams turn the plans they drew up in class into real small-scale festivals.
- Results-sharing session on December 2: The course wraps up with teams sharing their results.
The instructors mix theory with field experience. They include festival planners Lee Su-jeong and Lee Mae-rang, Kim In-seop (Secretary General of the Goseong Cultural Foundation), food culture researcher Ko Young, and local culture planner Lee Tae-seong. Graduates receive a certificate of completion, chances to take part in local festivals, and support for running their team's pilot festival.
Why Build Festivals Around 'Food'?
Ask travelers visiting Sokcho, and most will name food as their top reason. Many dishes come to mind the moment you hear their names: squid sundae, abai sundae, mulhoe (cold raw fish soup), kodari naengmyeon (half-dried pollock cold noodles) and dakgangjeong (sweet crispy fried chicken). Behind these dishes lies history: displaced families from Hamgyeong Province who settled in Cheongho-dong (청호동) and adapted their hometown recipes to local seafood, fishing stories from Dongmyeong Port (동명항) and Daepo Port, and everyday history like the soybean fields of Haksapyeong (학사평).
The problem is that most of these stories survive only in a single framed picture on a restaurant wall or in the owner's memory. The food gets eaten, but the stories don't get passed on. That's why the academy puts 'on-site research' and 'finding themes' at the start. For example, you could imagine plans like these:
- A neighborhood feast in the alleys of Cheongho-dong, where residents recreate the holiday dishes of first-generation displaced families and travelers taste a plate each
- A food walk following the path a single fish travels, from the dawn auction at Dongmyeong Port to the lunch table
- A '38th Parallel Table' comparing how the same ingredients are cooked differently in Sokcho, Goseong and Yangyang
Of course, these are only examples to help explain the idea. The participating teams will decide what festivals actually come out of the course. Still, since residents' memories become the raw material for planning, people who have lived in Sokcho longer may actually have an advantage.
Three Things to Check Before You Apply
First, make sure you can free up Wednesday afternoons. Classes run for four hours from 1:30 PM on a weekday, so that won't be easy for office workers. On the other hand, the schedule works well for business owners who close on Wednesdays, retirees looking for community activities, university students on leave, and parents who can find some spare time.
Second, keep in mind that the course has already started. Classes were scheduled to begin on September 16, so people who join through additional recruitment will come in after the first session. Also, next week overlaps with the Chuseok holiday (24–27) and the Andong festival, so when you apply, it's a good idea to ask the program office which Wednesdays classes will be held and how.
Third, there is a residency requirement. The course is for residents of Sokcho, Goseong and Yangyang. Unfortunately, travelers visiting Sokcho are not eligible. Instead, you can see what residents have created at the Yangyang Pine Mushroom & Salmon Festival in October or at the pilot festivals in November.
How to Apply
- You can download the application form from the notice on the Sokcho Culture and Tourism Foundation website and submit it by email, or apply through the Naver Form linked in the notice.
- The deadline is September 21 (Mon). Replies to inquiries may be slow over the weekend, so it's safer to check with the program office first during business hours tomorrow (Friday the 18th) if you have questions.
- Because the course centers on team activities, applying with family, neighbors or fellow shop owners from your neighborhood makes the theme-finding stage much easier.
Tonight and Tomorrow in Sokcho at a Glance
Besides the academy news, here's a quick rundown of what's happening in Sokcho right now, based on data Sokcho Eottae checked as of 10 PM.
- Weather: Currently 20°C with a few clouds. Today's high is 24°C and low is 18°C, with a 0% chance of rain. A light jacket is all you need for a night walk by the sea.
- Sea: Water temperature 23.2°C, wave height 0.7 m. The sea is warmer than the air tonight. However, all swimming beaches closed at the end of August and there are no lifeguards, so please stay out of the water.
- Crowds: Daepo Port Observatory, Oeongchi Port and Cheongchoho Lake are crowded; Sokcho Port, 켄싱턴호텔 설악 (Kensington Hotel Seorak) and Dongmyeong Port are moderate. For a quiet night walk, Dongmyeong Port is much more relaxed than Cheongchoho Lake.
- Traffic: Misiryeong-ro (toward Seoul), Donghae-daero (coast and downtown) and Seoraksan-ro (toward Seorak) are all clear.
- Cultural events this week: The Min Jun-gyu Photo Exhibition, which opened today, runs until the 22nd, and the first 'Cine Table' screening is on the 19th (Sat).
In Summary
Sokcho's festivals have always been on the side of welcoming tourists, but this course lets residents step backstage and plan the event themselves. It's free, and it covers a field trip to a major festival, running a real booth, and a pilot festival based on your own plan. For anyone interested in community activities, that's a rare opportunity. If you're a resident of Sokcho, Goseong or Yangyang and can free up Wednesday afternoons, we recommend taking a look at the application form before Monday's deadline.
Today we looked at the additional recruitment for Sokcho's N38 Food Culture Festival Academy, which closes on September 21, and at what's happening in Sokcho tonight. Did you find it helpful? We'll be back next time with even more useful information.
