Unearth The Voyage
The Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival in South Korea is a very famous festival that has 1,000s of cherry trees with little bright pink flowers blooming in every corner of the city. Walking around and admiring the gorgeous trees is a great way to spend a spring day.
Jinhae Gunhangje Festival is the largest spring festival in Korea with over 2 million people visiting every year. The cherry blossoms in Jinhae are gorgeous and if you are in Korea at the time of their blooming, it’s a definite not-miss experience for anyone!
When we lived and taught English in South Korea we visited this festival and it was one of our favorite things during our year living in Korea!
About the Korea Cherry Blossom Festival
The festival started as a memorial service to honor the Joseon periodβs most famous naval Admiral, Yi Sun-sin who defeated the Japanese in an invasion attempt in the 1500s. Jinhae is where the Korean Navy resides and the festival has lots of different events that take place to honor the Korean military.
The festival lasts ten days and has different events on most days and evenings as well as being open every day for general viewing.
πΈ Book your guided tour of the Cherry Blossom Festival from Seoul or Busan here! πΈ
When Do Cherry Blossoms Bloom in South Korea?
Unfortunately, there is no way to know 100% when the cherry blossoms will bloom every year since it is weather-dependent. The cherry blossoms usually bloom in early spring around mid-March to early April. The festival is typically held during this time period.
The dates for the 2024 Cherry Blossom Festival in Jinhae are yet to be announced.
The festival started on March 24th in 2023, so you can expect the festival to be around the same dates this coming year.
To get more information about the cherry blossom festival Korea holds every year, check out this site all about the festival.
Where are the Cherry Blossoms in Jinhae?
Jinhae is about an hour outside of Busan, South Korea. It’s part of a larger city called Changwon so it’s relatively easy to get to by bus. However, it still has that wonderful small-town feel.
The streets of Jinhae are lined with cherry trees on both sides and they are just about everywhere. This makes Jinhae one of the best places to be in early spring!
How to Get to the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival
Seoul to Jinhae
To get from Seoul to Jinhae you will go to the Nambu Bus Terminal and take a bus from there to the Jinahe Bus Station. It’s around 4+ hours to Jinahe from Seoul. You can also take the KTX train which is faster, but also more expensive.
Busan to Jinhae
To get from Busan to Jinhae, you can take a bus from the Busan Seobu Terminal to the Jinhae Terminal. Busan is much closer than Seoul and is only around an hour to Jinhae.
How to get from the Jinhae Bus Terminal to the Festival
We recommend downloading KakaoMap to lead you to the area where the festival is. We wouldn’t recommend you use Google Maps as it doesn’t do a great job with directions in Korea.
Here is the address to put into your app for directions to the festival:
- Address in Hangul: κ²½μλ¨λ μ°½μμ μ§ν΄κ΅¬ ν΅μ λ
- Address in English: Communication-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam
Tours of the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival
Not interested in getting yourself to Jinhae? These guided tours will provide transportation, a guide, and plenty of free time:
Best Places to See the Cherry Blossoms in Jinhae
Gyeonghwa Station (κ²½νμ)
Gyonghwa Station is one of the most famous spots to see cherry blossoms in Korea. It is an old train station that isn’t used any longer and they have a Mugunghwa-style train set up that you can take pictures in front of.
Jungwon Intersection (μ€μλ‘ν°λ¦¬)
The Jungwon intersection is where the main events are held for the festival and where all the street vendors are. This is where the opening ceremony is held and other fun performances. If you have never been to a Korean festival before, this is a fun place to walk around and see all the different vendors and tents set up.
The Jungwon intersection is also a great place to get some lunch at a cheap price as well!
Yeojwa Stream (μ¬μ’μ²)
The Yeojwa Stream is another famous area of the South Korea Cherry Blossom Festival. The stream is lined with cherry blossoms and has little light-up decorations and umbrella decorations. It’s also super famous because a well-known Korean drama, Romance (λ‘λ§μ€), was filmed on the bridge that goes over the stream.
Jehwangsan Park (μ ν©μ°κΆμ)
Jewangsan Park is super close to the Yeojwa Stream and after you’ve visited the stream you can take a walk over to the park. Another fun thing to do is climb to the top of the observation tower and look out and see views of the whole city.
Other fun spots to check out at the Jinhae Festival:
- Janboksan Sculpture Park
- Jinhae NFRDI Environment Eco-Park
- Jinhae Navy Base Command
- Naval Education and Training
- Naval Academy
- Anmin Hill
Events Happening During the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival
Yeojwacheon Starlight Festival
The Yeojwacheon Starlight Festival is an evening event where the Yeojwacheon stream is decorated with laser lights and light-up decorations. If you’re looking to see the cherry blossoms in a completely different way, this event is the way to do it. The lights illuminate the blossoms and make them look absolutely gorgeous.
- Location: Yeojwacheon Stream and Romance Bridge (Yeojwa-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do – κ²½μλ¨λ μ°½μμ μ§ν΄κ΅¬ μ¬μ’λ)
Joseon Dynasty Victory Parade
The Joseon Dynasty Victory Parade is a unique and fun performance to see that reenacts the victory march held by Admiral Yi Sun-sin after his army won the battle in the Imjin War (1592-1598). You will see some Korean history during this parade and learn why this festival is so unique.
- Location: Starts at Jungwon Rotary (Docheon-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do – κ²½μλ¨λ μ°½μμ μ§ν΄κ΅¬ λμ²λ μ€μλ‘ν°λ¦¬)
Black Eagles Air Show
The Black Eagles Air Show is one event you don’t want to miss when visiting the Jinhae Korea Cherry Blossom Festival! The Korean Air Force performance is an impressive aerobatic show with 8 different aircraft.
- Location: Airspace above Bukwon Rotary, Docheon-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do (κ²½μλ¨λ μ°½μμ μ§ν΄κ΅¬ λμ²λ λΆμλ‘ν리 μ곡)
Sokcheonhang Port Multimedia Fireworks Show
The Sokcheonhang Firework Show only happens one evening of the entire festival, so make sure to plan your schedule around it if you’re hoping to see the fireworks!
- Location: In front of Sokcheonhang Port, Jehwangsan-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do (κ²½μλ¨λ μ°½μμ μ§ν΄κ΅¬ μ ν©μ°λ μμ²ν)
Where to Stay for the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival
There aren’t a ton of options for hotels near the festival, but here are some that have great reviews and a good location:
Alternatively, you can take the bus back to downtown Changwon for more options.
This will also give you a chance to explore Sagnamdong, a bustling, brightly-lit neighborhood with a ton of bars and restaurants to choose from. This is the neighborhood we lived in during our year in Korea and we loved it!
Here are our recommendations for hotels in Sagnamdong:
We hope this article about the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival in South Korea helps you plan your trip! We would love to connect with you! You can learn more about us here or read more of our recent blog posts here. Also, follow us on Instagram (@UnearthTheVoyage) and Facebook to see what we are up to next!
