Festivals, sights across Korea

The Muan Lotus Festival, South Jeolla Province's signature summer event, runs June 26 to 28 at Muan Hoesan White Lotus Pond. Launched in 1997, it is the country's largest festival devoted to a single flower, the white lotus.

The festival is set against the backdrop of one of Asia's largest stretches of lotus beds, roughly 330,000 square meters, and invites visitors to walk among white blooms rising from green leaves and take in the summer scenery.

The lineup includes an opening concert and a residents' singing contest, along with a regional cooking competition and a children's reading quiz. Visitors can sample lotus tea, join a nighttime "Lotus Light, Moonlight" walk and explore permanent attractions such as an animal farm and a floating glass greenhouse.

Gangneung Danoje, a UNESCO-recognized intangible cultural heritage and one of Korea's oldest festivals, runs through Monday in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. The event draws more than 500,000 visitors a year.

Tracing back more than a thousand years, the festival was named a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. It centers on Confucian rites, shamanic gut rituals that connect people and spirits, and one of the country's largest open-air markets.

This year's edition carries the theme "release," an invitation to set aside worries and ease everyday stress. Organizers have lined up 71 programs across 13 categories, including state-designated heritage rites, folk games and visitor participation events, underscoring the festival's themes of community and healing.

The Worasan Hydrangea Festival runs through June 28 at Worasan in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. The forest festival offers hands-on programs, exhibitions and performances, set against gardens of hydrangeas in full bloom. Visitors can join hydrangea-cutting and plant-potting sessions, with exhibition content tied to the 2026 Jinju Garden Expo. Other offerings include woodworking, forest interpretation walks, hydrangea healing programs and forest sports, giving visitors a chance to unwind in the woods. A weekend program on June 27 and 28 adds a stamp tour, eco-teering and hydrangea cutting. At night, lanterns and lighting create a different atmosphere, and the shaded forest offers families a cool retreat from the summer heat.

The Mureung Byeolyucheonji Lavender Festival runs through Sunday in Donghae, Gangwon Province, at a former limestone mine reborn as a cultural space of emerald lakes and fragrant gardens. Visitors can stroll the sprawling lavender garden, which takes on a different mood at night under scenic lighting. Day and evening programs include lavender classes, personal color studios, singing bowl meditation and acoustic busking, alongside a lavender pop-up store and a nighttime laser and light show. Lavender-themed food and Donghae goods are also on sale. Admission is 6,000 won for adults, 3,000 won for ages 7 to 18, 2,000 won for children under 7, and 4,000 won for seniors 65 and older, people with disabilities and people of national merit. Gangwon residents get 50 percent off, and parking is free. Donghae residents enter for free on weekdays.

Everland's Rose Festival is taking place at the amusement park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, with 3 million roses across 720 varieties in bloom through Sunday.

This year's theme reimagines the Rose Garden as a European-style hotel garden. Guests pass through a hotel gate at the entrance and follow a path that ends at the Rose Castle, decorated with vintage luggage and drawings by artist Daria Song.

A 3-meter chandelier anchors the central Purple Rose Zone, glowing alongside garden lighting after dark. At the Rose Lab, visitors can sample four scents from EverRose, the in-house variety Everland has been developing since 2013.

A four-piece jazz band performs daily near the Rose Castle. Italian restaurant Cucina Mario is serving rose-themed dishes for the run, including a beef pizza shaped like a blooming rose and an apple-slice rose ade.