If you remember the smell of yuja tea from a café, Goheung is a place to meet the fruit behind it. The sixth Goheung Yuja Festival takes place in and around Handong-ri, Pungyang-myeon, from November 12 to 15. You can pick the fruit or learn how the sweet preserve for tea is made, depending on how you want to spend the day.

Two visitors among fruit-laden yuja trees고흥유자축제

Start in the orchard or with a jar of preserve?

Photos from an earlier festival show visitors walking among the yuja trees. This year, the orchard’s picking area is open November 12–15 from 10:00 to 17:00 and costs KRW 10,000. Look at the size and shape of the fruit on the branch, then head to a preserve session or the local market to see how it is used. Fresh yuja peel adds fragrance to cooking. The preserve can go into hot water for tea or into sparkling water. See the organiser’s experience guide for session times and prices.

Participants making yuja preserve under a festival tent고흥유자축제

You can make a day of walking and eating. Try the yuja trail or exhibition hall, then look for fresh fruit and jars of preserve at the market. The opening programme includes a yuja-preserve event for 1,004 participants. Choose opening day to see it, or plan around the picking session that suits you.

Festival visitors looking at baskets of yuja fruit고흥유자축제

A yuja sculpture under lights on the festival grounds at night고흥군

An aerial view of yellow tents and yuja sculptures on the festival grounds고흥군

If it is your first visit, open the festival site guide and find the shuttle stop and picking area. The overhead photograph helps you see that the tents and orchard occupy different parts of the site. Visit the orchard while your bag is light, then buy fruit or a jar on the way back.

If you are starting in Goheung-eup

Shuttle route 1 runs from the Goheung-eup office and Goheung County Hall to the site between 09:00 and 21:00. Open the return timetable before setting off. If you plan to stay for an evening programme, make sure a return bus will still be running when you leave.

A white spiral observation tower near the yuja orchard고흥유자축제

If you have time after walking through the orchard, look up the yuja observation tower. At tree level you can see the size and texture of the fruit, while a higher view shows how the orchard spreads out. If picking times do not work for you, try the exhibition hall, tower and market to see yuja at three different distances.

Goheung Yuja Festival grounds on Naver Maps

  • Where Around 701-7 Handong-ri, Pungyang-myeon, Goheung
  • Dates November 12–15
  • Activities Check locations and conditions for yuja picking and preserve-making
  • Transport Shuttle route 1 from Goheung-eup office and Goheung County Hall

If you love yuja tea, take a look at the fruit before choosing a jar. Once you have seen how much of the fruit goes into the preserve, a spoonful at home may take you straight back to the orchard.