Festival to be held in early July at Duryu Park and other locations in Daegu

Daegu Chimac Festival (DCF), one of Korea’s largest summertime events, will soon be in full swing to celebrate a popular Korean modern-day custom of enjoying fried chicken with cold beer to beat the summer heat.

In 2023, the DCF was delayed to late August due to construction of the 2.28 Freedom Plaza in Duryu Park. This year, it will be held at its usual date (July 3 (Wed) through July 7 (Sun)) under the slogan “It’s Summer! Let’s CHIMAC” at Duryu Park, Pyeonghwa Market, and Duryu Youth Street.

<Opening ceremony for Daegu Chimac Festival 2023>

The DCF’s organizing committee has prepared a wide range of content that cements Daegu’s reputation as the mecca of Korea’s fried chicken-and-beer culture while reinforcing the DCF’s identity as one of Korea’s most popular festivals.

Last year’s DCF, which was held under the slogan “Newniverse (compound of “new” and “universe”), was comprised of 224 booths featuring 85 companies and received a total of over one million visitors. The DCF has been named as a Culture Tourism Festival for five consecutive years—a designation awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) in a pool of approximately 1,200 festivals nationwide—and is gearing up to obtain international fame.

According to an analysis by the MCST, the DCF was selected as the festival that the largest number of people wish to re-visit as well as recommend to someone else. One reason for such popularity is the wealth of space-specific concepts and content.

2.28 Freedom Plaza, the DCF’s main stage, will be transformed into a Tropical Chimac Club. Furthermore, the stage, which was skewed to the Grassy Plaza in previous years, will be positioned at the center of the event grounds. It has been designed as an open stage that, by connecting two spaces, allows visitors to enjoy the DCF from either Grassy Plaza or Picnic Plaza.

The stage’s location change will not only reduce the noise damages caused by the DCF but also, by securing 800 standing seats, open up much more space for eating tables.

<Perspective aerial view of main event grounds>

<Perspective aerial view of event grounds with theme allocation>

The Premium Chimac Lounge, which has sold out for two consecutive years, will offer expanded seating (1,500, compared to 960 seats in 2023) and more benefits, including: tropical-themed decoration, tents in the event of rain, a signature DCF “special sauce” featured for the first time that will be served per table alongside chimac sets, and a fried chicken discount coupon that can be used at Daegu-ro. Tickets for the Premium Chimac Lounge will be available from June 20 (Thu) at 10 am (KST) via TicketLink and Naver Reservation.

The return of the DCF as a summer event will be celebrated by the reinstating of the ice footbath zone, where festivalgoers could enjoy a cold footbath while eating, as a Hawaiian Ice Pub at the 2.28 parking lot. There will be a TFS tent for blocking rain and heat as well as a ceiling fan and air circulation system so that everyone can enjoy chicken and beer in a pleasant environment.

The Kolon Outdoor Music Stage will be transformed into a Chimac Sunset Garden, with strategic lighting to make it photo-friendly.

Most notably, the vicinity of the Tourist Information Center, the DCF’s most popular area (in 2023, as a “retro hot spot”), will be revamped into the Chimac Hot Summer Disco Pocha. In line with the disco pocha (small store, usually open toward the street, for enjoying disco music and drinks) motif, there will be a “live café” that plays songs that were popular in Korea in the 1970s and 80s and a roller skate dance floor. Standing tables will be installed along roads near Duryu Park as a Street Chimac Pub.

The entrance to the DCF’s grounds will also be given a face lift. In previous years, the entrance was lined with a traffic fence and other equipment to prevent unauthorized entry. This year, to create a festive mood, there will be a “welcome station” at the entrance and tables and chairs in idle spaces.

To make this year’s DCF enjoyable for all ages for all five days, there will be performances in diverse genres, including hip-hop, trot, and rock. Performances will be given not only at the main stage but also each area of the festival grounds by musicians who complement a particular area’s theme.

There will also be more services offered in conjunction with Daeguro, Daegu Metropolitan City’s (DMC) lifestyle app, to revitalize the local economy. For example, those who wish to avoid waiting in long lines in the heat can make a to-go order through Daeguro.

To make the festival even more affordable, those who made a reservation for the Premium Chimac Lounge will be given a discount coupon (KRW 10,000) that can be used for to-go orders (KRW 5,000 coupon for all other visitors). A taxi stop will be installed in cooperation with Daeguro Taxi to help festivalgoers return home safely and without having to wait for long periods of time. For those coming from other parts of the country, there will be a KTX discount offered in partnership with Korail. (Details of the benefit, which will include a 50% weekday discount and 30% weekend discount for KTX fare and a discount coupon (KRW 10,000) for the DCF, will be disclosed in the near future).

To attract foreign tourists as part of efforts to boost international visibility of the DCF, the Grassy Plaza will be debuting the Global Reservation F&B Zone, a space specifically designed to help foreign tourists understand and enjoy the DCF. A DCF-related travel product is currently being sold in cooperation with Klook, the Asian travel platform, to foreigners that includes a Premium Chimac Lounge voucher, food package (chicken, beer, and DCF’s special sauce), and a discount coupon for E-World.

Ahn Jung-gon, head of DMC’s Economic Affairs Division, said, “If last year’s DCF was about identity-building, this year’s event will be about capitalizing on that identity through content that was designed to be fun and inclusive. We will do everything possible to make the DCF a festival that is prominent not only in Korea but also in the international community. I hope the DCF, which is once again a summer event, can help all visitors to beat the summer heat as well as be a very special experience for everyone.”