[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Busan Lotus Lantern Festival

The Busan Lotus Lantern Festival will be held at Songsanghyeon Plaza and Busan Citizen’s Park in Busan from April 22 to May 8.

Sponsored by the Busan Buddhism Association, the annual festival offers visitors with an opportunity to experience Buddhist culture through the many activities and hands-on experiences, including a lotus lantern making program, temple food meals, widely known as gongyang, and more.

In celebration of Buddha’s birthday, various types of lotus lanterns are on display.

The main events are the Grand Buddhist Ceremony and the Lotus Lantern Parade, hoping to attract many spectators regardless of their religious beliefs.

More information can be found at www.bba48.or.kr.

Everland Tulip Garden

The Tulip Garden, which opened March 18, is scheduled to run through April 24 at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

South Korea’s largest theme park hosts the event each year to mark the beginning of spring with splendid tulips.

The festival provides various tulip motif programs, including media displays, collaboration of Everland’s tulip garden, virtual tulip fields from the Netherlands and more.

After paying the admission fees, which cost 47,000 won for teens, 56,000 won for adults and 44,000 won for senior citizens, visitors can enjoy the tulip garden and other amusement facilities at the theme park.

Updated information can be found at www.everland.com.

Blossom Picnic at E-World

The Blossom Picnic will run through April 3 at E-World in Daegu.

Visitors can catch the earliest-blooming cherry blossoms at the venue, which is known as one of the best spots to see the pink and white blooms at night.

The areas around the 83 Tower, a famous Daegu landmark, are divided into zones with unique themes -- healing zone, camping zone and picnic zone -- allowing visitors to enjoy spring in a variety of settings.

Red double-decker buses and a merry-go-round are popular spots to take Instagram photos as well.

Tickets cost 15,000 won for children, 16,000 won for teens and 26,000 won for adults.

More information can be found at www.eworld.kr.

Hueree Plum Blossom Festival

The Hueree Plum Blossom Festival will run through March 20 at Hueree Natural Park on Jeju Island.

Visitors can stroll around the park, near South Korea’s highest peak Hallasan, and enjoy the early spring breeze.

The annual festival highlights Jeju Island’s splendid scenery and its plum blossoms with photo zones. For children, there is horse riding and a small parade of Jeju black pigs as well.

The event is open to people of all ages, and admission fees vary by age and programs.

Updated information can be found at either www.hueree.com or www.visitjeju.net/en.

Taean World Tulip Flower Festival

The World Tulip Flower Festival is scheduled to run from April 9 to May 9 at Korea Flower Park in Taean, South Chungcheong Province.

Some 200 types of flowers, including flamingo, lambada, red proud tulip and more, will be on full display.

Hands-on experiences will not be offered at this year’s event to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and tickets are 12,000 won for adults and 9,000 won for children.

More information can be found at www.koreaflowerpark.com.

By Lee Si-jin (sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)