Chungcheongnam-do

▲ Taean Tulip Festival

The Taean Tulip Festival 2016 (April 16-May 8) was selected as one of the world’s top 5 tulip festivals, with the number of visitors increasing by 24% compared to last year.

The number of foreigners visiting the site also increased by about 80% compared to last year. They included ▲19,000 Chinese, ▲ 3,000 Americans, ▲ 6,000 Japanese, ▲ 4,000 Europeans, and ▲ 5,000 from elsewhere. This shows that the event has emerged as a world-class festival, and that foreigners have taken heightened interest in the event.

Scenes of the festival were introduced by CCTV, the largest state-run TV broadcast station in China, throughout the country and Arirang TV of Korea throughout the world.

One thing that sets the Taean Tulip Festival apart from the other tulip-related festivals is that it makes images based on a theme. The annual event has used the images of fan, rainbow, Taegeuk Flag (national flag of Korea), and butterfly. This year’s event provided a spectacular sight composed of 1.5 million tulips in 300 species including Carousel, Kikomachi, Flamengo, Purissima, along with images of celebrities and artistic works like Mona Lisa and Marilyn Monroe.

The festival also drew keen interest worldwide by providing visitors with fantastic sights made by tulip flowers and lights made in connection with the Taean Light Festival, which is held throughout the year. The number of foreign visitors increased drastically compared to last year, thanks to PR efforts.

Responding to the increasing number of tourists who visit the festival via public transport, Taean-gun and the promotion committee sought to promote visitors’ convenience by increasing the number of buses plying the route from the Taean Bus Terminal  to the festival site during both weekdays and weekends.

Commenting on the festival, a Taean-gun official said that they would make efforts to attract more visitors by providing more things to see and enjoy including natural surroundings and local specialties.

- Festival site: Nature World. Sinon-ri, Nam-myeon, Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do
- Contact number: +82-41-675-9200
- Homepage: http://www.ffestival.co.kr