Fall Festivals in South Jeolla Province

By Brian Deutsch

Contributing writer

Mention South Jeolla Province to people outside of it and you'll get ambivalent responses, revealing positive and negative associations with its politics, its culture, its people, and its history. Its sites remain popular tourist destinations, though, and its food is considered among the best in the country.

Foreigners further north often plan visits to Gwangju and the province during long weekends and hold a tour of the region's attractions a must-do during a tenure in South Korea, alongside Gyeongju and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

One of the best times to visit down south is the fall, when there are fall festivals, large and small, going on from the beginning of September through the middle of November. Here is a small collection of the region's biggest, with enough to keep you busy nearly every day of October.

The largest, and arguably the most eagerly awaited festival in the area is the Gwangju Biennale, a huge art festival held every two years, as the name indicates. It began on Sept. 5 and will continue through Nov. 9 at the Biennale Exhibition Hall and surrounding park.

Another popular get-together is the Chungjangno Festival, held on Oct. 7 to 12 on and around Chungjangno, a main street downtown accessible via Geumnamro 4-ga and Culture Complex stations. Indoor and outdoor attractions include traditional dance and music performances, pop concerts, arts and crafts, and of course, break dance.

This year the festival is being advertised as the Chungjangno Recollection Festival, and there is a ``Trip Through Time'' with household and pop culture items from the 1950s through the 1980s. This will be held on what the festival terms ``Memory Lane,'' a strip of Chungjangno near Geumnamro 4-ga Station that is lined with a wood and plaster construction made to resemble the old mud and stone walls of the past.

The following weekend, from Oct. 15 through 19, is the Gwangju Kimchi Festival. Devoted to the country's representative side dish, it is a great opportunity for foreigners to be photographed doing whatever it is foreigners do when exposed to kimchi. It will take place at and around the Folk Museum and Jungoe Park on Gwangju's north side, in the same park as Biennale Exhibition Hall, and is a short bus or taxi ride from the bus terminal and train station.

The eastern part of the province has more on the theme of food. The Namdo Food Festival is popular and plays into the belief that Jeolla food is the best in the country. It will showcase the specialties of the province's 22 cities and counties, as well as the chefs who do them best.

Adding to the appeal is the setting: It will be held at Suncheon's Nagan Folk Village, considered the best-preserved traditional village in the country. There will be free shuttle buses running from Gwangju to the village each morning of the festival, with return shuttles running each afternoon and evening. About 470,000 people visited during last year's six-day festival; this year's runs from Oct. 9 through 13.

Suncheon will hold another festival at another representative tourist site at the end of October. The Suncheon Bay Reeds Festival is self-explanatory and will be held from Oct. 28 through Nov. 4 at and around the bay's Eco-Museum. Suncheon city bus number 1 goes to Suncheon Bay, a location popular with locals and with the hundred-some migratory bird species that pass through. This festival will run concurrently with the Ramsar Conference in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.

In the northern tip of the province, next to scenic Mt. Jiri National Park, will be the Gokseong SimCheong Festival, held at Gokseong county's Train Village from Oct. 2 through 5. The Train Village lies at the old Gokseong Station, 1.6 kilometers south of the present-day one, and across from the Seomjin River and Seomjin Folk Village. Sim Cheong is a character from a well-known ``pansori'' tale who offered herself as a sacrifice to the Dragon King of the Sea in order to ultimately restore the sight of her blind father, and who has become a symbol of unselfish filial piety.

Near another of the region's major rivers, the Yeongsan, will be the Naju Yeongsan River Culture Festival from Oct. 24 to 26. Outdoor parades, markets, and musical and dance performances are the main attractions, but the city also has a number of historical treasures, including two large gates which were once part of a wall that surrounded the city in more dangerous times. The festival will be held on the main streets within the old wall's protection.

In the southwestern corner of the province is the Battle of Myeongnyang Festival, held to commemorate a famous naval battle fought on Oct. 26, 1597 during the Imjin War between Korea and Japan. Referred to also as the Turtle Boat Festival, a solar-powered turtle ship ferry will debut to the public here, in tribute to national hero Yi Sun-sin who successfully used 13 such boats against the Japanese fleet of 133 at the battle in Myeongnyang Strait, or Uldolmok.

Held from Oct. 11 to 14 in Haenam and Jindo counties, on opposite sides of the strait, highlights include reenactments of the battle, turtle boat displays, and traditional performances. Nearby points of interest are Ttangkkeut, the southernmost point of the Korean Peninsula, and the Jindo Bridge, at the western end of the strait, the longest suspension bridge in the country at 484 meters.

There are maple trees all over the place, and some people prefer to view them from a cozy and quiet neighborhood park, rather than braving the crowds. But for people who'd like to get out, there's the Baekyang Maple Festival in Jangseong county on Nov. 1 and 2. Maple trees generally do not operate according to local government schedules, so with this and the other displays of fall foliage, there's more than two days for visitors to work with.

Piagol Valley in Gurye county is also a regional favorite and will host the Piagol Valley Maple Festival. At the base of Mt. Jiri, walking around is fairly leisurely and flat, though experienced and well-equipped visitors may choose to continue on to more challenging routes. Buses run to the mountain and to nearby Yeongok Temple from Gurye, which is in turn accessible by bus or train.