First World Ramen Festival in hot water over poor planning

A collection of ramen at the 2025 World Ramen Festival in Busan, May 4 / Captured from X

Poor planning and logistical issues were some of the complaints that left a sour taste in the mouths of attendees at the 2025 World Ramen Festival, which took place in Busan from May 2 to Sunday.

Organizers said the festival would have more than 2,200 ramen brands from 15 countries, including Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States, participating in the inaugural event. Shortly after the festival began, ramen enthusiasts realized that there were less than 10 ramen brands available — even fewer than the number found in convenience stores.

Many took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their concerns about logistical issues, saying the organizers did not provide hot water or offer enough varieties of ramen to satisfy their expectations.

“A total of seven types of ramen at the World Ramen Festival? Vietnamese and Thai ramen brands have official importers here, so you can buy them whenever you want,” one visitor wrote on X. Another wrote, “I threw away most of the ramen because the water was lukewarm. This is the worst festival I have ever been to.”

Some food trucks left the venue earlier than expected because they did not receive the promised payments, according to media reports.

The organizing committee issued a formal apology Monday, acknowledging its poor management.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and discomfort that many of you experienced due to poor handling of the festival,” the organizing committee said in a statement.

“We acknowledge that the event was hit by many issues, including restricted admission due to overcrowding, delayed operation of tasting booths, lack of staff for safety control [and] unannounced event cancellations.”

The committee also promised to take follow-up measures to address concerns from angry festival attendees.

“To prevent a recurrence of the problem, we will conduct a post-event survey to collect opinions from participants and visitors. We will also draw up follow-up measures, including a compensation plan for those who suffered damage (full refund of admission tickets).”

The admission fee was 10,000 won ($7).