Busan Jagalchi Festival

Another festival we went to was the Busan Jagalchi Festival. Jagalchi is Korea's largest seafood market. Every October, the market hosts a large festival under the slogan, “Oiso! Boiso! Saiso! (“Come! See! Buy!”).  The festival has various events and hands-on activities, including a parade, live entertainment, barehanded fishing, and octopus relay races. 

The entrance of Jagalchi.

Squid Being unloaded from the boats.

Around the market.

Blair fishing for our dinner.

Our freshly caught fish being grilled. 

The Busan Jagalchi Festival was a fun day out. Fish markets are great way to experience Korean culture. I always have a lot of fun exploring them. 

Somaemuldo

After spending Friday night in Jinju for the Lantern Festival, we decided to head to Somaemuldo for the day.

Somaemuldo is an island off Korea’s southern coast in Hallyeo Haesang National Park. It takes about an hour to get there by boat from Tongyeong (a small port city on the southern coast). Tongyeong was only an hour bus ride from Jinju. Once we arrived, we headed to the port, explored a small fish market, and purchased our boat tickets.

The boat ride to Somaemuldo was beautiful as we passed many small islands. Somaemuldo itself was even more impressive. The island is small, has beautiful scenery, a small village, and a lighthouse that was built by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea.

We decided to take the longer trail toward the lighthouse, along the ocean. The views from the trail were amazing. The lighthouse is actually on a separate, smaller island. You can only walk to the smaller island twice a day, during low tide (when the path isn't covered with water).

The island reminded me a lot of Hongdo, but it definitely had its own character and appeal, both deserve a visit.

The boat ride to Somaemuldo.

Around Somaemuldo.

The sunset during the boat ride back to Tongyeong. 

Jinju Lantern Festival

The past two weekends, Blair and I also went to the Jinju Namgang Yudeung (Lantern) Festival. The festival originated during the Japanese invasion of Korea. As a military strategy, Korean soldiers placed many lanterns on the Namgang River to prevent Japanese troops from wading across it. It has since become an annual tradition, and one of the largest lantern festivals in Korea. 

It was truly an amazing festival, my favorite so far. 

Andong Maskdance Festival

October in Korea is a month full of Festivals. Festivals are happening just about everywhere, everything from the Busan International Film Festival to the Gwangju Kimchi Festival; there’s something for everyone.

During the first weekend of October, Blair and I went to the Andong Maskdance Festival. The Andong Maskdance Festival has a variety of events and hands-on programs, including the National & International Mask Dance Performance, World Mask Competition and World Mask Exhibition.

Andong is a short hour and half drive from Daegu. We left early in the morning and spent the entire day exploring the festival at the Hahoe Folk Village (away from the main festival site which was downtown). The village is a World Heritage site and regarded as valuable part of Korean culture because it preserves Joseon period-style architecture, folk traditions, and various relics.  

We spent most of the day taking in the sights around the village, shopping, making masks, and watching the traditional mask dances.

We stayed late into the evening to catch the Seonyujulbal Nori (Hahoe’s traditional fireworks display) which was truly a unique experience.  

The Seonyujulbal Nori dates back to Joseon dynasty. Originally, the fireworks display was a part of a large poem-writing party that occurred annually along the river. First, hundreds of pieces of mulberry root charcoal begin to burn on thick rope extending from Buyongdae Cliff to the Mansongjeong Pine Tree Forest. As the charcoals burn, fire slowly falls from the ropes, creating a raining of fire effect. Meanwhile, hundreds of eggshells with a piece of cotton burning inside are sent down the river. At the same time, scholars on a boat write and read poems. When someone finished writing a poem, people would shout “drop the fires!” In return, bundles of dried pine tress would be set to fire and dropped of the cliff. 

After the fireworks, a friendly group of Koreans offered to give us a ride... After sorting out the language barrier, we realized they meant all the way back to daegu, not just the bus terminal.