Hampyeong Butterfly Festival

Hampyeong is a small farming county in Jeollanam with no famous landmark, and in 1999 it did something that has since been copied across rural Korea: it built an identity out of an insect. The butterfly festival, held over about ten days from late April on the Hampyeongcheon, combines released and enclosed butterflies, flower fields planted for the event, an insect exhibition hall, and a market for the county's produce - the branding argument being that butterflies indicate clean agriculture, which is then the selling point for the rice and vegetables. It worked well enough that Hampyeong built a permanent butterfly and insect ecology park that runs outside the festival too. The event is squarely aimed at families with children and at domestic day-trippers, and it is honest about being an economic project as much as a celebration.

What you actually see

• The butterfly enclosures - released and housed, at the peak of spring.
• The planted flower fields - laid on along the stream.
• The insect exhibition - the ecology hall and displays.
• The county market - produce sold under the clean-farming label.

When to go

Late April to early May, about ten days. Weekday mornings avoid the school groups. The ecology park is open outside the festival for a quieter, smaller version.

Honest expectations

It is a family event built for domestic visitors, with limited English. Ticketed. Butterfly numbers depend on the weather - a cold or wet spell thins the display considerably.

Nearby

Gwangju is about an hour; Mokpo and the Jeonnam coast are south.