Visitors walk through geometric tulip gardens flanked by a flower-covered castle installation at the 2026 World Tulip Festival in Taean, South Korea, on Saturday. (Courtesy of the World Tulip Festival organizing committee)
Visitors walk through geometric tulip gardens flanked by a flower-covered castle installation at the 2026 World Tulip Festival in Taean, South Korea, on Saturday. (Courtesy of the World Tulip Festival organizing committee)
Tulips in full bloom stretch across the festival grounds in Taean, South Korea, on Saturday as visitors enjoy a stroll among the vibrant red and yellow displays. (Courtesy of the World Tulip Festival organizing committee)
Tulips in full bloom stretch across the festival grounds in Taean, South Korea, on Saturday as visitors enjoy a stroll among the vibrant red and yellow displays. (Courtesy of the World Tulip Festival organizing committee)
Giant peacock topiaries tower over a sea of tulips at the 2026 World Tulip Festival in Taean, South Korea, on Saturday. (Courtesy of the World Tulip Festival organizing committee)
Giant peacock topiaries tower over a sea of tulips at the 2026 World Tulip Festival in Taean, South Korea, on Saturday. (Courtesy of the World Tulip Festival organizing committee)

Thousands of tulips are painting the fields of Taean, a coastal county on South Korea's western seaboard, in vivid reds, yellows and purples as the 2026 World Tulip Festival enters its first weekend.

The festival, which opened on Wednesday at a sprawling outdoor venue about two and a half hours southwest of Seoul, has drawn crowds eager to take in the colorful displays.

This year marks the event's relocation to a larger site, allowing organizers to introduce ambitious new installations including a flower-covered castle modeled after the Palace of Versailles and towering peacock topiaries standing several meters tall.

The new venue has also given the festival room to expand its planting scale, with tulips arranged in sweeping geometric patterns across manicured garden beds. Visitors can stroll through the grounds during the day and return for illuminated night viewing, as the site doubles as the venue for Taean's popular light festival.

Taean has long positioned itself as South Korea's premier spring flower destination, and the festival has earned international recognition, having been named one of the world's top five tulip festivals in 2015 and 2017 by the World Tulip Summit.

A delegation from the organization, led by its president, visited the new venue on Thursday to discuss further collaboration.

The festival runs through May 6.


mjh@heraldcorp.com