Revelers invited to 10-day mud fest in S. Korea's Boryeong

BORYEONG, South Korea, July 4 (Yonhap) -- An annual 10-day mud fest that includes two days of nighttime mud experiences will come back to mud flats in the city of Boryeong on South Korea's west coast this month, organizers said Thursday. The 22nd Boryeong Mud Festival, hosted by the Boryeong municipality and scheduled to run from July 19 through 28, is expected to infatuate revelers from Korea and abroad with some 60 different programs to be presented on Daecheon Beach in the city in South Chungcheong Province. Boryeong is famous for its wide mudflats formed along the west coast, with its high-quality mud that is rich in minerals and known to help prevent skin aging. Since 1998, the South Korean city has held the mud festival as part of efforts to promote the natural resources in the region. During this year's festival carrying the slogan "Go Boryeong, Play Mud," visitors are invited to experience mud sliding, mud wrestling, mud baths and everything muddy in the mud flats, as well as to make mud-based cosmetics and ride yachts. The organizers also plan to open the festival's zones for mud sliding and air bounce jumping at night on July 25-26, a measure to beat the summer heat and consider students, businesspeople or others who cannot visit the festival during the daytime. During the two days, the zones will be operated from 1:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The remaining eight days, they will be open twice a day: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to perform in a flash mob featuring mud, music, dance and swimming, while a shade zone will be in place for them to evade a possible heat wave. Other programs include an obstacle race in mud, called the Mud Run, that was introduced for the first time last year. In the streets around the beach, where vehicles are not allowed during the festival, there will be a global food zone offering visitors a variety of cuisines. On the first day of the festival, a group of Boryeong residents will parade through the city's streets to put on a display of the city's four seasons for one hour from 6:30 p.m., with many buskers and musicians expected to stage performances on the car-free streets. Along with the various programs, the festival will dazzle visitors with nighttime K-pop concerts with a plethora of different genres. At 8 p.m. on July 20, when the festival's opening ceremony is held, a concert will feature top-tier singers and entertainers on a stage of the mud plaza, including the singer Insooni. At the end of the opening ceremony, fireworks will be set off to celebrate the festival's return. Amateur singers are to compete in a singing contest scheduled for 8 p.m. on July 21, in which invited singers Park Sang-chul and Kim Yong-im will perform. From July 22 through 25, visitors are invited to take part in the flash mob "Mud Night Mob Scene." Idol singers and groups will take the stage at the K-pop Super Contest on July 27, followed by a concert the next day for the closing ceremony that includes acts by trot singer Jung Mi-ae, co-ed group Walwari and Norazo, a duo known for their eccentric stages and comical lyrics. Trot is a popular Korean music genre. Boryeong Mayor Kim Dong-il said this year's mud festival comes before the municipality will hold an international exposition on maritime mud in 2022, thus becoming an opportunity to make Boryeong known to the world as one of South Korea's best tourist sites. "We will make utmost efforts to elevate the mud festival to a global one that spearheads the country's tourism culture," Kim added. The number of visitors to the festival last year reached 1.83 million, including 298,100 people from abroad. namsh@yna.co.kr (END)