Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Saquon Barkley Plaque
Kirkkasik Bedesten inside
Kirkkasik Bedesten
Someshwar Temple
Someshwar Temple
Grilled cheese and tomato soup are soulmates.
The Palisades Restaurant
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
A skeleton on display contemplating its own mortality.
Kid Mai Death Awareness Cafe
This classic London pub has a surprising history behind it.
John Snow
The beef, Guinness, and oyster pie sports a rich, flaky crust.
The Guinea
Welcome to one of the only floating pubs in the world.
Tamesis Dock
This may be the oldest pie in the world.
St Helens 'Oldest Pie' at The Turks Head
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Decoy’s wines reflect the terroir of California.
How a Wooden Duck Migrated From the California Wetlands to a Wine Label
11 days ago
There’s more to the French capital than the Eiffel Tower.
Dear Atlas: What Are Some Non-Touristy Things to Do in Paris?
15 days ago
The plants around Liz Dauncey in this photo are not poisonous, but many common garden and houseplants are.
Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.
22 days ago
“There may be a collective sense of a dark loneliness,” Dahl says, referring to Norway’s natural landscape.
In Norway, Easter Means Tucking Into Crime Stories
22 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All South Korea Hampyeong Hampyeong Expo Park

Hampyeong Expo Park

It’s a bug’s life at this Korean eco-event park, built to host an annual butterfly festival.

Hampyeong, South Korea

Added By
kaila
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Hampyeong Expo Park   xakyrie
Hampyeong Expo Park   xakyrie
Hampyeong Expo Park   Republic of Korea
Hampyeong Expo Park   Piotrus
Hampyeong Expo Park   Piotrus
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

In 2008 Hampyeong, South Korea, hosted its first World Butterfly and Insect Expo, a gathering of both casual insect enthusiasts and professional entomologists—and a bug or two (million).

The event is now held annually, with one species of butterfly selected as the star of the popular springtime festival. Thanks to the creepy-crawly festival, the town's Expo Park has become a year-round draw and a veritable Disney World of ecology.

Each year Hampyeong attracts more than two million people to its Butterfly and Insect Expo, releasing hundreds of thousands of live butterflies for the occasion. Visitors are invited to view countless other species, both live in captivity and preserved under glass. Expo Park, established for the first event, is now a sprawling, permanent wonderland of nature-based exploration. 

With 11 exhibition centers ranging from the golden bat center to the fresh water fish science museum, the park's attractions celebrate the world's smallest wonders along with some weirder, human-made versions, like the huge gold insect statues. Those who travel to Hampyeong for the Expo itself get to witness the whole town transform, as the whole area is adorned with butterfly lights, decorations, and fluttering wing motifs alongside the real deal.

Related Tags

Insects Butterflies Parks Bug Week

Community Contributors

Added By

kaila

Edited By

erjeffery, EricGrundhauser

  • erjeffery
  • EricGrundhauser

Published

June 23, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://southkerrea.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/the-15th-hampyeong-butterfly-festival/
  • http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=697182
  • http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1276904
Hampyeong Expo Park
27 Gonjearo
Hampyeong, 525-805
South Korea
35.056547, 126.522634
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Wang Dong's Rock Quarries

Gwangju, South Korea

miles away

Gatbawi

Mokpo-si, South Korea

miles away

Lee Jang-woo's House

Gwangju, South Korea

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Korea

South Korea

Asia

Places 107
Stories 14

Nearby Places

Wang Dong's Rock Quarries

Gwangju, South Korea

miles away

Gatbawi

Mokpo-si, South Korea

miles away

Lee Jang-woo's House

Gwangju, South Korea

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Korea

South Korea

Asia

Places 107
Stories 14

Related Places

  • clutters of Monarchs

    Goleta, California

    Goleta Monarch Butterfly Grove

    A popular winter vacation destination for migrating monarch butterflies.

  • Vladimir Nabokov’s butterfly collection in the Nabokov Museum

    Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Nabokov's Butterflies

    Specimens collected by the author of "Lolita" and self-taught lepidopterist are exhibited in his childhood home.

  • Butterfly Garden at Changi Airport

    Singapore

    Changi Airport's Butterfly Garden

    Watch butterflies take flight before you fly.

  • Butterfly garden.

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Mariposario Chapultepec (Chapultepec Butterfly Garden)

    You can release a young butterfly at this beautiful indoor garden.

  • The salt marsh south of the nature center.

    Brooklyn, New York

    Marine Park Salt Marsh

    This preserved wilderness hides the remains of a colonial grain mill used to feed George Washington's troops.

  • Reginald the Grasshopper in the summer.

    Regina, Saskatchewan

    Reginald the Grasshopper

    This bushy bug is one of the unsanctioned public sculptures that have survived in Regina.

  • A winter monarch cluster roosting in a eucalyptus tree at Pismo Beach.

    Pismo Beach, California

    Monarch Butterfly Grove

    Thousands of migrating monarchs overwinter clustered amongst the eucalyptus trees.

  • One of many beautiful dioramas.

    Pokhara, Nepal

    Annapurna Natural History Museum Butterfly Collection

    Feast your eyes upon hundreds of Nepal's native butterflies and moths.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.