Cosmos and Buckwheat Bloom Together — Hadong Bukcheon Festival Through Oct. 5
If you want to escape the crowded city and walk through a living flower painting, Bukcheon-myeon in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, has the answer right now. Fields of pink cosmos and snow-white buckwheat flowers are blooming together there through Oct. 5.
At a glance: Dates Sept. 22-Oct. 5 (14 days) · Admission 2,000 won (parking free) · Location around 2253-9 Gyeongseo-daero, Bukcheon-myeon, Hadong County, South Gyeongsang Province · Inquiries 055-884-7416.
Step into the festival grounds and rows of buckwheat send up tiny white blossoms so densely packed between the green furrows that the field looks dusted with a light snow. Right beside it, a separate plot of pink and magenta cosmos ripples in the breeze. Walking the path that winds between the two flowers, the dry scent of autumn grass mixes with their fragrance in the air. This year marks the festival's 20th anniversary, with a "find the golden pouch" event, a singing contest open to visitors, and farm-experience booths where you can see, make and taste things tied to the flowers.
Hadong sits in western South Gyeongsang Province, roughly an hour by car from Busan or Jinju, and the Hadong Wild Tea Museum is nearby if you want to make a day of it. Because flowers are living things, peak bloom can shift slightly with the weather, so it's worth checking Hadong County's website for the latest bloom status just before you go.