April and May festivals in and around Jeollanam-do, 2010 edition.

Because of time constraints I didn't do a large post in March previewing upcoming spring festivals in Jeollanam-do, as I've done in years past. There have already been a few---the Jindo Sea-Parting Festival, the Gwangyang Apricot Festival, the Yudalsan Flower Festival, and several others---and others like the Cheongsan-do Slow Walking Festival, the Shinan Tulip Festival, and Gwangju World Photonics Expo are underway and have already been blogged, but there are plenty of other big ones over the next few weeks. Here's a look at what's coming up. Please post questions, reviews, or additions as a comment below.




Namwon Love Love Festival (남원춘향축제)
* April 23rd - April 26th
* Official site
Actually held in North Jeolla province, the small city of Namwon has several sites devoted to Chunhyang, a character in a well-known folktale, which

tells the story of love between Chunhyang, the daughter of a kisaeng entertainer, and Yi Mongryong, the son of a magistrate. After the two are illegally married, Mongryong goes to Seoul and a corrupt local magistrate attempts to force Chunhyang to be his concubine. She refuses and is faced with death, but is rescued at the last minute by Mongryong returning in his new role as a secret royal inspector.

I don't know why they've decided to call it the "Love Love Festival" this time, but Namwon calls itself the "City of Love" based on its association with Chunhyang. Gwanghallu Garden (광한루) is located about 1.2 kilometers southwest of the express bus terminal, and should be your first stop. The Namwon city page says:

This is the country's classic traditional garden built as a symbol of the universe. Nearby, the garden offers Ojak Bridge, as well as a lake with three mountain deities symbolizing Yeongju (Mt. Halla), Bongnae (Mt. Geumgang) and Bangjang (Mt. Jiri). According to legend, on every July 7th of the lunar calendar, thousands of crows come together and make the Ojak Bridge to allow the Altair and the Weaver to meet each other, and then Chunhyang and her fiance Lee Mong-ryong have a romantic rendezvous on the bridge, thus completing its construction (historical relic No. 303)

But, anyway, it's pretty. Across the river, to the southeast, is what's called the Chunhyang Theme Park. Both sites make for a nice visit, and as far as the festival goes, a daily schedule here, and a further listing of events here and along that sidebar. It's a pretty town on the other side of Jirisan from Jeollanam-do, and is worth a visit if not during the festival, then when you've got a free weekend. Buses run to Namwon a few times an hour from Gwangju, sometimes before heading to another city, and it takes upwards of 70 minutes to make the trip.


Hampyeong Butterfly Festival (함평나비대축제)
* April 23rd - May 9th
* Official site
One of the better-known festivals in the province. It takes place in Hampyeong county. You'll find various schedules buried here, in Korean, and a map of the festival grounds here. I went to the festival twice---in 2008 and 2009---and found the grounds scenic and the flowers pretty, but there actually aren't very many butterflies. They're kept inside one building, surrounded by prohibitively long lines. Visiting the buttefly festival without visiting the butterflies makes for a pleasant enough afternoon, basically a stroll through a huge park. Take a look at last year's post and the accompanying Flickr gallery for more.




Yeongrang Culture Festival (영랑문화제)
* April 23rd - 25th.
* Profile from Gangjin county site
Held in honor of one of the county's most famous products, the poet Kim Yun-sik (penname Yeongrang). His birthplace is a short stroll from the bus terminal in Gangjin-eup. It's a nice little area, especially in spring, and is worth a visit if you live in Gangjin, but there's no reason to make the trip especially for the festival.




Jeonju International Film Festival (전주국제영화제)
* April 29th - May 7th
* Official site
The second-biggest international film festival in the country, held in Jeonju, the capital of North Jeolla province. You can browse through the schedule here, in English, and join the Facebook group for updates.



Damyang Bamboo Festival (담양대나무축제)
* May 1st - May 5th
* Official site
Damyang, a rural county best known for its popular bamboo forest. If you've never been it's worth a trip, but you have to decide for yourself if it's an experience made better through the thousands of Koreans you'll find during the festival. Besides walking through the forest you can purchase lots of bamboo arts and crafts, and can get a look at small-town Korea if you've never seen it, though again maybe festival week isn't very representative of rural Jeollanam-do. This year they've made an English-language site, which provides a program and some background information. It does, unfortunately, start talking about

Damyang is a city rich with green resources and moral culture. Including green bamboo grove, there are antetype of ecosystem remaining in its natural status with healthy breathing, and cultural heritages such as lyrics literature handed down by ancestors are glorious. Therefore, Damyang is the world of {scenery} that is more beautiful than any other place.

Damyang is just outside of Gwangju, and all kinds of buses run back and forth. You can get another bus from the Damyang bus terminal to the forest. When I visited in 2006 it was bus 303 running that route, but that could have changed, and the website provides no further information. Google will be your friend for more information about the area, and Naver will show you pictures from bamboo festivals of years past.




