Red ginseng goes into a foot bath, too
One red ginseng sachet is for tasting. The other is mixed into the water for a foot bath. This is the red ginseng foot-bath experience at the Geumsan World Ginseng Festival in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea.
Ginseng often brings food and drinks to mind: a root in samgyetang, Korea’s ginseng chicken soup, a warm cup of tea, or a convenient red ginseng sachet. Adding it to water for your feet may be a less familiar idea.
At a festival where visitors can dig up ginseng and taste it, what is it like to try a red ginseng foot bath?
How the red ginseng foot bath works
At the 2026 Geumsan World Ginseng Festival, the experience costs 2,000 won. Participants receive two red ginseng sachets: one for tasting and one for the foot bath.
Add the red ginseng from the foot-bath sachet to warm water, take a seat, and soak your feet. Part of the appeal is getting to add the red ginseng yourself, as well as taste it.
The red ginseng provided for the foot bath is mixed into warm water.
Enjoying a foot bath together
Geumsan’s red ginseng foot-bath area can accommodate 75 people at a time. Families, friends, and couples can sit side by side and enjoy the experience together.
Between digging up ginseng and exploring the market and performance areas, visitors can spend more time walking than they expect. Being able to take off their shoes, sit down, and rest their feet in warm water is another part of the appeal.
The Punggi Ginseng Festival in Yeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, also offers a ginseng foot-bath experience during the same period. Both festivals run through October 11, 2026.
Continuing the foot soak at home
If you enjoy a foot bath at the festival, you can try a product made for foot soaking at home. Over the Wenzday’s Foot Healing Day and Foot Relaxing Day are slushy gel foot soak products containing 16 herbal extracts, including ginseng extract.
After a day with plenty of walking, find a comfortable seat and settle in for a warm foot soak.
