The Boryeong Mud Festival is an annual festival which takes
place during the summer in Boryeong, a town around 200 km south of Seoul, South
Korea. The first Mud Festival was staged in 1998 and by now the festival attracts over 3 million visitors to Boryeong.
The mud is taken from the Boryeong mud flats, and trucked to
the Daecheon beach area, where it is used as the centerpiece of the 'Mud
Experience Land'. The mud is considered rich in minerals and used to
manufacture cosmetics. The festival was originally conceived as a marketing
vehicle for Boryeong mud cosmetics.
Although the festival takes place over a period of around
two weeks, it is most famous for its final weekend, which is popular with
Korea's western population. The final weekend of the festival usually falls on
the second weekend in July.
In 1996 a range of cosmetics was produced using mud from the
Boryeong mud flats. The cosmetics were said to be full of minerals, bentonites,
and germaniums, all of which occur naturally in the mud from the area.
In order to promote these cosmetics, the Boryeong Mud
Festival was conceived. Through this festival, it was hoped people would learn
more about the mud and the cosmetics. The festival has become popular with Koreans
and western tourists, as well as American Military personnel stationed in the
country, and foreign English teachers working in Korea.
For the period of the festival several large attractions are
erected in the seafront area of Daecheon. These include a mud pool, mud slides,
mud prison and mud skiing competitions. Colored mud is also produced for body
painting. A large stage is erected on the beach, which is used for live music,
competitions and various other visual attractions.
A small market runs along the seafront selling cosmetics
made using the mud from Boryeong. Various health and beauty clinics offer
massages, acupuncture and other treatments utilizing the medicinal qualities of
the mud.
The festival closes with a large firework display.
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