Boryeong Mud Festival: South Koreans splash around in mud at home, as Covid-19 moves festival online

The popular Boryeong Mud Festival, halted this year because of COVID-19, instead became an online celebration of soil, with people from around the country enjoying mud pools and mud packs in their homes - and streaming the dirty results.

SEOUL, July 18 (Reuters) - When a pandemic threatens a good romp in the mud, some South Koreans bring the mud home with them instead.

The popular Boryeong Mud Festival, halted this year because of COVID-19, instead became an online celebration of soil, with people from around the country enjoying mud pools and mud packs in their homes - and streaming the dirty results.

The annual mud extravaganza, in Boryeong on the coast 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the capital Seoul, is South Korea’s most popular festival for international visitors. They typically flock to the beach in their hundreds for mud slides, mud wrestling and other revelry.

A girl with coloured mud on her face is seen during the Online Boryeong Mud Festival at her home during a live streaming event, in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, July 18, 2020.

PHOTOS: South Koreans celebrate Boryeong Mud Festival at home amid Covid-19

Daubed with blue, red and yellow mud powders, many watched singers perform online.

“I was sad that I wasn’t able to go to the Boryeong Mud Festival, but it is great that my Mom made a mud pool,” said 10-year-old Han Chae-yoon, sitting in a mini-pool in her living room, her face and body covered with mud.

Children play in a mud pool during the Online Boryeong Mud Festival at their home during a live streaming event, in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, July 18, 2020.

Her mother Kim young-ah told Reuters, “My home gets dirty, but the children enjoy it and I am happy for that.”

Some 3,000 people, including K-pop fans from overseas, watched the live event on YouTube.

Boryeong launched the festival on Daecheon Beach in 1998 to rejuvenate a local economy hit by the Asian financial crisis. The event promoted mud-based cosmetics said to be good for the skin - turning what is known as a dirty beach into one of South Korea’s biggest tourist attractions.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter