Red blooms meet the blue Donggang River in a 17-day autumn celebration — as Bongpyeong's white buckwheat fades, Yeongwol's fiery fields take center stage
If the white buckwheat of Ola and Bongpyeong evokes the pure, unhurried love of country folk, the red buckwheat of Yeongwol's Samok speaks of passion and bold courtship.
As Bongpyeong's white blossoms fade, the red buckwheat of Meokgol in Samok-ri bursts into bloom — its vivid petals clamoring for attention against the quiet blue current of the Donggang River.
The flowers shift in hue depending on the angle of the sun: shot against the light, they glow a deep vermilion; viewed from the opposite direction, they soften to pink.
That push and pull between the Donggang and the red buckwheat fields is the spirit at the heart of the festival.
The 7th Donggang Red Buckwheat Flower Festival, hosted by the Samok 2-ri Village Council, runs Friday through Oct. 11 — 17 days in all — across the Meokgol village area of Samok 2-ri in Yeongwol-eup. The Yeongwol Culture and Tourism Foundation is organizing the event, with support from Yeongwol-gun and the Yeongwol Cultural Center.
The festival centers on the red buckwheat fields stretching along the Donggang riverbank, weaving together natural scenery, cultural arts and hands-on activities.
The mystery and color of the red buckwheat make a Yeongwol trip special enough to rival the spring buzz surrounding The King's Warden, and the festival adds art installations and participatory programming to enrich the experience further.
At the red buckwheat fields — the festival's centerpiece — visitors can take in autumn scenery framed by the Donggang. Family-friendly activities, including stone-skipping on the river, are open to all ages and require no prior preparation.
Residents of Samok 2-ri will run a food market featuring local specialties, so visitors can sample the flavors of Yeongwol while strolling among the blooms.
Information booths and visitor amenities have been set up throughout the grounds, and traffic flow and parking areas have been reorganized. Staff will be stationed at key points across the site to help guests while preserving the natural landscape.
The fields open Friday — chuseok — though the formal opening ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. on Oct. 3, the midpoint of the festival, which falls on National Foundation Day.
The ceremony will open with a pre-show performance, followed by the official opening and a commemorative photo session. From Oct. 3 through Oct. 4, a range of performances, exhibitions and hands-on programs will be held in partnership with the Yeongwol Cultural Center, creating a shared celebration for local residents and visitors alike.
The red buckwheat fields were first planted on a trial basis in 2019, when Yeongwol-gun and the Donggang Meokgol Village Cooperative sowed red buckwheat and cosmos across 82,500 square meters — roughly the size of 11 soccer fields.
Word of mouth spread as visitors fell for the striking contrast between the red blooms and the blue-green Donggang, and when the festival launched for the first time in 2021, it drew large crowds despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — prompting county office staff to turn out in force to encourage compliance with quarantine guidelines.
Winding paths have been laid through the buckwheat fields so visitors can stroll among the flowers, while village residents prepare and sell traditional foods, offering both a visual spectacle and local flavors to everyone who makes the trip.
Visitors can enjoy buckwheat pancakes, buckwheat noodles and potato songpyeon, and take home clean, locally grown produce including sweet potatoes, doenjang, soy sauce and apples.
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