Every April there is a strawberry festival over the weekend in a little town called Nonsan in the province of Chungcheongnam-do. It is a two-hour bus ride outside of Seoul and worth every minute of the journey! The bus ride to Nonsan is beautiful; you pass mountains, farms, and towns. Traveling by bus is a great idea because the buses in Korea are very nice and comfortable and you can either recline and sleep or enjoy the sights of Korea that you would otherwise not see. Korean families mainly attend the festival, so it is really nice to see all the families together with the children playing, painting, and enjoying the performances.
Getting to Nonsan:
Take subway line 3,7, or 9 to Express Bus terminal stop and buy your ticket to Nonsan at the central city terminal (Honam Line). Bus tickets are approximately 14,000 Won each way. Once you arrive at the small bus terminal in Nonsan you can take a taxi to the strawberry festival or walk. The walk is about 15 minutes through town but I would only recommend the walk if you are confident in your Korean directional skills. Once you see the balloons in the sky you have made it! There are multitudes of tents, with food, crafts, and souvenirs, but mostly FOOD!
Foods:
At the strawberry festival there is food from all over the world, however, most of the food is Korean and incorporates strawberries in some way. You can try homemade strawberry jam, strawberry bibimbap, and every strawberry dessert imaginable. Almost all of the desserts for sale were no more than 2,000 Won. Chocolate covered strawberries, fresh strawberry smoothies, and the best strawberry ice cream you will have in your entire life are sweets you can expect.
Activities:
Picture taking is an activity in itself at the festival as there are interesting statues and adorable Korean children running around everywhere, and this is all on top of the picture worthy food! In addition, there are many stands that offer crafts like keychain and necklace painting. If you look in the brochure there is a schedule of all the shows and activities going on throughout the day. While we were there we watched a Korean comedian/clown, a saxophone performance, a concert, and a puppet show. Overall, there is plenty to do at the festival; just seeing all the tents will take up most of your time.
Don’t forget to buy your adorable jar of strawberry jam! It makes an easy gift to mail home to your family :)
Article by Tara from the U.S.A.
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