Festivals in South Korea
South Koreans enjoy the magic of festivals throughout the year with lots of music festivals, sports competitions, cultural events, puppet shows and art festivals. Here comes a brief on some of the major ones:
Boryeong Mud Festival:
This is an annual festival in South Korea which is celebrated during the
summer in Boryeong. It was first celebrated in the year 1998 and by 2006; it
has managed to attract more than 1.5 million visitors. The foreign tourists
take part in this interesting festival of digging mud which is rich in
minerals and used in the manufacturing of cosmetics on the weekends. The
Koreans are there throughout the week.
Hi! Seoul Festival:
This is an interesting annual cultural festival which is organized every
year from May 1 to May 9 in Seoul. It was first celebrated in 2003. The
festival is arranged under the supervision of Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Chuncheon Puppet festival:
This is also an annual puppet festival held in Chuncheon in the month of
August. The festival is organized in the Chuncheon Puppet Theatre and is
participated by both Korean and international performers.
Seoul Fringe Festival:
This annual festival is held in Seoul since 1998. It is all about
exploring the cultural events and theaters of the world.
Seorak Cultural Festival:
This is a local cultural festival of South Korea which is held every year at
the end of October in Sokcho city. The cultural events are mostly related to
environment issues and local events like squid. The objective of the
festival is to promote Korean traditional folk culture and lots of foreign
citizens and local tourists participate in the events related to sea and
mountain. The popular events are climbing, fishing, ship dragging tasting
squid dishes competitions.
International Junior Art
Festival:
This is essentially a youth festival held every year at Gyeongpo Beach
in the beginning of August and continues for four days. More than 300 people
from 7 nations participate in this festival and it is cheered by 500
visitors every night. This is the biggest international youth festival held
in South Korea.
The World Bodypainting
Festival:
This annual festival held in third week of July is participated by artists
and models from all over the world and is enjoyed by thousands of visitors.
The festival continues for a week and special workshops are also organized
for the artists.
Gwangju International Film
Festival:
It is a popular film festival which takes place in Gwangju and is
enjoyed by all, both the locals and directors and actors from the world.
Korean National Sports
Festival:
This annual sports competition is organized in South Korea every October
and is participated by 20,000 athletes from 16 cities of the country. There
are about total 40 separate sports criteria for this festival. The location
rotates among the major cities like Seoul, Daegu, Incheon, Busan and Gwangju.
Competitions are organized at various levels like regular divisions, high
school and college.
Music festivals:
This category covers Busan Rock Festival, Pentaport Rock Festival,
Ssamzi Sound Festival, Summer Breeze, Seoul World DJ Festival and ETP Fest.
