After five years of living in Korea, this festival is still my favorite Korea moment. All throughout the Hadong area, large, fluffy, white cherry blossoms canopy the roadways. As you turn up the road leading to Ssangyeosa Temple, the festival begins. Food, vendors, and stunning mature trees. The entire day was totally surreal and absolutely magical. If you are in Korea during Cherry Blossom season, you can’t miss the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival.

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If you are looking for information about this stunning festival for your next spring adventure in South Korea, look no further! If you have any other questions about seeing the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival that aren’t covered in our post here, drop us a comment below and we can try to answer them to the best of our ability.

Why The Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival?

The Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival is the largest festival in South Korea, with more than 6 kilometers of trees that line the road following BOTH sides of the Hwagae Stream towards the Ssanggyeosa Temple. The Hwagae Stream deposits into the Sseomjin River which leads towards Hadong. This 20 kilometer road into Hadong is also lined with stunningly beautiful, mature cherry blossom trees! Nestled in the Jirisan Mountain Valley, it simply does not get much better than this when it comes to viewing these lovely spring blooms. When the petals have reached their peak bloom, walking beneath the trees feels like you have found a portal into a different world where pink trees stretch further than the eye can see and their petals fall softly like snow.

The cherry blossom trees can be viewed all over the South Korean peninsula, and there are many festivals that celebrate this wondrous occasion. The Hwagae Cherry Blossoms Festival, however, is the largest and the most awe-inspiring. While other festivals boast thousands of spectators all crammed into small areas, the sheer size of the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival means there’s more than enough room for everyone! If you drive yourself, you should plan on arriving early-ish so you can find parking along the street, but we had no problem finding parking around 9:30-10 am when we got there.

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When To Go To Hwagae

Once the spring blossom forecast has been announced, so are the cherry blossom festivals. The viewing season varies every year by a week or so. For the past two years, the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival has been held on April 6 – 8 for three days. Due to warmer weather patterns this winter, this year, 2019, the cherry blossoms are due a bit early, and the festival will be held on March 29 – 31 for three days. A bit of a bummer for us as we don’t arrive in Korea until April 4th. Whomp whomp.

As the season varies so much from year to year, every February K Weather posts the forecast for the upcoming spring blossoms. They share a schedule of the blooming of many of the flowers you can find around the country. If you are looking for the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival date, you have to wait until the forecast. Each cherry blossom festival is scheduled after the forecast is released each year. Check out the forecast for this year’s updated schedule of the blossoms to see where and when the flowers will be in peak bloom across the country! For future forecasts, google “벚꽃 개화 예상시기 (YEAR)” and search the images for the updated forecast.

Where To Eat In Hwagae

In our video below, you can see how we decided to sit underneath the cherry blossom trees and have a picnic instead of seeking out a restaurant. This is the best way to fully enjoy the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival. A simple way to gather some picnic supplies, is to head to the local grocery market in Hwagae and buy some fruits, vegetables, dip, kimbap rolls, whatever your heart desires! Don’t forget to grab some Hwagae Cherry Blossom Makgeolli (rice wine in the white bottle pictured below)! Try to pick a shady spot because even in the slightly chilly springtime, you can get sunburned if you don’t wear enough protective clothing.

There are also several restaurants in the small village of Hwagae, and some near the Ssanggyeosa Temple, many specializing in crab soup! If you are into trying some of the “famous” local cuisine, grab a bowl at one of the places linked below. As the village is small and the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival is normally a bit crowded, expect to be waiting for a table! The plentiful side dishes, bancheon, are well worth the wait alone, though. If crab isn’t your thing, there are other restaurants nearby that offer BBQ pork and some that offer the old fan favorite, Kimchijjigae! We tried some Korean pajeon (breaded and fried onions and vegetables), kimchijjigae (stewed kimchi soup), and some of the famous cherry blossom makgeolli (rice wine).

Hwagae BBQ Restaurant

Hwagae Crab Restaurant

Hwagae Tea Cafe

Hwagae Kimchi Jjigae Restaurant (화개골 맛집)

Ssanggyeosa Temple Bibimbap Restaurant

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Things To Do Nearby

As if seeing the cherry blossoms in their full glory isn’t enough, this entire valley is simply brimming with things to see and do! Surrounded by the Jirisan Mountain range, there are plenty of day hikes, fertile mountain valley fields, and the scenic Sseomjin River to give you plenty of other options for things to do outside of the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival.

