Spring Festivals

While walking past World Cup Stadium yesterday I noticed a banner for the Jeju Rape Flower Festival. I've also had a lot of interest in finding out when the Jeju Cherry Blossom Festival is, and so, I did a bit of internet surfing and put together a list of Jeju's more popular Spring festivals. Its not a complete list of Jeju's Spring festivals, but I'm fairly certain that the dates for the festivals are accurate.

The Gangjeong Stream Sweetfish Festival: 05.23.2009 ~ 05.25.2009, Gangjeongcheon (river), Seogwipo

Unlike the ordinary streams of Jeju that are almost dry, Gangjeong Stream is always abundant to take 70% of water supply of Seoguipo. The natural groundwater of Halla Mountains flows throughout the year to form a rare habitat of sweetfish at Gangjeong Stream and the sweetfish festival has been held since 2002 to improve this resource.

The Jeju Rape Flower festival: 03.27.2009 ~ 03.29.2009, Seogwipo-si International Convention Center, Jungmun

In Korea spring comes earliest to Jeju-do Island, and by the end of February the yellow rape flowers are beginning to bloom. By festival time in April the entire island is awash with bright yellow flowers, which last for the entirety of spring.

The Jeju Rape Flower festival is one of the most famous festivals in Jeju and attracts large numbers of visitors every year. As well enjoying the wild flowers, visitors will fully enter the festive spirit with the festival’s various entertainment events.

The rape flowers you can see just about anywhere around the island. I recommend checking out one of the Halla-san trails, where you'll find some really breathtaking views.

Jeju King Cherry Blossoms Festival : 04.04.2009 ~ 04.08.2009, Jeju Sports Complex, Seogwipo downtown area

Jeju's king cherry blossoms can be seen all over Seogwipo downtown area and the surrounding the Jeju Sports Complex. The petals of Jeju’s king cherry blossoms are the largest and most luxurious among all other cherry blossoms.

However, these cherry blossoms fully blossom only for 2 to 3 days, and though many other cherry blossoms bloom from the end of March to early April, these king cherry blossoms can only be seen in full bloom during the festival period in early April. The heart of the festival is the gorgeous cherry blossom road where visitors can enjoy romantic music as well as the beautiful scenery.

The cherry blossoms can be spotted just about anywhere on Jeju as well. I've already spotted a few in bloom in Jungmun, while on the bus to Jeju-si. Cheju National University has some very impressive cherry blossom grounds, and Halla-san also boasts a few trees of it's own.