How a Winter Festival in Korea Led Me to Ethiopian Coffee Tourism

I pursued my master’s degree in sociology at Hitotsubashi University in Japan and later earned my PhD in geography from the University of Exeter in the UK, focusing on Ethiopian coffee tourism. Many people ask me how I began this research. Today, I want to share that story.

I have always been drawn to projects that bring tangible development to small communities. I was fascinated by the idea that when I leave a place, it could be in a better state than when I arrived. This passion led me to work on various community projects in different countries. One of the most memorable experiences was in Hwacheon, a small town in Gangwon Province, South Korea, with a population of around 20,000.

How I Entered the World of Festivals

While preparing for my master’s degree in Japan, I had an 8-month fellowship to learn Japanese. During that time, I found myself with a few months of free time. I wanted to do something meaningful, so I looked for opportunities to work in festival management. That’s how I discovered the Hwacheon Summer Boat Festival, a local event held every summer.

Just like seasonal coffee workers in Ethiopia move from region to region during harvest time, I became a kind of “festival migrant worker.” At first, I was an outsider with no clear role, but the organizing committee told me, “We’ve never worked with a professional like you before, so find something you can contribute to.”

I quickly assessed the festival’s weakest points and identified marketing, PR, and external relations as areas that needed improvement. So, I stepped in to take charge of those aspects. The festival ended up receiving significant media coverage, and I left Hwacheon with a sense of accomplishment.

From Summer to Winter: A Festival That Changed Everything

On the day I left, Jang Seok-beom, the festival director, and Jeong Gap-cheol, the county governor, personally took me out for lunch and accompanied me to the bus terminal. They told me, “The summer festival is nothing compared to the winter festival. You have to come back for that!”

I had no intention of returning. But life has its own way of unfolding, and a few months later, I found myself back in Hwacheon—this time for the Sancheoneo Ice Festival, now South Korea’s largest winter festival.

The difference between summer and winter in Hwacheon was dramatic. The air was so cold that my eyelashes would freeze the moment I stepped outside. I witnessed local festival organizers using their expertise to freeze the river into a vast ice field, creating a fishing area where 10,000 people could fish simultaneously.

For three months, I worked during the day and studied for my Japanese graduate school entrance exams at night. The festival lasted nearly a month, and it was on an entirely different scale from the summer event. Without realizing it, I naturally became the head of PR and media relations, responsible for promoting the festival both domestically and internationally.

What Does This Have to Do with Ethiopian Coffee Tourism?

You might wonder how this experience relates to Ethiopian coffee tourism.

The Sancheoneo Ice Festival had around 30 different programs, but the core experiences were bare-hand fishing, ice sledding, and ice fishing. I was there from late 2006 to early 2007, nearly 20 years ago, yet I still remember it vividly.

The festival’s organizing team consisted of 33 local men from Hwacheon, all with fun nicknames tied to the festival’s mascot, Eolgomi the Ice Bear. The county governor was “Captain Eolgomi,” while I became “Nomadic Eolgomi.” I managed a dedicated bulletin board, updating daily festival news. The event gained so much media attention that it was on TV almost every day.

The teamwork between the local government and residents was incredible. Everyone in the town poured their energy into making this festival a success. My role as PR director involved media outreach, marketing, and partnerships, and the event soon attracted national attention. People from across Korea came to Hwacheon to learn from its success.

By the end of the festival, it had welcomed over one million visitors, and I immediately flew to Japan for my graduate school entrance exams. I passed and began my next chapter as a researcher.

From Hwacheon to Ethiopia: The Power of Cultural Tourism

During my time in Hwacheon, I often heard locals say,

“Hwacheon has nothing but water and people.”

Yet, with these two resources, they built a highly successful cultural tourism model—a water festival in summer and an ice festival in winter. This experience became a foundational lesson for my research in Ethiopia.

At first glance, Ethiopia seemed like a country with nothing but coffee and people—just as Hwacheon seemed to have only water and people. Most Ethiopians were focused solely on exporting raw coffee beans without developing any cultural or value-added experiences around it.

I wondered:

“If Hwacheon could transform its limited resources into a thriving festival economy, could Ethiopia do the same with coffee?”

That question led me to coffee tourism as a research topic.

Why Not UNESCO Sites? Why Coffee?

Initially, I considered developing Ethiopia’s UNESCO World Heritage sites for tourism. Ethiopia has the second-highest number of UNESCO sites in Africa, after South Africa, and is home to incredible biodiversity and cultural heritage.

However, during my pilot research, I quickly realized that locals were unaware of UNESCO or the significance of their heritage sites. From my experience in Hwacheon, I knew that for tourism to succeed, it must be built on what the local people already understand and value.

And that’s when I found coffee.

Coffee was everywhere in Ethiopia. As the birthplace of Arabica coffee, it had deep cultural significance and a unique coffee ceremony tradition that was not fully leveraged for tourism. Ethiopia was essentially a “coffee Disneyland” without realizing it.

That discovery marked the beginning of my journey into Ethiopian coffee tourism—a journey that continues to this day.

Is this story interesting to you?

There are many more behind-the-scenes stories about the secrets of Hwacheon’s festival success and the unexpected twists that led me to coffee tourism research. But for today, I’ll stop here.

Stay tuned for more!

Below is a related YouTube video in Korean.