Daegu's annual festival featuring Korean-style fried chicken served with beer will open next week. It will be held in and around the city's Duryu Park for five days starting next Wednesday. The weeklong event will offer a full range of festivities for those who want to spice things up while soaking in the summer vibes and enjoying fried chicken and beer, a combination that has become a staple of modern Korean cuisine.



The festival, now in its seventh year, started from an idea to beat the summer heat with one of Koreans' favorite dishes, fried chicken, which reportedly originated in the southern city of Daegu. The city also used to be a hub of the poultry industry and is now home to famous fried chicken chains. Over 1 million people visit the festival every year, and about 125 fried chicken chains and beer brands will participate this year.

Visitors will be able to enjoy a wide range of savory fried chicken paired with ice-cold beer in large tents or with their feet dunked in icy water to cool off from the heat. Organizers of the festival also prepared nearly 200 floating aquatic tables, an increase from 90 tables last year, as they proved popular among visitors last year.

There is also a tour program for foreign tourists that includes tickets for a round-trip bullet train from Seoul to Daegu and sightseeing in the city's attractions during the day, as well as admission to the festival in the evening. There will also be an area with a seating capacity of 500 reserved exclusively for foreign tourists. Live performances will be staged, and in some dining areas, mosquito nets will be set up to ward off bites.

The festival's hours have been extended by an hour from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. this year to allow more people to enjoy the festival.