Jecheon Herb Expo: Korea's Traditional Medicine Festival

The Jecheon International Herb & Bio Expo (제천한방바이오엑스포) is a biennial international exhibition and festival held in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, celebrating Korean traditional medicine (hanbang) and the region's role as the country's foremost producer of medicinal herbs. The expo grounds cover a dedicated exhibition park of several hectares and feature themed herb gardens, traditional medicine clinics offering free health consultations, demonstrations of herbal preparation techniques, and international pavilions showcasing medicinal plant traditions from across Asia.

Jecheon has been Korea's most important hanbang herb-growing region for over five centuries, its high-altitude climate and mineral-rich soils producing medicinal plants of exceptional quality. The city's Yangnyeong traditional medicine market is one of the oldest in the country and still operates today. The expo was established in 2006 to showcase this heritage and attract interest in traditional medicine as a global wellness industry. It has since been designated an international exposition by the Bureau International des Expositions and draws visitors from Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and increasingly from Europe.

Visitors can walk through themed gardens featuring hundreds of labelled medicinal plants from the Korean pharmacopoeia, receive free pulse-reading consultations from licensed hanbang practitioners, watch demonstrations of how medicinal roots like ginseng and astragalus are processed, and attend evening cultural performances including traditional music and mask dance. A large market section sells certified Jecheon-origin herbs at producer prices.

The expo runs for approximately 40 days between September and October — check the official expo website for exact dates as they vary by year. Jecheon is served by KTX from Seoul Cheongnyangni Station in under an hour. Free shuttle buses connect Jecheon Station to the expo grounds during the event period.