Lotus Industry Festival of Korea: August 6th - 9th.

Pop-up from the Muan county tourism website.

The Lotus Industry Festival will be held in Muan county (무안연꽃축제) from August 6th through the 9th. I'm impressed that the papers have written previews of it, so I'll just direct you there. From the Times:

Hoesan White Lotus Habitat in Ilro-eup, Muan-gun, South Jeolla Province, is the largest of its kind in Asia, stretching over an area of 330,000 square meters and a circumference of 3 kilometers. The habitat was originally a reservoir for farming water during the Japanese colonial era (1910-45). It became home to white lotuses in 1997 following a lotus festival.

The blossoms began to grow here in the 1950s, after a neighboring villager planted a dozen or so seeds. That night, the villager is said to have dreamt of 12 white cranes resembling the fair lotuses and took great care of them.

The habitat features walkways that enable visitors to stroll through the flowers, and a 280-meter-long bridge provides a view of the place. In addition to white lotuses, the habitat houses some 30 kinds of lotuses and 50-odd types of flora, and is often visited for biological studies.

From the Herald:

Along and across the white lotus field is a wooden esplanade. Adding a cute touch are small statues of the characters from "Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog" hidden among the high lotus plants. Although the animation is Japanese, they bring great sense of nostalgia among Koreans who grew up watching it.

One thing to note, however, is that it would be hard to see all the white flowers bloom at the same time, as they tend to flower sporadically, unlike the pink-colored lotus flowers that bloom all at once.

At the end of the pathway is a glass greenhouse and on the first floor is a cafeteria selling various lotus teas, as well as an exhibition of water lilies.

Another fun experience is to go on a small white boat to go around the pond that takes about 30 minutes. Up to four people can get on the boat to go along the 500-meter long route.

Since last year, the annual lotus festival has taken a new turn, by highlighting the industrious benefits of the plants.

The rest of the Herald article does have a quite a bit more about what to do and where to eat. It also says that a local specialty is lotus beer. There's some information on the official Muan tourism site, but not much, and a little about last year's from the Korea Tourism Organization.

There was a lotus festival in Buyeo---the county, not the exclamation---this month, but it's over. Regarding other local festivals, the Gangjin Celadon Festival will be on from the 8th through the 16th.