Boryeong Mud Festival: Booze, Bikinis and Dirty Fun

Boryeong City has found a fortune in filth.

The South Korean town of 100,000 residents welcomes 2 million visitors this week – all of them coming just to roll around in 200 tons of mud.

Indeed, the Boryeong Mud Festival, now in its 11th year, has developed a life of its own. It’s something like spring break in Daytona Beach, combined with Woodstock and Mardi Gras –- with mud dancing, mud wrestling, and lots of dirty fun.

Fresh-faced kids in bikinis and Hawaiian shorts come clean, hit the mudslide and start drinking. Nine days later, its time to shower and go home.

Few residents imagined the festival would become such a phenomena when they dreamed it up, largely to promote the mineral-rich mud used in Boryeong’s skincare and beauty products.

But if that’s what makes the Boryeong Mud King and Queen so beautiful, even when covered head to toe in brown goo. Check out the highlights.

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Photo © Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images