The Jangheung Water Festival in South Jeolla Province opens on Saturday, July 25, along the Tamjin River and the cypress forest. Sixteen days remain until the opening. The word this year's festival has put forward is healing. It takes river water and forest as the theme for one summer and calls people to the water's edge.
The Tamjin River runs across downtown Jangheung. In summer the water generally comes to somewhere between the ankle and the knee. The color of the river is close to a cloudy green.
The other stage is the cypress forest.
The bark on the cypress trunks is reddish brown, split in vertical lines. A day of cooling off in the water and catching your breath in the forest is the route the festival has laid out.
The word healing is used often at summer regional festivals. In Jangheung's case, what differs is that the word is attached to the actual terrain. Water flowing down from upstream and the forest wrapped around the town center lie within walking distance of each other, and residents have long gotten through the heat in that river. The festival comes closer to having turned a habit of daily life into an event for one season of summer.
When people gather, the burden on the river builds. The creatures living in the gaps between stones on the riverbed and the flow of the water are shaken even by a few days of crowding in a year. A festival that opens the river every summer has to run alongside the work of protecting the river. It can be used as a playground, but cleanup and restoration work have to follow.
If you plan to go, it is better to bring clothes you can go into the water in and shoes that can get wet. The gravel bed is slippery, and there is not much shade along the river in the middle of the day.
The Jangheung Water Festival is held along the Tamjin River and the cypress forest. Playing in the water and walking the forest trails are the axes of the festival route.
Event Information
Date: Opens Saturday, July 25, 2026
Venue: Tamjin River and cypress forest area, Jangheung, South Jeolla Province
