The many festivals held in the summer are some of best “to do’s” of Korea. Seoul holds the most festivals because of its sheer size, but other festivals held outside of Seoul should not be overlooked. Today I went to Boryeoung for the Mud Festival. If ever you had the childhood desire to play in the mud, this is your chance.

The festival runs for 10 straight days and is filled with fun and muddy activities. Some of the main attractions include: mud pool, mud wrestling, obstacle course, slide, and fake jail...all covered in mud of course!

To prepare for this type of event, one usually sports at least a swim suit and at most, some gym clothes. The first stop is a group of tables near the entrance. There you will find a bunch of bowls with mud and a paint brush and if you don't start painting the mud on yourself, someone else will likely demonstrate on themselves to show you what to do. This is also a great time to throw mud at your friends! There are plenty of little restaurants and convenience stores to purchase extra clothes, food, beverage, or soap! There are tons of vendors offering top of the line mud-skin care products. I'm told that mud is good for the skin as sun protection and that your skin will feel much softer the second day. So far, I can say that it's not bad.

After one has had their fill of mud activities, the beach usually seems inviting (especially to wash off that mud in the ocean). If salt water isn't enough to make you feel clean and refreshed, there is a separate men's and women's sauna complete with showers, and three different types of baths; hot water, cold water and mud. There are some non-mud involving attractions as well such as music and entertainment main stage and a traditional Korean style drum routine. Here’s the website to learn more about this festival: https://webmail.uwec.edu/owa/redir.aspx?URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.mudfestival.or.kr%2flang%2fen%2findex.jspudfestival.or.kr/lang/en/index.jsp