November is upon us and, just like that, 2015 is already coming to a close.

Temperatures have been dropping pretty low recently. “Yours truly” here has taken out her coats and winter jackets from the closet. But you shouldn’t stay at home all the time just because it’s cold! Let’s put on our winter gear and head outside on cold days like these! Why? Because Gyeonggi Province has plenty of fabulous festivals that take place only during this time of the year.

With festivals across Gyeonggi Province in November, you’ll be able to have a great time. So great, in fact, you’ll even forget about the chilly weather!

Although fewer festivals run in November than in September and October, it’s quality over quantity, right? In November, we’ve only selected a few really solid festivals.

I’m only going to introduce four festivals, so one festival for every weekend sounds perfect. Just one thing, all the other festivals run throughout November, but make sure you set aside the last week of November for the Paju Jangdan Soybean Festival~.

Well then, I’ll get straight to the festivals.

Yangpyeong Mongddang Festival is perfect for November, stuck right between autumn and winter. Like its name suggests, everything (‘mongddang’ means everything) is grilled at Mongddang Festival! What exactly can you grill? Chestnuts, sweet potatoes, cabbages, daikon, catfish, eels, pork, beef, duck, and chewy snacks!!

With a variety of hunting and gathering activities, you can catch fish or find duck eggs and put them over a wood or charcoal fire.

The mere thought of eating fresh grilled sweet potatoes, chewy snacks, eels, and beef in front of a warm fire in the cold makes me feel happy!

Grilled chewy snacks that bring back memories! Grilled fish including eels and catfish! Chestnuts and sweet potatoes grilled over a fire! Pork and beef grilled over charcoal! Rice cakes, sausages, and chicken all skewered and grilled! You can enjoy all of these at the Yangpyeong Mongddang Festival~.

Yangpyeong Mongddang Festival will be held in Sumi village near the chestnut forest natural resting area at 531, Bongsang-ri, Danwol-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun until December 2. 

▶Link to Yangpyeong Mongddang Festival’s official website

Paju Jangdan Soybean is a specialty from the DMZ!!

Celebrating “Paju Jangdan Soybean, the perfect food for your well-being”, the Paju Jangdan Soybean Festival gets under way at the Imjingak Pavilion square in Paju City from November 20 to 22.

Try a wide range of dishes made with Jangdan soybeans and take part in activities such as making mini-fermented soybean blocks, threshing beans with flails, playing Korean folk games, eating iron pot soft tofu, roasting soybeans on iron pot lids, and grilling potatoes and sweet potatoes. Also, you can visit the green development experience hall, health experience hall, and enjoy free activities such as brewing traditional pastes and traditional liquor, and taking oriental medicine foot baths!

For more information, please visit ▶ Paju city’s official website~.

Do you still make kimchi yourself or do you just buy it?

Yangpyeong Green Village in Gyeonggi Province is hosting the ‘Green Village Gimjang Festival’ where you can make kimchi yourself with freshly harvested eco-friendly cabbage. This event runs until the end of this year at the Green Village in Yangpyeong-gun.

Get some help from kimchi experts and enjoy the full kimchi-making experience with cabbages and other ingredients grown using eco-friendly methods.

The highlight of this event is the ‘bossam’ (boiled pork and salted cabbage wrap) you can try after making kimchi! The thought of eating freshly made kimchi with pork prepared at the village is enough to make me want to run straight to the festival.

Gather around with your family and share your love at the Yangpyeong Gimjang Festival!

▶Shortcut to Yangpyeong Nadri’s official website

Autumn at the Garden of Morning Calm is even more glorious than it is in spring.

If spring and summer abound with gorgeous flowers, autumn is the season during which the unique natural scenery at the Garden of Morning Calm really sets itself apart!

Enjoy a romantic autumn picnic in the 100,000 pyeong-large outdoor chrysanthemum garden with colorful leaves, the golden larch leaves of Chukryongsan Mountain that surround the whole arboretum.

▶Link to the Garden of Morning Calm’s official website

The Historical Drama Festival is on now at the Korean Folk Village!

Jump into a world of historical dramas at the Korean Folk Village, a place you can’t leave out when talking about historical dramas.

Make sure you don’t miss fan meetings for the stars from historical dramas and ‘guk-ak’ (Korean traditional music) B-boy performances!

Enjoy a splendid autumn in Gyeonggi Province this November!

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