Hadong Wild Tea Cultural Festival
하동야생차문화축제 · Hadong, South Gyeongsang
– Past
This edition has finished.
Korean festivals usually keep to roughly the same window each year, so the next
one should land near those dates — but the organizer publishes the confirmed
dates and they move, sometimes by weeks.
Last verified: 2026-08-22.
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Wild tea on the slopes of Jirisan — the older, less manicured half of Korea's tea country.
Who it suits: Tea drinkers over photographers. Hadong grows wild tea on Jirisan's slopes rather than in planted terraces, and the festival is built around tasting rather than views.
When, where, how much
From the organizer
Organized by Hadong Wild Tea Cultural Festival Organizing Committee. These pages are the organizer's own and open on their site. They are usually Korean only — but that is where the confirmed programme, stage times and site map appear first, and times and prices read the same in any language.
Program: Byeolcheonji Hadong Tea Culture Center Pop-up, Media Art Hall, Special Museum Exhibition, Food Show with European Chefs, Hadong Four Seasons Tea Food Exhibition, Busking in a Teacup, Tea Ceremony Experience, Tea-Making Experience…
Photos: Korea Tourism Organization · visitkorea.or.kr · KOGL Type 3
Where it is
Where it is in the country — 267 km south of Seoul
About 108 km across — 8 other places we cover sit inside it. The pick of them is listed below.
267 km south of Seoul, in Hadong, South Gyeongsang (straight-line distance from Seoul City Hall, calculated from the venue's official coordinates).
We have not timed these connections ourselves, so rather than print a number we have not checked, here is the route on the two apps Koreans actually use — Hadong Wild Tea Healing Center (Tea Café Hadong), Hadong Wild Tea Museum as the destination, already filled in:
- Directions on Kakao Map — live bus and train times, and which platform
- Naver Map — the stronger of the two in English
From Seoul, journeys to Hadong start at Seoul Station (KTX and regular rail) or the Express Bus Terminal. Which of the two wins depends on how many cities you are stringing together — our rail pass guide works through the break-even, and getting around Korea covers why these two apps beat Google Maps once you are on the ground.
Nearby, if you are making a trip of it
Within about 20 km of the venue, by distance:
- Burilpokpo Falls (1.3 km)
- Hadong Ssanggyesa Temple (2.0 km)
- Samseonggung (5.4 km)
- Piagolgyegok Valley (6.7 km)
- Choi Champandaek (House of Choi Champan) (8.9 km)
- Pyeongsari Field (9.6 km)
Places and distances from the Korea Tourism Organization's location data. We have not visited all of them.
What it is actually about
We have written about Hadong's wild tea, planted in 828 CE on Jirisan's slopes — read that first if you want to know what you are looking at before you go, rather than after.
Getting there and staying
For a bed near the festival, Klook's accommodation search for Hadong is the quickest way to see what is left — festival weeks fill local rooms earlier than you would expect.
Outside the big cities, wifi is not something to plan around. Shuttle stops, stage times and the day's program are posted on the organizer's Korean-language page or a Naver Map pin, and they change on the day. A Korean eSIM is the cheapest way to have it working before you land.
Planning a trip around it
On at the same time
If your dates are fixed, these run within ten days of Hadong Wild Tea Cultural Festival and are worth checking before you commit to a route.
- Yeoju Ceramic Festival — 2026/03/19 – 05/01, Yeoju, Gyeonggi, 67 km from Seoul.
- Icheon Ceramics Festival — 2026/04/24 – 05/05, Icheon, Gyeonggi, 47 km from Seoul.
- Hampyeong Butterfly Festival — 2026/04/24 – 05/05, Hampyeong, Jeonnam-Gwangju, 282 km from Seoul.
- Boseong Green Tea Festival — 2026/05/01 – 05/05, Boseong, Jeonnam-Gwangju, 317 km from Seoul.
- Mungyeong Chasabal Festival — 2026/05/01 – 05/10, Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang, 132 km from Seoul.
- Ulsan Onggi Festival — 2026/05/01 – 05/03, Ulju, Ulsan, 314 km from Seoul.
Other festivals in South Gyeongsang
Same province, different times of year — useful if you are choosing when to visit South Gyeongsang rather than when to leave home.
- Jinhae Gunhangje Festival — March, Changwon, South Gyeongsang
- Miryang Arirang Festival — May, Miryang, South Gyeongsang
- Tongyeong Hansan Battle Festival — August, Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang
- Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival — October, Jinju, South Gyeongsang
- Gimhae Buncheong Ceramics Festival — November, Gimhae, South Gyeongsang
Other museums within reach
- Jinju National Museum — Jinju, South Gyeongsang, about 39 km away.
A mountain in the same trip
Korea's national parks charge nothing to enter, and these are close enough to pair with the rest of this trip rather than needing one of their own.
- Jirisan Hiking — about 9 km away.