Jisan Vally Rock Festival: Camping, Facilities Help

Here's the question:

My friends and I are going to the Jisan Valley Rock Festival this weekend, and we're planning on camping. I was wondering if you knew anything about camping in Korea.

First, we don't have any camping gear yet and are planning to try to get some used. Do you have any ideas of websites like Craigslist where one can find used items in Korea? Also, do you have any guess what the campground might be like--do you think there will be showers, etc...?

Sounds like fun and I hope to read good reviews about the festival. As many people know, this upcoming weekend is the Jisan and Pentaport Rock festivals. I'm hoping that both of them are a huge success because Korea really needs to be a stop for some non-megastar acts.

Since this is Jisan's first festival and from being a music festival addict in my younger days in the US...



...I have a feeling that there will be some problems at Jisan. I hope they're not too big and, as the questioner is doing, making sure you know what to expect (including weather) is crucial.

Camping in Korea is not backcountry in the least. Sure, there are a few mountain trails on the peninsula that allow such camping, but for the most part, you're going to be setting up tents right next to someone else. I have not been to Jisan yet, so I have no personal knowledge of the area. You might have plenty of room.

I pulled this from the festival website:

The festival provides many fields for camping, you can pitch your tent that most interest you in campsite. But please only take up the area that you need. If you have to bring a gazebo, please be considerate to your fellow campers and bear in mind that camping space is limited. If you take up more than your share there will be no space left for late-comers.

Camping tickets are KRW10,000 per person and only 2 day and 3 day ticket holders are able to purchase them. You may need to decide whether you'll need a camping ticket before buying festival tickets. Please purchase this along with your festival tickets, as they are limited in number and non transferable. Camping tickets can only be booked by telephoning our ticket sales line on 02-3444-9969(+82 2 3444 9969)

Camping fields are patrolled by security teams. However, if you are worried about something being stolen, don't keep it in your tent. We recommend all participants not to bring any valuables. Please note that cooking is strictly prohibited and bottled or canned beverages are not allowed to bring in from outside of festival site.

I assume you read that already and have booked camping tickets. As far as showers go, I have found no information on that, but I would imagine that since Koreans typically aren't that fond of roughing it, there will be bathing facilities. They have them on every street corner, so why not there? If there isn't a shower, I'm certain there will be running water for to brush your teeth, so washing up there will be fine. They do have a nearby stream though just in case.



As you said, you do not have tents, so you gotta buy one. The festival provided rental tents, but they should have been reserved by the 15th of July. It'll be too late for you on that front, so you'll need to find them online.

You can check all the big forums like Daves, Facebook, Worknplay, Club4teacher, Youloveit, The Yeogiyo. And if they don't yield anything, I would hunt around Dongdaemun or give in, pay a little more and go to Costco.

So to all festival-goers this weekend, have a great time, drink plenty of water (and beer) and stay dry. And in case there are any K-Bloggers going, please make sure you post plenty of pics, write-up a little review and help make Korea a location for international acts to drop by regularly.

***Update 7/28/2009: I've been loooking for reviews of the show, but have had limited sucess. A commentor on this post also writes a blog and wrote a little description. She seemed to have liked it, but (and I'm not being an ass) she's relatively new to Korea, so that excitement might interfer with her objectivety. Regardless, I'm happy to have her input.