Festivals, sights across Korea

The Yeongdeok National Heritage Night Festival runs Aug. 21 to 23 at Yeonghae Market Street in Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province, recreating the town as it looked in 1926 under the subtitle "Yeonghae 1926, Walking Through That Night."

The market street is one of only six village-level sites in the country designated as a nationally registered cultural heritage area. Its alleys host 40 programs grouped under eight night-themed categories, running from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. each day.

Main performances include the musical "Yeonghae 1926," a traveling circus act, a cabaret show, a period costume parade and a heritage media facade. Intangible heritage programming covers Yeongdeok's Wolwolicheongcheong circle dance and onggi pottery making.

Visitors can ride rickshaws, watch silent films, wear 1920s clothing and make lanterns. A recreated tavern serves dishes made with local produce, and nearby hanok villages offer overnight stays. Admission is free.

The Dongdaemun-gu Beer Festival takes place Aug. 28 and 29 at Jangan 1 Waterside Park in eastern Seoul.

The event lines craft breweries and food trucks along a brew-and-food street beside the water. A main stage hosts live performances, including jazz sets, while a separate beer terrace gives visitors a designated area to eat and drink.

Additional programming includes a welcome gate with photo zones, hands-on activities and late-night content such as silent film screenings and camping-style lounge areas.

The district government runs the festival as its flagship summer event, aimed at drawing residents and visitors to the waterfront during the hottest stretch of the year.

Admission is free. Drinks and food are sold separately.

KIMA Week, an annual marine leisure festival held in Busan since 2013, runs through August, featuring a mix of beachside events, water sports and a national rowing competition. The festival is co-hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Busan Metropolitan Government and organized by the Korea Marine Leisure Network.

The KIMA Beach event zone at Dadaepo operates through Sunday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., offering experience booths, a flea market, indie band performances, film screenings and sunset yoga.

Paid marine leisure programs, running through Aug. 31, are offered on-site, including yachting, cruises, surfing and jet boat rides at Dadaepo, Songjeong and Gwangalli. Registration is available through the Holic Gem app.

The festival also features a national beach rowing competition at Dadaepo Beach this weekend.

Everland's Midsummer Night Firefly Festival runs through Aug. 30.

The program invites visitors to see thousands of fireflies each night in an indoor forest, an ecology experience the park has run since 2017. Fireflies are considered an indicator of clean environments and are rarely seen in cities.

This year the experience is free, and the grounds have been redesigned around a camping theme, with photo zones, lighting and a nature-study area on firefly life cycles.

Visitors first enter an indoor space where staff explain how fireflies develop and why they glow, then move to a darkened forest room where the insects light up around them.

The firefly experience runs daily from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lost Valley education center in roughly 15-minute sessions.

The Semiwon Lotus Culture Festival runs through Aug. 17 at Semiwon, a garden in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province. Surrounded on three sides by Paldang Lake, it contains about 270 plant species.

The festival coincides with the lotus flowering season. Included are a special exhibition at the Lotus Museum titled "Lotus, Embroidering Life's Wishes," outdoor concerts, a stamp tour, craft classes and guided walks.

Semiwon was designated Gyeonggi Province's first provincial garden in June 2019. The site marks where scholar Jeong Yak-yong built a pontoon bridge across the South Han River in the Joseon era.

Admission is 7,000 won for adults and 4,000 won for children, seniors and groups.