The month of June is a wonderful time to spend one’s time in the great outdoors. One way to do that is to attend a Korean festival in Korea.

The Gangneung Danoje Festival (강릉단오제축제) is a festival that preserves the folk culture of the lower classes. There are lots of contests and competitions that you can participate in, but my favorite is the regional dialect contest. Participants in the regional dialect contest try to speak in the various regional dialects of Korea. You get to hear all sorts of Korean accents. It’s really amusing! They also have a program teaching you how to make traditional rice cakes and traditional Korean alcohol. In addition, there are also performances like the Korean mask dance.

The Hansan Ramie Fabric Cultural Festival (한산모시문화제축제) celebrates the ramie fabric that is famous in the Hansanmyeon area. The highlight of this Festival is the fashion show that highlights the clothing made from ramie fabric. Visitors can also try on clothing and even learn how to make clothing out of ramie fabric. There are also various vendors from which you can also buy clothing make from ramie. The ramie crop can also be used in making food like teas and rice cakes. If you like to shop and eat, this is the festival for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TURGi2WUVDA

The Muju Firefly Festival (무주반딧불축제) is a beautiful festival that honors the fireflies of Muju County (무주군). The natural light of the fireflies can light up the night sky. Therefore to mimic the fireflies, there is a spectacular fireworks show that starts around eight in the evening. There are various programs for children that teach children about fireflies and how they should not fear fireflies. As Korea becomes more developed and cities crowd into the natural habitat of the fireflies, more and more fireflies are disappearing. Therefore there also programs teaching future generations how to preserve these habitats.