Boseong Green Tea Festival (보성대향제)
* May 1st - May 5th
* Official site
One of the province's representative festivals at one of its representative sites, this takes place at the largest of Boseong's famous green tea fields. They're at their greenest in the spring, and last May is when I took the picture that serves as this blog's header. I took scores of other photographs that day, of performances, arts and crafts, green tea ice cream, and even green tea samgyeopsal, but I lost my camera at Home Plus a few days later, and basically gave away hundreds of pictures to some Suncheon cretin. Anyway, the fields are pretty, and the festival is as fine a time as any to visit them. Buses run regularly to Boseong from Suncheon and Gwangju, and when you arrive at the bus terminal in Boseong you'll find signs in English helping you use the vending machine to get your tickets for the bus to the tea fields.


Jinnamje Memorial Festival (진남제)
* May 3rd - May 5th
* Official site
Held at various sites in Yeosu, the 44th annual Jinnamje Memorial Festival is one of two Turtle Ship festivals in the city that week. There's a program here, in Korean, and somewhat of a map of festival sites here.


Yeosu Turtle Ship Festival (여수거북선대축제)
* May 3rd - May 6th
* Official site (not working)
Yeosu has quite a few sites devoted to national hero Admiral Yi Sun-shin and his boat, and this is another Turtle Ship festival. It was originally scheduled to run from the 5th through the 8th. and will be held at the "new harbor" near the bridge to Odong-do, and the site of the 2012 Expo. I went last year, sort of, because the Yeosu Tall Ships Festival was going on right next door. Aside from a couple parades and a solar-powered turtle ship going around spitting fire, there wasn't a whole lot to it.


Jangseong Hong Gildong Festival (장성홍길동축제)
* May 7th - 9th
* Profile from Jangseong county site
A festival in honor of the folk hero you might think of as a Robin Hood. Jangseong county is very proud of Hong Gil-dong, and you can read more about him, sort of, on the Jangseong county page, which devotes most of its space to him and to strange English like

we will be the leader of 21st century
with brighter and wider eyes

The Jangseong county page also takes for granted that readers believe Hong Gildong and his crew governed Okinawa for a time. You'll find a program for the festival here, in Korean, you'll find the festival at Jangseong's Hong Gildong Theme Park (홍길동테마파크), and you'll need to remember 테마파크 isn't like a theme park in English but is actually a park built around a theme (like Hong Gildong or Chunhyang).


Wando Jang Bogo Festival (완도장보고축제)
* May 7th - May 9th
Held in Wando county in celebration of Jang Bogo, a man who basically set up his own little kingdom on a tiny Wando island and kept the seas safe from pirates in the 9th century. One of the aims of the 2009 festival was, according to the Wando county site:

Increase the Changpogo brand image by consistent strengthening of the Changpogo theme in order to take place as a competitive international festival, even though the Changpogo brand has been settled as the region’s major brand through drama set projects, Jangdo historic site restoring project, Changpogo Memorial Hall, Changpogo Monument project, etc.

Yeah, okay. It's held at various locations throughout the county. Though the drama sets and the reconstructed historical sites look really interesting---ROK Drop has a nice post up on them---it might be challenging to attend this festival unless you live in Wando already. You might keep the sites in mind if you're attending the Cheongsan-do Slow Walking Festival, admittedly held on a different island together.



Dasan Festival (다산제)
* May 7th - May 9th
* Profile from Gangjin county page
Held in Gangjin county in honor of the famous scholar Jeong Yak-yong exiled there for twenty years. It will be held at and around Dasan Chodang, in Doam-myeon, the home where he spent most of his years while exiled to the southern coast. I lived in Gangjin for a year and took an interest in local history and points of interest, and have written a lot about the sites associated with Dasan and other famous Gangjin residents. The area is definitely worth a visit, but perhaps not during this busy weekend. If you do decide to go, that weekend or whenever, you'll want to hike from Dasan Chodang to Baekryeonsa, considered the most famous temple in Gangjin.




Nagan Folk Culture Festival (낙안민속문화축제)
* May 7th - May 9th
* Folk village official site
Held at one of my favorite spots in Suncheon, the Nagan Folk Village, about 25 kilometers outside the city. I've visited the village several times---I've written about my visits here and here---and went to last spring's festival but didn't blog it. It's considered the country's best preserved folk village, and some 200+ people live there and operate minbak and restaurants in the old homes. I consider it a must-visit for people in the area, and I like how a now-defunct blogger described it, quoted from my 2008 post:

This place impressed me on several levels. Part museum, part artists' colony, and part time machine, this historic, inhabited fortress town is an ideal destination for those of us who adore travel but are easily bored by museums and standard touristy fare.

The Korean counterpart to Western Renaissance Fairs, folk villages are communities dedicated to preserving and perpetuating traditional customs and craftsmanship. The village at Nagan is exceptional in that it is housed inside a Chosun-era walled fortress, which in itself is a formidable historic landmark.

If you're interested in visiting the folk village, during one of the year's two big festivals is the time to do it. The attractions aren't overwhelming---they include arts and crafts, food, folk games---but the village is nice to look at, and it's the sort of festival augmented by crowds of people. It's accessible via Suncheon city buses 63 and 68, and is part of the Suncheon bus tour. When you get off the bus in Nagan-myeon, check the poster on the convenience store door to find out when the buses head back to Suncheon.






A few photographs from May 2009.