Super Junior & Wonder Girls: Get Gooey at Boryeong Mud Festival, Sunday July 13, 2008 Korea

Just in time for the summer holiday season, a festival with an unusual theme kicks off on the west coast today.The annual Boryeong Mud Festival is back again at Korea's popular Daecheon Beach for a nine-day run, until July 20.Chosen as "Korea's Representative Festival" for 2008 - in a ranking system introduced this year by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports - the festival will get 1.6 billion won ($1.5 million) from the local government, along with overseas marketing support, to become an international event.Celebrating its 11th year, the festival attracts thousands of people from all over the world looking for that rare opportunity to have fun getting dirty in a healthy way in Boryeong's famous mud.Boryeong is about an hour and a half from Seoul. It is known for its long-sandy beaches and its abundance of nutrient-rich mud harvested from its vast tidal flats. Korea's West Sea coastline is home to some of the largest tidal fluctuations in the world - over six meters difference between low and high tides.The region's mud contains minerals known to aid skin care. It is believed to cleanse the skin by removing toxins, and this may help slow aging.Visitors can enjoy mud bathing and self-massages; have their bodies painted in mud; check out the mud beauty contest; take pictures for the mud photo contest; wrestle in the mud with friends and strangers alike or slap together a beautiful mud creation for the mud sculpture contest.For returnees to this merry event, there will be many new features.One of them is the "super mud slide", a 44 meter-long air bounce ride. Another is the "fantasy mud waterfall" for those who literally want a major mud shower.Meanwhile, a variety of concerts and performances by some of the nation's top-notch artists are lined up for the evenings.On 14 July night will be a chance to see major pop sensations, including Super Junior, Wonder Girls, Lee Jee Hoon, and Kill Gun, to name just a few. The "Asia Dream Concert" is slated to begin at 8 p.m.For the classically-oriented, Tuesday night, July 15, will feature tenor Um Jung Hang and another singer named Im Sun Myeong, among others.And how about joining in the hip-hop and rave party next Saturday, July 19? The party will last through 3 a.m. the next morning for all the grooving you want.Of Korea's local festivals, the mud festival is the most popular with the expat community. Nearly 70,000 foreign tourists traveled to Boryeong for the festival in 2007. In all, 2.17 million people attended.A free shuttle bus is there to take people to the region's other sites such as Muchangpo Beach and the pagoda at Seonjusa (temple), which dates back to the Shilla Dynasty (57B.C.-A.D.935).For more information, visit mudfestival.or.kr

How to Get ThereTake a train from Seoul or Yeongdeungpo Stations to Boryeong Station, and then a 15-minute bus ride to the beach. Buses also depart from Seoul's Nambu Bus Terminal to Daecheong nine times a day.