[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Yellow Forest in Kimcheon

Kimcheon City in North Gyeongsang Province has set up a forest decorated with yellow furniture pieces and objects, named the “Yellow Forest.”

The project was inspired by the Purple Island in Sinan. Two islands in the Sinan area in South Jeolla Province are blanketed in a hue of purple, with all the roofs and streets painted purple.

Kimcheon City hopes to attract tourists with its new Yellow Forest. It will feature hands-on activities such as woodcraft classes in the forest. 

Mountain biking in Wonju

A mountain bike park has opened in Wonju, Gangwon Province.

The park features 10 mountain biking trail courses for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

This is Korea’s first mountain bike park.

Due to the pandemic, only the bike courses have opened. Other facilities such as camping sites and recreational zones will open at a later date.

Wonju City hopes to host competitions and a festival at the park in October, and plans to open an academy for mountain biking. 

Jindo Miracle Sea Road Festival

This year, the 42nd Jindo Miracle Sea Road Festival will be held online from Tuesday to Thursday to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Every spring, the sea around Jindo opens up, exposing a 2.8-kilometer stretch of sand that connects two islands in the area. The gravitational phenomenon draws numerous visitors to the small island in South Jeolla Province.

The annual festival was canceled last year due to the pandemic. This year, it will be held online with the sea road opening livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook. Festival organizers will also sell local Jindo specialties online.

Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival

The 25th Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival is set to open May 5.

Every year, the city of Jeonju holds a hanji festival, celebrating the legacy of traditional handmade paper.

Due to coronavirus concerns, the 2021 edition of the festival will be held both offline and online for a month.

The online part of the festival will feature lectures, contests and hands-on activities related to hanji, spanning over three weeks. In early June, the festival will wrap up with an offline hanji fashion show, featuring clothing made of mulberry paper. 

Hadong Tea Festival

The 24th Hadong Tea Festival will be held online from May 15 to 23.

The organizers of the festival discussed canceling the annual event due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, but decided to hold the festival to promote the 2022 World Tea Expo.

To prevent the spread of the virus, this year’s festival will mainly feature contactless online activities with limited offline activities across Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province.

To help tea plantations that experienced difficulties due to the festival’s cancellation last year, this year’s festival will feature Hadong tea leaves in several e-commerce events as a way to introduce the tea vendors to a new retail market.