Experience Cherry Blossom Bliss: Suanbo Hot Spring Festival 2026 Reveals Culinary Delights!

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On April 11, crowds headed outdoors to soak up a dreamy spring weekend as the cherry blossoms hit peak bloom.

At Suanbo in Chungju, the hot spring festival drew visitors who soaked their feet beneath flowering trees and shared generous bowls of pheasant bibimbap topped with wild mountain greens.

The Suanbo Hot Spring Festival was a showstopper: roughly 1,000 cherry trees, many over 40 years old, were in full bloom and captivated festivalgoers.

Members of the Suanbo Restaurant Association pulled out every batch of preserved mountain greens they’d been saving over the past year to serve 700 portions of pheasant bibimbap that day. Muknamul refers to dried mountain greens that are rehydrated and stir-fried before serving.

The communal bibimbap was made with 10 mal of rice, 20 pheasants, more than 10 varieties of mountain vegetables, and a whole lot of local heart and effort.

A visitor from Seoul said, “Soaking my feet in the hot spring while watching cherry blossoms fall felt almost otherworldly. The pheasant bibimbap was so flavorful that even the kids went back for seconds.”

The 41st Suanbo Hot Spring Festival ran four days starting April 9. On the final day, April 12, the saxophone competition finals and a festive closing celebration took center stage.

That day, residents of North Chungcheong Province also flocked to top spring spots like Cheongnamdae, Songnisan, and Woraksan to savor the season.

By 2 p.m., about 5,000 people had visited Cheongnamdae, the presidential villa—roughly 1,500 more than at the same time last week.

At the same time, approximately 2,600 and 2,090 hikers visited Songnisan and Woraksan National Parks, respectively—about 300–400 more visitors than a week earlier.