Festivals You Must Go To in South Korea 한국에서 꼭 봐야하는 대축제 모음집

South Korea is now open for foreigners to visit and many people are concerned about where to visit due to the wide variety of attractions. The festivals in South Korea is widely known to be loved by lots of foreigners. If you are hesitating on where to go to, you can definitely try planning one of these festivals in your itinerary! Here is a list of festivals you must experience if you go to South Korea.

1. Jeju Fire Festival 제주 들불 축제

Jeju Fire Festival is a cultural (문화) festival related to Jeju’s livestock (가축) care culture. This festival is held during every March at the SaeByeolOReum (새별오름) Volcanic Cone. The night (밤) sky during the festival will be lighted up with red. Special events during the festival include media façade show, torch march (횃불 행진), fire shows as well as food trucks.

2. Jinju Lantern Festival 진주 유등 축제

This festival originated (유래) from the floating lanterns (유등) that were used during the JinJuSeong Fortress Battle (진주성 전투) of the Imjin War (임진 왜란). It was a military strategy (군사 전략) to prevent the Japanese troops from wading the Namgang River (남강). This is one of the most famous lantern festivals in Korea held every October.

3. Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival 화천 산천어 축제

This festival takes place in HwaCheon-gun (화천군) in Gangwondo (강원도). The main event (행사) of the festival is ice fishing which takes place on the frozen HwaCheon stream (화천개울). There are actually various kind of programs during the festival such as ice sledding (얼음썰매) and bobsled (봅슬레이). Visitors can also taste the freshly caught trout (송어) grilled on the spot.

4. Boryeong Mud Festival 보령 머드 축제

This festival was created in the 90’s to advertise (홍보) Boryeong’s (보령) mud-based products that are mostly sold for cosmetics (화장품) purposes. But this festival has already grown to be one of the biggest (가장 큰) festivals in Korea. It takes place on Daecheon Beach (대천해수욕장) and is always open for 2 weeks during July.

5. Busan Fireworks Festival 부산 불꽃 축제

The Busan Fireworks Festival takes place along the Gwanggalli Beach (광안리 해수욕장) every autumn (가을). The festival consists of various programs such as cultural events, high-tech laser (레이져) light shows, and myriad of unique and beautiful fireworks (불꽃). This festival always draw over a million of crowds every year be it locals or foreigners.

6. Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival 진해 벚꽃 축제

This festival is the most famous cherry blossom festival in South Korea with thousands of cherry trees blooming in the city. It started as a memorial service (추도식) to honor Yi Sun Sin (이순신 장군), a famous naval Admiral (장군) in South Korea. The festivals lasts for 10 days and has different events everyday.

7. Seongsan Sunrise Festival 성산 일출 축제

The Seongsan Sunrise Festival was launched back in year 1994, held on top of Jeju Island’s Seongsan Ilchulbong (성산일출봉). It is one of the famous sites to view the sunrise (해돋이) on Jeju Island (제주도). It always attracts large crowds of tourists (관광객) throughout the year and is especially busy on New Year’s Eve (새해 전날).