CreatripTeam

The 2025 Gimcheon Kimbap Festival (kimbap: Korean rolled rice with fillings) drew massive lines and lively crowds through its final day. Although opening at 10 a.m., attendees queued for hours in chilly weather, wrapped in blankets and wearing light down jackets and eco bags. Social posts praised the festival’s popularity and food quality — some calling the kimbap “too good” — and highlighted a popular open-kitchen video showing chefs in sanitary gear rolling kimbap in assembly-line fashion. Gimcheon city, which named the event after a wordplay on a famous franchise, expanded the festival this year from 8 to about 30 vendors and offered roughly 50 varieties including frozen, regional specialty kimbap, competition winners, and franchise versions. The site featured themed zones based on main ingredients (danmuji: pickled radish; oi: cucumber; ham), and improved logistics after last year’s shortage. Organizers say about 80,000 people visited on the first day and the total is expected to surpass last year’s 100,000. Visitors noted crowded roads and suggested stronger measures against line-cutting next year.