Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival

A regional festival held every January in Hwacheon County, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, South Korea. It is organized and hosted by the Nara Foundation. It has been selected as one of the 7 Wonders of Winter by CNN, one of the world's top 4 winter festivals, and a representative cultural tourism festival of South Korea by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Along with the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival, it is consistently cited as a successful example of regional festivals and local autonomy in South Korea. Since the first edition in 2003, the festival has attracted 1 million to as many as 1.5 million visitors during the festival period. Foreign tourists also visit and enjoy the festival, and local military units sometimes give soldiers a day off to attend.