Jinhae Gunhangje Opens on March 22, Earliest Cherry Blossom Festival in 62 Years 2024 Korea Cherry Blossom Blooming Period

South Korea's largest cherry blossom festival, Changwon Jinhae Gunhangjewill open on March 22, 2024, the earliest ever.

It originated in 1952 when South Korea erected the first statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and held a memorial service in his honor,

and it officially became a festival in 1963.

Changwon City announced that this year's Jinhae Gunhangje will be held for 10 days, starting with the opening ceremony on March 22ndand running from March 23rd to April 1st.

The festival has typically opened around April 1st, but due to global warming and other factors, the cherry blossoms have been blooming earlier each year, leading to an earlier start date for the festival. Last year, it opened on March 24th, and in 2019, it opened on March 31st.

The expected cherry blossom blooming periods for each region based on the long-term weather forecast from the Korea Meteorological Administration are as follows:

-Jeju: March 10th - 15th

-Busan, Jinhae: March 20th - 25th

-Daegu, Jeonju: March 25th - 30th

-Seoul, Incheon: April 1st - 5th

-Gangwon: April 10th - 15th

Cherry blossom blooming is heavily influenced by the weather in March, so the exact blooming period will be announced in early March.