Gangneung city organises event as part of 2026 Gangneung-style wellness tourism support scheme, with four themed experience booths ranging from drip coffee to archery
Gangneung city in Gangwon province will hold Gangneung Wellness Day, a promotional event for wellness tourism, from 2pm to 5.30pm on the 3rd at and around the birthplace of Heo Gyun and Heo Nanseolheon in Chodang-dong. The city announced the plan on the 2nd. The event has been organised in collaboration with wellness tourism businesses in the area as part of the 2026 Gangneung-style wellness tourism support scheme. It will feature forest healing yoga and singing-bowl meditation for people who register in advance, along with four themed experience booths open to all visitors.
Gangneung Wellness Day promotes the city’s image and boosts wellness tourism
Gangneung Wellness Day will begin at 2pm on the 3rd and run for three and a half hours until 5.30pm. It will take place at and around the birthplace of Heo Gyun and Heo Nanseolheon in Chodang-dong, Gangneung. Gangneung city is hosting the event in partnership with wellness tourism businesses in the area.
The city said it had organised the event to promote wellness tourism by making use of Gangneung’s natural, cultural and experiential resources, and to promote the image of Gangneung as a city of healing and renewal both at home and abroad.
Forest healing yoga and singing-bowl meditation open to advance registrants
The main programmes are forest healing yoga and singing-bowl meditation. Both will take place amid the natural surroundings of the birthplace and are open to participants who register in advance. Singing-bowl meditation involves focusing on the sounds and vibrations produced by striking singing bowls, which are musical instruments shaped like metal bowls.
The city described the two programmes as opportunities to find peace of mind and body in nature. The press information did not specify the detailed timetable, capacity or registration arrangements for either programme.
Four themed experience booths open to everyone
Four themed experience booths will operate on site, with no advance registration required. The A Moment of Leisure booth will offer drip coffee tastings, while visitors can try gem colour therapy at the Mind-Filling booth. The Complete Focus booth will offer archery, and the Five-Senses Satisfaction booth will provide tastings of Gangneung han-gwa, traditional Korean sweets.
Coffee and han-gwa are regarded as signature foods of Gangneung. The city said it had designed the booths by combining local resources with wellness content, allowing visitors to experience Gangneung’s distinctive approach to wellness through all five senses.
Event venue: the birthplace of Heo Gyun and Heo Nanseolheon and its pine grove
The Chodang-dong area where the event will be held is home to Heo Gyun and Heo Nanseolheon Memorial Park, which honours the siblings: Heo Gyun, who wrote The Story of Hong Gildong, and Heo Nanseolheon, a poet of the Joseon period. According to tourism information from the Korea Tourism Organisation, the park comprises the site of Heo Nanseolheon’s birthplace, the Heo Gyun and Heo Nanseolheon Memorial Hall, and a traditional tea experience centre. Restored in 2001, the birthplace site is a yangban-style hanok with a lofty main gate, a sarangchae reception wing and an anchae living quarters, and has been designated a cultural heritage resource of Gangwon province.
The cluster of pine trees surrounding the birthplace site is known as Heo Nanseolheon’s pine grove. The grove won an award at the Beautiful Forest National Competition in 2010, jointly organised by Life Forest, Yuhan-Kimberly and the Korea Forest Service. The memorial park is open year-round and admission is free.
Gangneung-style wellness tourism expands from temple stays to six themes
The Gangneung-style wellness tourism support scheme underpinning the event is a city initiative aimed at developing a high-value tourism industry. The city said in April that it had supported wellness tourism operations at two local temples last year, with about 3,500 people taking part in temple-stay programmes featuring temple food experiences and walks along pine-scented healing beach trails.
This year, the support has expanded beyond temple stays to six themes: healing meditation, beauty spas, nature-based healing, food, traditional Korean medicine and stays. The city invited applications from participating businesses from 27 April to 8 May, and announced plans to select three businesses, providing each with up to 5 million won in funding and online and offline promotion.
Gangneung city: “Building a city healed through all five senses”
Bae Gwang-sik, head of Gangneung city’s tourism policy division, said Gangneung Wellness Day had been prepared to allow people to enjoy Gangneung’s natural, cultural and experiential resources through all five senses while finding a moment of rest in their daily lives. “We will continue working to promote wellness tourism and build Gangneung as a city healed through all five senses,” he said.