We took a little trip to the largest summer festival IN THE WORLD this weekend by visiting the 26th Annual Boryeong Mud Festival. Attracting almost 2 million visitors every year, the Boryeong Mud Festival is a must-experience for anyone living in South Korea. I’ll share all about our experience, as well as give you information to make it easy for you to visit too!
Boryeong Mud Festival
Since we didn’t get to South Korea until September last year, we missed the Boryeong Mud Festival by a few weeks. When we took a trip to Daecheon Beach shortly after arriving on the Peninsula, we saw pictures and billboards promoting the festival and we were so sad we missed it. We added it to our bucket list and then promptly forgot about it.
That is, until my friend Paige brought it up the other day. When she told me it was going on right now, we immediately made plans to meet up at the festival that weekend – despite the likelihood of CRAZY weekend crowds. Our plan was to get to the festival before it started, so we could find parking and avoid some of the busyness. But of course, getting 5 kids and a tired husband out of the house early on a Saturday morning proved to be about as easy as nailing Jell-o to a tree. So we left quite a bit later than we’d hoped. In the end, it didn’t really matter. We secured parking soon enough, and we still had plenty of time to play in the mud.
We purchased our wristbands and entered the festival and I was interested to see how our kids would react to the pool full of mud. Honestly I thought they would hesitate at least a LITTLE when they saw the muddy water. But they are definitely their father’s children, so they wasted NO time when it came to jumping right into the mud. Even our two-year-old (who I thought FOR SURE would have some major reservations) was living her best life swimming around.
And for those of you wondering, yes, I did get in the mud as well. Although I’ve been recovering from a pesky UTI (in addition to having some womanly things going on), so I wasn’t willing to go ALL in like I normally would have. Even so, there was something weirdly therapeutic about smearing mud all over my face and arms. It felt a LOT like the oobleck that we all made in elementary school – when you mix corn start and water together. It wasn’t nasty-feeling, smelly mud. It was soft and wonderful and just what we needed on a hot summer day.
And even better, this mud is great for your skin too! The mud used in the festival is from the Boryeong Mud Flats and is frequently used in cosmetic products. It’s rich in minerals and is said to have anti-aging properties. The Boryeong Mud Festival was actually first started as a way to promote and advertise the cosmetics made from the Boryeong mud.
During the festival (which lasts for about 2.5 weeks), there are two different festival “zones” set up – a general zone for adult and teenage visitors (located at the Mud Plaza adjacent to Daeheon Beach) and a family zone only for families with children under 11 years old (located across the street from Boryeong Mud Theme Park). Along with a giant mud pit, both zones have inflatable water slides, bounce houses, fresh-water pools, showers, and many vendors selling cosmetics and other products.
This was one of those things that we had ONE SHOT to experience during our very short time in Korea. I’ve mentioned that our time here is too quickly coming to a close. I’m not ready to share all the details about that just yet (partially because even I don’t HAVE all the details), but I’m sure some updates will be coming soon enough. And while I am absolutely heartbroken to be saying goodbye to Korea soon, I’m so glad we were able to check the Boryeong Mud Festival off of our bucket list!
’til next time…
Ash
How to visit the 2023 Boryeong Mud Festival
Be sure to check out the official website for the Boryeong Mud Festival for more information.
Directions and Parking: Boryeong is about an hour and a half away from Camp Humphreys. There are multiple free parking lots within short walking distance to both the Family Zone and the Regular Zone for the festival. You can use this link for Naver directions get to the parking lot that is closest to the Family Zone. For another parking option (where we parked) you can use this link. From the parking lots, follow the signs for the Family Zone and enter through Gate 3. Purchase your wristbands (it says “tickets” in English above the booth) and then you will enter the Family Zone off to your right. Pasting 충남 보령시 해수욕장10길 5 into Naver will take you to Mud Plaza where the Regular Mud Festival is being held.
When: July 21st, 2023 – August 6th, 2023
Hours:
Family Zone
10:00am – 6:00pm daily (with a break in activities from 1:30pm – 2:30pm)
Regular Zone
Monday – Thursday: 1:00pm – 6:00pm
Friday – Sunday: 10:00am – 6:00pm (with a break in activities from 1:30pm – 2:30pm)
Cost:
Family Zone
Monday – Thursday:
-Parents: ₩4,000
-Children: ₩9,000
Friday – Sunday:
-Parents: ₩6,000
-Children: ₩11,000
Regular Zone
Monday – Thursday:
-Adults: ₩10,000
-Teens: ₩9,000
Friday – Sunday:
-Adults: ₩14,000
-Teens: ₩12,000
Amenities: There are free public restrooms located in some of the parking lots, as well as inside of the festival itself. In the Family Zone there are free showers that you can use to rinse off after playing in the mud. You have to be rinsed off in order to play in any of the pools in the festival.
What to wear: Most people we saw were wearing bathing suits – although this is Korea, so most were wearing full coverage suits. We opted for clothing that we didn’t mind getting wet and muddy – but we regretted it and wished we’d opted for swimsuits. My recommendation is full-coverage swimwear, or whatever would be comfortable to swim and get dirty in!
Tip: It is BUSY on the weekends. But we found that arriving earlier was helpful. By the time we left at about 1:30pm, it was getting really crazy. I recommend either visiting on a weekday OR getting there early if you’re visiting on a weekend.
