Expanding the Gangneung Coffee Festival citywide to promote tourism in northern Gangneung

Gangneung-- Provincial College is stepping up to revitalize local commercial districts in northern Gangneung centered around Jumunjin and foster a local youth startup ecosystem in connection with the Gangneung Coffee Festival, Gangneung’s representative festival.

Gangneung-- Provincial College (President Choi Jong-gyun) announced that it will host the "Jumunjin Dokkaebi Coffee Festa with the 18th Gangneung Coffee Festival" for two days from October 24 (Sat) to October 25 (Sun) across the university campus and the Jumunjin Goblin (Dokkaebi) filming location areas. The event will run daily from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, designed for local startup founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, college students, citizens, and tourists to enjoy coffee, culture, and startup content together.

This event aims to spread the tourist influx effect of the Gangneung Coffee Festival to the northern area of Gangneung and connect the university’s educational and startup capabilities with the local community. In particular, as the Gangneung Coffee Festival expands its main venues from the traditional Gangneung Coffee Street to major hubs across Gangneung city—such as Jumunjin, Jungang Market, Ojukheon, and Okgye—the Jumunjin Dokkaebi Coffee Festa is drawing high expectations as a connecting event bridging citywide festival expansion and local commercial revitalization.

The 18th Gangneung Coffee Festival this year will take place from October 21 to 25, overlapping with the timing of the 32nd Gangneung ITS World Congress. Gangneung City plans to expand festival venues citywide and drive tourist stays and consumption across all areas through programs such as mobile stamp rallies and local commercial district linkage programs. Accordingly, Gangneung-- Provincial College plans to combine Jumunjin’s tourism resources with the university's local startup contents to promote the charm of northern Gangneung and encourage tourist visits.

Inside the university venue, various programs will be operated, including a Goblin Beach Walking Event introducing products and ideas from local founders and aspiring entrepreneurs, a Local Market Zone, a Living Lab Performance Exhibition Zone sharing cooperation results between the university and the community, and university coffee trucks and experiential programs showcasing Gangneung-- Provincial College's coffee and bakery capabilities. In addition, forest rest and reading spaces will be linked with coffee and culture contents to offer visitors a unique experiential opportunity.

Notably, to enhance the vocational awareness and professionalism of local youth baristas and strengthen the competitiveness of the coffee industry, the "Gangneung Barista Award" will be held as a side event. This competition, which has continued since 2011 as a premier barista selection event, aims to highlight the capabilities of local coffee talent and provide career exploration and professional growth opportunities for young people dreaming of becoming baristas. Every year, around 100 participants from across the country challenge themselves, and after preliminary rounds, the final competition takes place. The venue for the competition is the university's Innovation Center.

With support from the university's ANCHOR Project, this Coffee Festa focuses on creating practical startup outcomes beyond simple festival participation. The university plans to support youth and aspiring entrepreneurs in discovering coffee, bakery, and beverage contents utilizing local specialties and tourism resources, connecting them to product development, promotion, and sales. Through this, the college envisions establishing a local-based startup model that increases the commercialization potential of startup ideas and leads to future sales growth and job creation.

Furthermore, based on a business agreement (MOU) with the Gangneung City Public Library, a content road combining reading and coffee will be implemented. Programs such as the "Book-Reading Goblin Trail" and Coffee-and-Book Picnic will introduce stay-type contents linked to local tourism and cultural resources. Through programs where literature, music, history, and local culture harmonize through coffee, the college plans to develop Jumunjin's place-identity and storytelling into new tourism content.

President Choi Jong-gyun of Gangneung-- Provincial College stated, "The Jumunjin Dokkaebi Coffee Festa, linked with the Gangneung Coffee Festival, is a meaningful event that expands Gangneung's representative tourism contents to the northern region and connects local cultural and tourism resources with the startup capabilities of youths. We will share the education and startup support capabilities possessed by the university with the local community to support youth founders in achieving commercialization, increased sales, and job creation, thereby contributing to local commercial revitalization and sustainable regional economic development."

Meanwhile, Gangneung-- Provincial College is driving customized talent training based on local demand, local startup support, industry-academia cooperation, and regional problem-solving centered around the ANCHOR Project, and plans to expand various programs linking the university's educational and research capabilities with regional economic vitalization.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]