Boryeong Mud Festival Guide
What is the Boryeong Mud Festival
Korea’s Eastern coast is known for long stretches of tidal mud flats. These large flats contain silky smooth mud that is said to be great for the skin. If Korea loves two things, it’s festivals and skincare, so naturally, the Boryeong Mud Festival was created. Here you can get covered in mud, splash others with mud, soak in mud water, and more. The festival also includes live concert performances, usually with several A-list celebrities, and a truly epic fireworks display.
The festival was started in 1998 to promote Boryeong’s skincare products and grew to become one of Korea’s largest festivals. According to their site, the region was struggling financially at the time they decided to create the festival. Since then, it has exploded into an internationally recognized festival with tens of thousands of visitors over a two-week period in July and August.
How to get to Boryeong Mud Festival
Boryeong is out of the way as far as Korea goes. If you’re coming from central Seoul, the fastest way is to take the KTX to Cheonan-Asan, and the slow train to Daecheon Station in Boryeong. From anywhere else, an intercity bus is the only option, since it’s so far from any major cities in Korea. The event space is at Daecheon Beach, which is a 35 minute bus ride from the actual city of Boryeong. There is plenty of free parking if you choose to drive, but we recommend getting there as early as possible.
Lodging is an issue in Boryeong because it is such a small town with such a huge festival. We were slow to find a place to stay and had to get a pension 15 minutes away and take a taxi into town. If you don’t have a car, that can complicate things, so as soon as you have bus or train tickets, we recommend getting lodging first.
Choosing a Day To Visit
The Boryeong Mud Festival is two weeks long, packed with different events. Some nights have DJs that go until midnight, some days have special concerts and performances, and the opening and closing ceremonies are also different. The best way to find out what’s happening on each day is by checking their Instagram, which is kept up to date with special events.
Weekdays are shorter with no concerts, and weekends are longer, usually with concerts. The festival runs from late July to early August, 1 pm to 6 pm on weekdays, and 10 am to 6 pm on weekends. You can easily reserve tickets online through their website, but we had no issues buying tickets there.
Boryeong Mud Festival
Coming into Boryeong, you’d never expect a massive festival to be around the corner. Boryeong is tiny by Korean standards, but as soon as arrive at the beach, the party is popping. The area of the festival is quite large, with many exhibition halls, a large food court, plenty of shaded seating, and gardens. We didn’t spend too much time at the exhibitions as we were more focused on the festival itself, but there are plenty of things to do all day besides play in the mud.
The mud zone is obviously where the main event is. There are mud slides, mud pools, mud water towers, and more. Over the years, the main way of getting muddy has changed, but usually there is a main event where people all jump in and get as dirty as possible. When we visited the game was to split into two teams and find your color of marble in the mud. Whoever lost huddled in the center was covered by the other team. Don’t worry, you’re going to leave completely caked no matter what you do!
There is also a small stage with performances inside the mud zone. Every time we passed by, the stage was bumping with club music and lots of dancing. They also have water cannons similar to WATERBOMB, although not as large. Some years, there are even more areas to explore, like a mud street inside the town, and a huge water area where no mud is allowed. The water area has similar events to the mud zone, like slides and water gun fights. There’s even a pet-friendly zone if you’re brave enough to bring a furry friend.
Daecheon Beach
After the mud, we headed to Daecheon Beach to hang out until the opening ceremony. Daecheon Beach is massive, and while technically not part of the Boryeong Mud Festival, almost everyone goes there after the main area closes at 6. This huge beach has plenty of space for thousands of guests and is a great way to fully rinse off if you still have mud on you. To be honest, it’s not the nicest beach in Korea. The same conditions that create the mudflats also lead to the East Coast being murky. It wasn’t disgusting, but you certainly aren’t coming to Boryeong for the crystal clear beaches like in Jeju.
Performances
Just off the beach is a huge covered plaza with a lovely stage overlooking the ocean. Depending on the schedule, there may be DJs, K-pop groups, or other cultural performances on the weekends. There are plenty of seats, which was awesome after a long day of hard work. When we visited, we were treated to many performances, which we didn’t know were coming. Several local artists and small groups played, but towards the end, we saw A-list celebrities like Pentagon and Ailee. We were also surprised to see a visit from the former president of Korea, who gave a speech for the festival. While not as flashy as music festivals like WATERBOMB, the music was well done, and we had a great time enjoying it as the sun set.
Fireworks
We decided to stay after the opening ceremony, and we are so glad we did. Although we didn’t plan on it, we were lucky to come on a day with fireworks. Usually, the opening and closing nights have a massive fireworks display. Everyone headed down to the beach, and the show began. There was a huge barge in the ocean where fireworks were launched from, and it was a sight to behold.
I have never seen a display with so many fireworks. They were huge, going so high they filled my entire vision. I’m not sure if it is always this impressive, but to this day, it remains the most amazing fireworks displays I’ve ever seen. Fireworks of every color and type exploded to the music, along with some large moving lights. Every time I thought it was over, even more fireworks came, culminating in a blinding finale.
Tips For Boryeong Mud Festival
1: Bring goggles
Mud will get everywhere, and goggles are the best way to keep it out of your eyes. I brought sunglasses, and Yemisi brought nothing. Sunglasses were better than nothing, but we both really wished we had full-coverage goggles in hindsight.
2: Arrive early, come on weekends.
The weekends last longer and have a lot more to offer outside of the mud zone. From music to fireworks, weekend events absolutely make the event worthwhile. Get there early to make sure you have the full day to get in, have fun, and clean up before the performances.
3: Bring lots of clothes
Not only will you want a bag to stuff your muddy clothes in, but it gets significantly colder after sunset due to the ocean breeze. Make sure you bring clothes to layer if you’re planning on staying after sunset.
Final Thoughts
The mud festival is an absolute blast. It’s a bit strange, but we don’t regret going. I’m not sure if it actually made our skin feel better, but it definitely followed through on it’s promise of a fun weekend for everybody.
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