Visitors enjoy food at reasonable prices at flower festivals in South Jeolla Province

A 5,000 won \'memory lunchbox\' is sold at the Gwangyang Plum Festival in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, which opened on Aug. 8. The city of Gwangyang has made price a factor in selecting tenants for the festival to lower food prices. Courtesy of Gwangyang City.

At the Gwangyang Maehwa Festival where many people across the country visit to see beautiful plum blossoms in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, visitors can have lunch contained in a lunchbox made from nickel silver. In the lunchbox, there is white rice topped with a fried egg and seaweed powder, sausages, radish salad, stir-fried anchovies, and pickled green plum are included as side dishes.

The price of the lunchbox, which can serve a hearty meal, is 5,000 won.

"I didn't know that I could buy a lunchbox like this for 5,000 won inside the festival venue," said Ms. Lee (54), who visited the festival from Gwangju. "It was delicious and the price was reasonable, so I could enjoy the flowers happily."

In this year’s spring season, rip-off prices disappeared in South Jeolla Province where flower festivals are held one after another. Rather, the average price of food and drinks at the festival was lower than those sold at nearby restaurants.

According to a report by Kyunghyang Shinmun on March 10, most of the food at the festival, which started on the 8th, is sold for 5,000 won. Lunchboxes of 18 restaurants in the festival venue, grilled chicken and Gwangyang bulgogi skewers, which are representative foods of Gwangyang, and "Maesil Highball," liquor made with plum, cost 5,000 won. In particular, highball is much cheaper compared to the price of 7,000 won at neighboring restaurants.

Starting this year, Gwangyang city government will give visitors 5,000 won worth of vouchers that can be used in the festival venue, instead of receiving 5,000 won for admission to the festival. In other words, tourists can buy food with the vouchers alone.

The Gurye Sansuyu Festival, which started on March 9, also attracts people’s attention with its reasonable price of food sold at the venue. Banquet noodles and udon sold at the festival cost 6,000 won, while wild vegetable bibimbap, kimchi stew, Acorn Jelly Salad, Spicy Beef Soup, and Beef Head Meat Soup cost 10,000 won. Soju, beer, and makgeolli cost 4,000 won. The average food price is similar to that of restaurants under the mountain or even cheaper.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.