Goyang Flower Festival
Flowers are a beautiful, sure way to mark the end of the freezing, miserable temperatures that Korea is notorious for. As the country is blanketed in beautiful, colorful blossoms, spring flower festivals are a great way to get outdoors and enjoy the nice weather. There was the Yeouido cherry blossom festival and Everland’s tulip and rose festival. The Goyang International Flower Foundation holds a flower festival every spring featuring floral collections from around the world, exhibitions, and even a flower arrangement contest. This year the flower festival was from April 24 to May 10, although it varies per year.
How to get there: The festival is located at the Ilsan Lake Park out of Jeongbalsan Station on subway line 3. You can either come out of exit 1 or 2, and walk through the park all the way towards the lake. You see giant sculptures in the middle of a wide expanse of concrete lined with trees, but keep walking away from the station and you’ll eventually reach a pedestrian bridge. Right before the pedestrian bridge is the ticket booth. I bought mine for 8,000KRW. When you go over the pedestrian bridge, you’ll see flags, and once you get to the other end of the bridge, you’ll see white tents set up like a flea market, with stands selling flowers and traditional Korean street food. I turned left towards the welcome gate where they checked my ticket, and was immediately greeted by giant animal and mascot sculptures.
This year, the Goyang Flower Festival featured more than 50,000 flowers representing 5,000 different species from all over the world, with over 320 companies from 25 companies participating. Upon entering the Multimedia Harmony Pavilion, attendees were greeted with beautiful flowers hanging from the ceiling. There were various themes, such as ‘Love in Goyang’ or ‘Wedding in Goyang.’ There were also plenty of photo opportunities for happy couples!
The theme garden had themes such as scarecrows or ‘Love in Goyang.’
I headed over to the ‘Flower Related Experience,’ where attendees had the opportunity to make and decorate flower pots, soaps, perfumes, herbal teas, hand-made flower props, among other various cute DIY projects!
Right outside of the World Flower Pavilion, there was the Peaceful Reunification Pavilion. Aside from the DMZ flower theme, there were also photos, videos, and other information about North Korea.
Immediately before entering the World Flower Pavilion I, there’s a beautiful floral arrangement of a woman holding a bouquet, surrounded by a mass of beautiful tulips and other assorted flowers.
The World Flower Pavilion featured flowers representatives of various countries from around the world. Many organizations and flower committees working with floral businesses from these countries participate every year, showcasing their floral collections.
There were vendors set up with flowers, pots, hand-made or novel garden decorations, fertilizer and anything else garden-related. They even had these Japanese Rhinoceros Beetles for sale.
In addition to all this, there were performances on the outdoor stages by the lake, including cheerleading, traditional dances, and an orchestra. When I was there in the late afternoon, I watched three beautifully dressed opera singers perform at the Lakeside Stage. There were programs for attendees to wear traditional clothing or wedding dresses and take pictures against a backdrop like the Gyeongbokgung palace (for a price, of course!).
At the lake, there was a dock for the flower boat ride. Passengers could get on the boat and pedal their way around the lake. The boats were decorated with flowers and there were many couples and families pedaling around.
The festival was a great way to spend my day outdoors. The perfectly manicured flowerbeds overflowing with roses, tulips, petunias were beautiful and colorful, and I had an opportunity to see both Korean and international plants. Everything was absolutely beautiful, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a fun daytime trip away from the city.