On a beautiful summer day you really don’t want to be hanging in the industrial wasteland that is little Deoksin village. The beach was calling to us again so we decided to join the inevitable crowds and head to Haeundae Beach to check out the 2012 Sand Festival. We had heard good things…
Haeundae was pumping, probably the busiest we had seen in our time in Korea (it’s meant to get nuts when the beach officially ‘opens’ in June). Thousands of people were all there to enjoy the stunning day and take part in the sand related festivities.
Even the Army was represented.
.As was the Air Force.
And so was a crazy cat man dude, rocking the beach… everyone that was anyone was at Haeundae beach on this primo day.
When stepping on the beach we noticed a mound with a castle on top. Getting closer it was, literally, the most extreme sand castle ever…. this isn’t the kind of sand castle you’d make at Lyall Bay, this was the boss of all sand castles. So much detail had been put into it. Like the fountain at the Lotte department store in Nampo – this sand castle oozed arrogance and grandeur.
….humble castle Korea…. humble…..
Down the the busy beach guys scuttled away producing amazing sculptures on the man-made dunes.
Many sculptures were connected to the history and myths of Korea. Works depicting modern Busan were also included. One piece represented Centum City – the biggest department store in the world,
while another depicted the APEC Numimaru house, which is located just round the coast from Haeundae beach.
The sculptures also included kids characters, all dyed with colour.
And of course, just behind the life guard, everyone’s favourite – Hello Kitty!
The festival also had a sand building competition where the sand castle rookies were out in force trying to earn their stripes.
The festival didn’t wasn’t limited to just sand sculpture or castle building, however. There were big turtles kicking it with the kids.
Large sand slides and sledges for the thrill seeker.
And plenty of beach for those just looking to enjoy the sand in its natural state….
Overall an excellent day at the beach at a really popular and extremely well put together beach festival. Korea can really put on a good show!
Korea represent!!!!!
I like how Shrek is chillin with Pororo. Man, I always miss this festival…maybe next year ^_^
Its definitely worth a look! The sculptures were amazing as was the atmosphere down on Haeundae. Very cool!
Fun! We only saw the prep–the actual festival looks a lot cooler!
We wouldn’t have been tempted to go if it wasn’t for your prep photos!!! A sand castle festival actually sounds a little lame…but after seeing your blog on it, we were amped to check it out. So thank you! We’re lucky to live a little closer to Busan than you guys. I wish we actually lived right there though. I love that city and it looks like you guys had a great time there on your recent sojourn.
haha that totally puts Lyall bays latest efforts to shame: http://www.adventurewellington.co.nz/photos/all_photos/?photoAlbumId=8511402
Haha that’s hilarious – we had no idea about that when we casually referenced sand castles at Lyall Bay! Imagine what the Korean sand-engineers could do with that same idea…!
Great blog post! Thanks for sharing.
The sculptures were so cool – we just had to share pictures of them!
Dude, that is so amazing!! Totally going on my bucket list of things to see and places to go 🙂
Pretty cool, huh?! Korea definitely does some stuff really, really well.
How did I miss that festival?? I wonder if the sculptures will still be there this weekend? There’s always next year though I guess eh? ^_^ Fabulous pictures!!!
From what I saw on another Korean-expat blog, some of the sculptures were there as early as week before the festival so I’m guessing they might still be lurking around…might be worth a trip up to Busan today to spend your Memorial Day chillin’ with Hello Kitty and friends?!
Wonderful sand art! So sad it doesnt last. The artists must be very grounded to be able to live with such transient art forms.
Good excuse to go back every year and create new, beautiful images 🙂
These pics are absolutely super! How fun to have seen these in person!
They are pretty impressive, for sure! The scale and the detail is incredible – well beyond our realm of patience when building a sand castle, haha.
Fun!!
Absolutely incredible – you were so lucky so see this!
Pretty cool, huh?!
Best day out ever! I love this post! There’s also a snow festival my mum’s wanted to see for years in Japan, kinda reminds me of that! How cool we’re all those sculptures, my favourite is a toss up between the castle (of course) the mini and the brontosaurus 🙂
I’ve read about that snow festival in Japan – it looks absolutely incredible! A bit colder than hanging on the beach during a Korean summer though, I’m guessing…haha.
I like how people think in Korea- thats some serious sand castleing
reminds me of this
http://chilembwe.com/nemo/node/152
I did awhile back 🙂
Koreans do most things bigger and better, that’s for sure – very skilled technicians in every regard! No cranes required here though 😉 hehe.
Wow, and I’m impressed with myself when my sand castle manages to stay up for an hour! These are quite amazing. Korea is definitely on my list of places to see
Hehe, they’re definitely Next Level sand castles! You’d have a blast taking photos of all the weird and wacky stuff Korea has to offer. You can even buy disposable FILM cameras in every corner shop!
Disposable film cameras?? I’m on the next plane out there 🙂
Thought that might take your fancy! 🙂