The Ulleungdo Squid Festival opens on the 17th of next month. It is the twenty-fourth summer celebration, and it sets out to share the livelihood of the island's fishers and the culture of the sea with those who come from beyond the island. The detailed schedule will be compiled and released before the opening.
Squid, just brought up, has a translucent body tinged with pale purple. After a day or two that body hardens to a yellowish color.
Boats go out, burn their lamps through the night, return at dawn to be cleaned and hung, and on the island that day has repeated itself all summer long. What visitors get to see is, in the end, part of that day.
Word that the coastal squid fishery is not what it used to be has circulated on the island for a long time. When the catch falls the boats decline, and when the boats decline so does the work at the drying racks, in the alley shops, and for the people who waited for the boats. This celebration, now in its twenty-fourth year, has repeated itself on top of those circumstances.
Turning a livelihood into a spectacle leaves an awkwardness behind. If the fishers' labor is consumed only as a single summer's attraction, the state of the sea that sustains that labor gets pushed behind the festival. Even so, a format in which fishers show their work with their own hands is one of the few channels for telling people outside the island what kind of work keeps this sea going.
The only way onto the island is by passenger ferry. Sailings in the peak summer season run or stop depending on the weather, so it is better to allow an extra day in the schedule. Operating information, including fares and contact points, will be released before the opening.
In step with the season when the salty smell of drying squid spreads into the alleys, the boats will carry people to the festival grounds from the 17th of next month. On the way to see the sea, you can watch up close the daily work of people who make their living from squid.
Event Information
Date: Opens July 17, 2026
Venue: Ulleungdo, Ulleung-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do
