NadeJeongwol Daeboreum: Cracking Nuts Under the Year's First Full Moon정월대보름: 부럼 깨물고 오곡밥 먹는 첫 보름달
Koreans greet the year's first full moon by cracking nuts with their teeth and setting giant bonfires ablaze on beaches.
Fifteen days after Seollal comes a holiday most visitors have never heard of: Jeongwol Daeboreum, the first full moon of the lunar year. Rooted in agrarian Korea and traceable to the Three Kingdoms period, it was once nearly as festive as New Year itself — a night for praying to the brightest moon for health and a good harvest.
The customs are wonderfully tactile. In the morning, you crack bureom — walnuts, peanuts, chestnuts, gingko nuts — with your teeth, a ritual believed to keep teeth strong and skin boils away for the year. Meals feature ogokbap, steamed rice with five grains, eaten with an array of dried namul vegetables saved from the previous autumn. Some drink gwibalgisul, 'ear-brightening wine,' said to bring good news all year. After dark comes the spectacle: daljip taeugi, burning towering heaps of straw and pine branches as the moon rises, sending the old year's bad luck up in flames.
While Seollal is a family holiday behind closed doors, Daeboreum is communal and public — which makes it one of the best Korean holidays for a foreigner to actually join. Coastal cities stage big moon-greeting festivals: Samcheok has held its Daeboreum festival since 1973, featuring its UNESCO-listed gijul tug-of-war, and Busan's Haeundae Beach hosts a moon-viewing festival that climaxes with a giant daljip bonfire at moonrise.
설날로부터 보름 뒤, 외국인 대부분이 모르는 명절이 온다. 음력 새해 첫 보름달, 정월대보름이다. 농경 사회에 뿌리를 두고 삼국시대까지 거슬러 올라가는 이 날은 한때 설 못지않게 흥겨운 명절이었다 — 한 해 가장 밝은 달에 건강과 풍년을 비는 밤이다.
풍속이 하나같이 손에 잡힌다. 아침에는 호두·땅콩·밤·은행 같은 부럼을 이로 깨무는데, 한 해 이가 튼튼하고 부스럼이 나지 않는다고 믿었다. 밥상에는 다섯 가지 곡식으로 지은 오곡밥과 지난가을 말려둔 갖은 나물이 오른다. 귀가 밝아지고 좋은 소식만 듣는다는 귀밝이술을 마시기도 한다. 해가 지면 장관이 펼쳐진다 — 달이 떠오를 때 짚과 솔가지를 쌓은 달집을 태워 묵은해의 액운을 불길에 실어 보내는 달집태우기다.
설이 가족끼리 문 닫고 쇠는 명절이라면, 대보름은 마을이 함께하는 공개 명절이다. 그래서 외국인이 직접 끼어들 수 있는 가장 좋은 한국 명절이기도 하다. 해안 도시들은 대형 달맞이 축제를 연다. 삼척은 1973년부터 정월대보름제를 이어오며 유네스코 무형유산에 오른 기줄다리기를 선보이고, 부산 해운대해수욕장에서는 달맞이온천축제가 달이 뜨는 순간 거대한 달집 점화로 절정을 맞는다.
If you go가신다면
Getting there.가는 법. Samcheok: intercity bus from Seoul Express Bus Terminal (~3h), or KTX-Eum to Donghae then local bus (~30 min). Haeundae: KTX to Busan Station (~2.5h from Seoul), then Metro Line 1 to Seomyeon, transfer to Line 2 to Haeundae Station. National Folk Museum: Subway Line 3 Anguk Station.
Tips.팁. Daeboreum is not a public holiday, so events run in the evening — check each festival's date, as the lunar date shifts every year (early February–early March, 14 days after Seollal; e.g., Feb 12 in 2025, Mar 3 in 2026 — check the year's lunar date). It is still winter: dress warmly for beach bonfires and keep a respectful distance from the daljip fire, which is staffed and roped off. Try cracking a walnut in the morning like a local, and look for ogokbap specials at traditional restaurants that week.
Best time.가기 좋은 때. The 15th day of the first lunar month (early February–early March; 14 days after Seollal — check the year's lunar date); arrive before moonrise for wish-writing on the daljip and the lighting ceremony.
Places in this story이야기 속 장소
- Samcheok Expo Plaza & Samcheok Beach (Gangwon) — Samcheok Jeongwol Daeboreum Festival
- Haeundae Beach (Busan) — Dalmaji Oncheon Festival and daljip bonfire
- National Folk Museum of Korea (Seoul) — Daeboreum programs and exhibits
Hidden spots nearby근처 숨은 스팟
Places locals go — not the ones on every itinerary.관광 코스 말고, 현지인이 가는 곳.
Sources (5)출처 (5)
- Jeongwol Daeboreum falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month — the first full moon of the lunar year — and its celebration traces back to the Three Kingdoms period. — The Korea Times — koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/globalcommunity/20250207 (Jeongwol Daeboreum); Korea Tourism Organization
- Bureom (walnuts, peanuts, chestnuts, gingko nuts) is cracked with the teeth on Daeboreum morning, believed to strengthen teeth and ward off bad luck; ogokbap (five-grain rice) and namul are the day's staple foods. — The Korea Herald — koreaherald.com/article/3053991; Korea.net
- Daljip taeugi — burning a heap of straw and pine branches at moonrise — is performed to burn away misfortune and pray for peace and good fortune. — Korea.net — korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=247332
- Samcheok's Jeongwol Daeboreum Festival has been held since 1973 and features the gijul tug-of-war (Korea's tugging rituals are inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list). — 삼척정월대보름제 official site fullmoonfestival.or.kr; Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0076132)
- Haeundae Beach in Busan hosts the annual Dalmaji Oncheon Festival, whose highlight is the daljip bonfire lit at moonrise on Daeboreum. — Kookje Shinmun — kookje.co.kr (해운대달맞이온천축제 coverage, 2026)
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