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South Korea: The Boryeong Mud Festival

A hot spot to see other foreigners, the Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea has attracted tourists for years. Originally used as a campaign to promote the cosmetics that come from the Boryeong mud, the festival has grown into a two week extravaganza of mud, mud slides, mud wrestling, and mud obstacle courses.

Background Info

Located south of Seoul, the town of Boryeong is famous for its “healing” mud. The mud is said to have natural minerals that promote healthy skin and since 1996, it has been integrated into cosmetics and skincare products.

To promote their mud, the town of Boryeong decided to have a mud festival for two weeks every summer. The festival is often sponsored by a beer company, and free beer was provided to those willing to wait in line.

The mud dries quickly, so be sure to take your pictures while it’s wet!

The Boryeong Mud Festival

First, you pay to enter and get a wristband. Upon entering, there are “cages” you can go in with your friends and get mud thrown at you. It sounds weird, but being the only person not covered head to toe in mud would be weirder.

Then head to the slides, you’ll end up in a giant mud pit!

My group chose to play mud soccer first, where we succeeded in slipping and falling more than actually making a goal. Next was the mud wrestling arenas where aggression kicks in and all bets are off. After that, obstacles courses and tug of war arenas!

I, of course, became way too competitive and was probably too aggressive. I say this because about 20 phones at a time were on me – the giant foreigner throwing people sideways through the mud into bouncy walls so she could win.

If you want to do the obstacle course, be sure to get in line early

As the festival is becoming more and more popular with tourists, here are a few things you can do to ensure you make the most of your time.

The festival is mud/beach/concert combo

The beach has a large stage where singers and dancers perform, but you can also see dancing in the festival itself. And although I didn’t stay long enough to see them, I was told that fireworks conclude the night.

Conclusion

The Boryeong Mud Festival is a relatively small, but fun festival. It’s one of the only places where you’ll see a high number of foreigners mixing in with the native Koreans. The atmosphere is hyped but the attitude is relaxed, with the many restrictions you feel as a foreigner in Korea melted away.

If you happen to be in Korea for the summer, I highly recommend looking into it!

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