October in Korea: A Great Time to Visit

Alright thanks for the share! :)

I'm thinking of visiting Andong during the mask festival, but I'm worried that all of the accomodation might be booked and/or overpriced during that time. How crowded is it likely to be? What about Hahoe?

Are there extra buses between Andong and Hahoe during the festival, or just the eight per day mentioned in LP? And do you happen to know what time the last bus from Hahoe to Andong departs?

Sorry. I wan't monitoring posts and the festival is already underway.

I spoke to a tourist offfice and the major hotels are booked up. It's a small town. If you don't mind "roughing it" and can sleep traditional stylle (on the floor) there should be budget motel (yeogweon) rooms available.

If you need more western accommdations, you might consider staying in Daegu and bussing in (about 1 1/2 hrs.).

Shuttle bus service from the festival grounds to Hahoe-maul run about every 7 - 15 minutes.
There's usually a small performance arena but the main attraction is taking a walk in the countryside and peeking in on the homes where residents have been living for centuries.

The festival ground fronts the river that borders Andong. Multiple venues, stages, and arenas to choose from. When I went one year there were groups from as far away as Mexico.Plenty of merchants and shopping opportunities, some from around the world, and dozens and dozens of food vendors.

It's well worth the visit!

I'm not surprised if all of the accomodation in Hahoe is booked during the festival, but I was able to find a room in Andong at the first place that I checked (Motel Q) -- and was later offered another room at a restaurant in Andong for a lower price. There are lots of hotels in Andong, and on the day that I went there, it wasn't even close to full (and another traveler told me that he'd successfully bargained down the rate at his hotel, which wouldn't have been possible at a place that was full or almost full).

The shuttle buses between Hahoe village (where part of the festival is) and the tourist information booth near the mask museum (where the bus from Andong dropped me off) seemed frequent, but the buses between Andong and Hahoe seemed to only run every hour or so.

I actually managed to spend over a full day in Andong/Hahoe without seeing any masked performances. I was given a performance schedule (along with a map) at the tourist information booth by the Andong bus station, but I didn't feel like planning my day around performance times, so I just took the attitude that if I happened to see a performance, then great -- but if I missed them, that's ok too. I did see some sort of costumed musical dramatic performance on the stage at Hahoe, but nobody was wearing any masks. I talked to another traveler who did see some masked dancing, and he liked it (even though he didn't understand it, since all of the words were in Korean).

I really just wanted to see the village of Hahoe, which I loved. It was probably a little more crowded than usual because of the festival, but still quite nice. I also liked Andong Folk Village, but if anyone is really pressed for time and can only see one, Hahoe is better. The Folklore Museum next to Andong Folk Village is quite good, though, with very clear English-language explanations.