The Jirisan National Park to the north is a must see if you are looking to check another Korean park off your list. The highest peak in the park is the tallest mountain on the South Korean mainland! If hiking such a tall mountain isn’t something you are quite up to, check out the Geumosan Mountain in Hadong to the south. The top can be driven up to and has views out over the southern sea and the surrounding islands. Check out our Hadong post for more information.

Another thing not to miss while you are in Hwagae are the green tea fields. The Hwagae Stream that flows through the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival has fields that surround its waters, but to the southeast of the stream, there are the Hadong Green Tea Fields and Museum that climb the hills. The famous Boseong Green Tea Fields are on nearly everyone’s South Korea bucketlist, but the fields of Hadong are virtually empty and ever bit as beautiful. Check out some of the tea stores near the fields and museum before you go!

This past year when we tried to view the blossoms, they were all gone by the weekend due to too much rain. Bummer as that was, Hadong is also famous for it’s pears! The pear trees bloom just slightly after the cherry blossoms do, so we were in luck to find some pear farms to the south of the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival on the road towards Hadong! There are tons of farms that line the river, not just this one, so just take a walk and see what you find. Don’t forget to try some of the famous Hadong pears before you go, just don’t pick any of them from the farmers trees if you choose to take a stroll beneath them.

READ MORE THINGS TO DO IN HADONG:

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Places To Stay

If you have the gear, why not save some money and stay along the Seomjin River and camp?! In Korea, there is no rule against camping in the mountains or along the rivers, so you can simply find a scenic spot and set up. Camping is one of our favorite weekend activities to do in Korea, so if you plan on living in the country for a while, we highly suggest investing in a cheap tent. Check out the Camping in Korea Facebook page below for more information on camp site locations, gear for sale, and community of expats that sometimes get together for camping.

Korea’s Foreigner Camping Group on Facebook

Our Campsite Location (Has Toilets and Shade Trees!)

If camping is not your thing, there are plenty of pensions and hotels nearby as well. Check out the nearby cities of Hadong and Gurye for more hotel options. There are some local Hwagae hotels and pensions, but they will likely fill up waaaaay in advance for the festival. Hadong is about twenty minutes south of the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival, while Gurye is around thirty minutes away to the northwest. Both of these cities have buses that can transport you to the festival if you do not have your own vehicle. Most hotels (not pensions) you can simply walk in and ask for nightly rates, so don’t worry too much about booking in advance.

Gurye Hotels

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How To Get To Hwagae

Obviously, the easiest way to get to the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival is to drive there. If you don’t have your own wheels and can’t find someone to bum a ride with, there are two ways to get there via Gwangyang or Gurye. If you are coming from Seoul, make your way to the Gurye Bus Terminal first (via express bus at the Seoul South Terminal or Central City Terminal) and then transfer to the bus to Hwagae listed below. The bus routes are more infrequent to the rural areas of Korea, but there are buses that can take you there, so don’t fear! Don’t be afraid to ask the ticket agent at the terminals for help, even if you need to use a translation app.

From Gwangyang:

Get to the Gwangyang bus stop at this address:

전남 광양시 광양읍 목성리 710-11 (the광양농협 정류장 승차 bus stop)

Take bus 35 or 15 to the 하천리 정류장 하차 bus stop which is the Hwagae village. This route takes just under an hour and a half to the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival.

From Gurye:

Get to the Gurye Bus Terminal at this address:

전남 구례군 구례읍 중앙로 8 (the 구례공영버스터미널 정류장 승차 bus stop)

Take the bus 구례-신흥 to the 하천리 정류장 하차 bus stop which is the Hwagae village. This route takes around thirty minutes to the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival.

Via Trazy Tour Company:

The Trazy Tour Company makes yearly trips to the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival and you can sign up for one of their tours for $60 USD per person if finding your own way sounds a bit too daunting. They leave from Seoul and roundtrip fare and the temple entrance fee is included in the price, a pretty good deal considering bus tickets alone are going to cost you around 45,000 won (roundtrip, per person) if you are coming from Seoul and temple entrance is around 2,000 won per person. A tour package like this will simply give you peace of mind with traveling there if you are uncomfortable doing so on your own. Their package also includes a tour guide in English! Check out their page for more info.

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Have you ever been to Korea during cherry blossom season? Where is your favorite place to see the spring blooms? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

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