Why NOW picked itA good craft outing to slot into a Busan trip. It is open until 20:00 Friday to Sunday, but closes at 18:00 on Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 9 and 10).
The 31st Gimhae Buncheong Ceramics Festival runs Nov. 6–10 at Lotte Garden Park in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang. Local potters show and sell their work, you can try making pottery yourself, and all buncheong ware is 20% off.
Get your hands in clay, watch a wheel spin
The programme has three parts: an exhibition and sale of work by Gimhae potters, hands-on pottery workshops, and live demonstrations.
A regional festival guide adds decorating and digging up buncheong pieces, wheel throwing, a large-scale ceramic demonstration and a pottery auction, plus family pottery and clay-stacking contests.
What buncheong is
Buncheong began in the late Goryeo period from inlaid celadon and was made until about the mid-15th to 16th century. White clay is applied to a grey-blue body and decorated by inlay, stamping, sgraffito, iron painting, brushing or dipping.
A museum label calls it lively and free-spirited, unlike aristocratic Goryeo celadon. The fish flask in the photo is a 15th-century example.
Mondays and Tuesdays close at 6 p.m.
Hours are 10:00–20:00, but on Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 9 and 10) the festival closes at 18:00. Friday to Sunday gives you the evening.
Entry is paid; the ministry page does not give the amount. All buncheong ware is 20% off. Questions go to 055-330-3244.
