Boryeong Mud Festival

The origin is unusually candid: Boryeong sits on tidal flats whose mud is high in minerals, the city developed a cosmetics line from it in the 1990s, and in 1998 launched a festival to market the product. It escaped the marketing entirely. Held over about ten days in July at Daecheon beach, it is now among the most attended festivals in Korea and the one foreign residents and travellers turn up to in the largest numbers - mud pools, mud slides, a mud prison, body painting, obstacle courses, a beach stage with music at night, and a great deal of people covered head to foot. The ticketed mud zone is the core; the beach itself is free and long. It is loud, young, wet and not remotely traditional, and it is honest about that. Bring clothes you do not mind ruining and something waterproof for a phone.

What you actually see

• The mud zone - pools, slides, obstacle courses, body painting.
• Daecheon beach - a long west-coast strand, free to use.
• The night stage - concerts and fireworks on the sand.
• The mineral mud - the cosmetics the whole thing was built to sell.

When to go

Mid to late July, over about ten days. Weekends are heaviest. It is monsoon season - rain is normal and does not stop it.

Honest expectations

Nothing here is traditional; it is a marketing festival that grew. Very crowded, very young, and drinking is a large part of the atmosphere. Accommodation in Boryeong books out months ahead and prices rise sharply.

Nearby

Muchangpo beach and the west-coast islands are close; Sapsido is reachable by ferry.