Stumbling Across Sinchon’s Water Gun Festival, [Seoul, South Korea, July 2018]

Imagine walking down the street and stumbling across a handful of people spraying each other with water pistols.

Now imagine walking down the street and stumbling across thousands of people spraying each other with water pistols, to the sound of DJs playing and MCs rapping.

That, as part of a huge rave and festival, was exactly what I found myself a part of only a few hours into my arrival to South Korea.

In order to provide context, however, I’ll recount the story in full.

From the beginning

Having survived the 7 hour flight from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi, and the further 9 hour flight to Seoul, it’s normal to feel tired.

This is especially true when you’re in economy and you arrive at 11am local time, having left your apartment at 7am local time the day before.

All in all, having watched one too many movies on the two flights over, I’d not managed to secure much sleep. Nonetheless on arrival I breezed through security (the airport is very slick and easy to progress through for arriving passengers), and headed towards my hostel.

Roaming around

I checked in, dropped my bag off and changed clothes, and decided to head straight out into town. Staying in Sinchon, I straight away noticed the vibrancy and colour of the area (as already shared in my previous post, here).

Imagine my surprise, then, when one of the first things I spotted (only a few hundred metres down the road), was a young couple walking around in raincoats with water pistols.

An unusual sight for any city centre on a Saturday morning.

Yes, the weather was hot, but it still seemed strange.

Discovering the 2018 Water Gun Festival

I followed in the couple’s general direction and soon spotted more and more similarly dressed groups, all with water pistols of their own.

Soon, I discovered what it was exactly that I had found myself in: the 2018 Sinchon Water Gun Festival.

For those that didn't want to get involved, they had options too: it certainly wasn't compulsory to run the watery gauntlet.

Loud music started to ring out and before I knew it, a full crowd of people and a raised DJ booth appeared.

A bit of research tells me that in 2017, over 50,000 people turned up; huge!

Judging by the crowds I saw around me, I'd expect the number this year in 2018 to be at least this number, with every street in the neighbourhood resembling a sight similar to this.

Reflecting the year’s theme of “Man Versus Robot,” there was a larger than (human) life size statue of a Transformer, which was receiving a lot of love for the crowd. Perfect for your next Instagram post.

I spent a fair amount of time enjoying the scene at hand, getting soaking wet (not a bad thing when it’s 30+ degrees Celsius!) and getting into the music.

Here's what it looks like to be on the receiving end of a water pistol:

Then, after making my way out of the festival area itself, I noticed that, in keeping with the theme, a number of acrobats performed a 'robot invasion', dancing above the streets on a globe dangling from a crane. Neat, eh?

And so, as the afternoon ran into the evening, and the party dragged on, I decided to call it a day and head back for some rest.

What a great first day in Seoul.

If you happen to be in Seoul in July 2019, look out for the 7th Sinchon Water Fun Festival. It's great fun.

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What's the strangest thing you've ever come across in a city you've been visiting?

I'd love to hear your own stories.

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