Where to go in Korea in December: 12 festivals

Festivals and seasonal sights in 32 places across Korea in December: Haeundae Light Festival (Busan), Taean Light Festival (Taean), Boseong Tea Field…

Top 10

Busan

• Haeundae Light Festival — Late November to mid January, lit from 6 to 11 pm. Free, with light sculptures out on the sand.
• Gwangbok-ro Christmas Tree Festival — Lights up in early December and runs through February, 5:30 to 10 pm. A kilometer of Gwangbok-ro becomes a tunnel of trees. Free.

Taean

• Taean Light Festival — A garden covered in LEDs after dark. Entry ₩10,000. Fits neatly after the Kkotji sunset.

Boseong

• Boseong Tea Field Light Festival — From mid December into early January the tea slopes are strung with lights. Go after dark and dress for the wind.

Daegu

• E-World Starlight Festival — The whole park lights up and 83 Tower changes colour. A separate after-dark ticket covers the evening.

Geoje

• Geoje Cod and Seafood Festival — Bare-hand cod catching, auctions and cod soup tastings. The road into Oepo is narrow, so traffic backs up on festival days.
• Year-End Fireworks — Fireworks over the harbor around midnight. Waterfront benches fill early in the evening.

Haenam

• Winter cabbage and Spanish mackerel season — As the winter cabbage comes in, every raw-fish house in town puts Spanish mackerel on the menu. Pickled kimchi cabbage ships by mail order in November and December.
• Land's End Sunset and Sunrise Festival — A Land's End concert and fireworks see the year out, then the first sunrise. The road in clogs at night, so stay in Songji-myeon.
• Hwawon Oceano Sunset Festival — The year's last sunset from the coast at Haenam's north-west tip. Quieter than Land's End.

Gapyeong

• Lighting Festival at the Garden of Morning Calm — Early December to mid-March the whole garden lights up after dark. Evening entry runs about ₩19,000 weekdays and ₩21,000 weekends; go in an hour before sunset to see both.

Yeosu

• Hyangiram Sunrise Festival — From the night of December 31 through the New Year sunrise: wish candles, the bell, fireworks. Park at the temporary lots and take the shuttle.

Damyang

• Damyang Christmas Santa Festival — Two days each year on December 24–25: a Santa parade, fireworks, marshmallows over fire pits. The avenue lights stay up afterward.

Jeju

• Seongsan Sunrise Festival — Fireworks and shows on the night of December 31, then sunrise from the summit on January 1. The car park fills before 5am, and strong wind delays the summit opening.

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