SHRIMPAPALOOZA

Mmmmmm shrimp.  What's better than regular shrimp?  JUMBO SHRIMP!  And what could be better than just jumbo shrimp?  A JUMBO SHRIMP FESTIVAL!  Fall is shrimp season in Korea and to celebrate, a couple of cities throw jumbo shrimp festivals (대하 축제).  Food-centric festivals in Korea are always a good time.  There are restaurants and stalls selling the spotlight food, as well as drink booths, games, and activities relating to said food.  At the jumbo shrimp festival in Hongseong, there was even a shrimp catching contest.  We got there too late for that tho.  Because of the trains and buses we had to take, our journey from Yeosu ended up taking almost six hours.  In the end it was worth it, tho.

Along the street were a ton of restaurants all selling daeha (jumbo shrimp).  Most of the menus were the same.  You order by the kilo or you order a set that came with grilled shrimp, fried shrimp, and either steamed crab or crab soup.  At our restaurant we ordered a kilo of shrimp (대하구이) and a two person serving of crab soup (꽃게탕).  The owner gave us some fried shrimp (대하튀김) for free!  Score!

Delicious gut-busting shrimp.

For two people, this was a lot of food.  It took us about two and a half hours to get through all of it.  two and a half delicious hours.  I think the festival would have been more enjoyable if we hadn't gotten there so late, but with how far Hongseong is from Yeosu, there wasn't much we could do.  Before we went back to Yeosu, we ordered a couple of kilos of daeha to be delivered to our house.  When they arrived, we had a bbq down by the waterfront with some friends.  Because really, there is no such thing as too much jumbo shrimp.  Add a little lemon butter, and oh boy.  My mouth is watering just from typing this.

Shrimp AND samgyeopsal?  Getting crazy here.

We had our bbq at Ocean Park.  The weather was perfect and the bridges were in all their light-up glory.  Even the passing boats were decked out in color changing LED because, well, Korea.

Dolsan Bridge 1, Dolsan Bridge 2, and a Turtle Ship harbor cruise

Festival Info

Hongseong Jumbo Shrimp Festival

Period: September 13th-November 26th 2013

Location: Hongseong Namdang Harbor

Travel Info: Take a train to Gwangcheon (광천) instead of Hongseong.  You'll be closer to the festival grounds.  From there, take a bus to the grounds at Namdang-ri (남당-리).  You'll know when you're there.

Website: Hongseong Jumbo Shrimp Festival

Anmyeon-do Jumbo Shrimp Festival

Period:  September 27th-October 27th 2013

Location: Anmyeon-do Baeksajang Port

Travel Info: Take a bus to Taean (태안) and then a bus to Anmyeon-do (안면도)

The Anmyeon-do festival seems to be the bigger of the two.