Jarasum Jazz Festival

Jarasum is a flat island in the Bukhan river at Gapyeong, and since 2004 it has hosted the largest jazz festival in Korea over three days in early October. The programming is genuinely international - European, American, Japanese and Korean acts across several stages - and it stays closer to jazz than most festivals with the word in the title, though the bill widens into world music and fusion. The setting does much of the work: mountains on both sides, the river, and camping on the island itself, with the festival timed for the first cool weekend of autumn. Some stages are free and the paid stages are ticketed by day or for the weekend. It is an easy trip from Seoul - about an hour by train - and many people come out for a single day. Weather is the risk: October on the river can be cold at night and the island floods in a wet year.

What you actually see

• The main stages - international jazz over three days.
• The island setting - river and mountains around the ground.
• The free stages - programming outside the ticketed area.
• The camping - tents on the island through the weekend.

When to go

Early October, three days. Book tickets ahead for the main stages. Bring layers - it is cold after dark on the river.

Honest expectations

Ticketed, and the good acts are on the paid stages. Trains back to Seoul fill after the last set; camping or a Gapyeong room needs booking well ahead. Heavy rain can move or cancel stages on a flat river island.

Nearby

Nami island, the Garden of Morning Calm and the Gapyeong rail bike are close.