Korea's three-day Gwangju Toechon Tomato Festival 2013
The Gwangju Toechon Tomato Festival this year will take place from June 21-23 in Korea. Toechon-myeon is a rural area included in a one-day tour zone from the Seoul metropolitan area (Seongnam). The Festival contributes to protecting producers and consumers through the direct trade of non-polluted farm products from the Lake Paldang region, becoming a local specialty. Also, consumers will be able to purchase quality tomatoes at lower prices (30 per cent lower than the market price). Furthermore, events such as a wetland ecology management walk and a 'love the environment' drawing and composition contest will be part of the event, as per a release.
Children can participate in games related to tomatoes, such as creating a scarecrow and building a Tower of Babel. They can experience harvesting tomatoes, cooking using tomatoes and making tomato Gochujang (chili pepper paste). There will be tomato exhibitions, tomato juice sampling booths, and tomato auctions.
One of the main events will be swimming in a pool of tomatoes, for both children and adults. In addition, the Festival will feature the 'Tomato Well-Being Food Tasting & Exhibition'.
Jae-Sang Lee, Director, Korea Tourism Organization, said, “The most distinctive point of the Festival is that you can see families with children participating and swimming in a pool of tomatoes. This Festival witnesses many foreigners enjoying themselves as well