( CNN ) -- Call it the world 's biggest mud fight or its largest group cosmetic treatment -- either way , millions of visitors are making their way to Boryeong , South Chungcheong Province this week for South Korea 's most popular festival . The 16th annual Boryeong Mud Festival , which kicked off this past weekend and will run until July 28 , hopes to beat its record of 3 million participants last year . Organizers say this year 's mud bath is expected to attract 300,000 foreign tourists , up 22,000 from last year . Korean media have reported that trains to Boryeong are already packed with dirt-ready foreigners . 50 greatest summer music festivals . This year 's festival . Originally launched to promote the cosmetic benefits of the local mud , the festival has become an annual frenzy in which visitors take part in numerous mud-related activities , including mud wrestling and a mud marathon . `` This year , we amped up the Famiily Zone to meet the demands of people traveling with children , '' say event organizers . `` There are many foreign families traveling to Korea just for the festival . '' Local beer company Hite Jinro ( maker of the best-selling selling liquor in the world ) is throwing a rock festival in Boryeong for the first time this year and hosting K-Pop concerts and `` garden beer parties '' until August . How to survive a Korean drinking session . To cater to the tastes of foreign visitors , some area restaurants are being converted into pizza and hamburger joints during the festival to provide dining options beyond traditional hoe-jip ( Korean sashimi restaurants ) or restaurants selling grilled shellfish . Boryeong Mud Festival . July 19-28 , 2013 . 1029-3 , Sinheuk-dong , Boryeong-si , Chungcheongnam-do , South Korea . Korean , English , Japanese and Chinese travel hotline : +82 2 1330 . The world 's messiest festivals .
Millions of visitors get filthy in Boryeong , South Korea . Organizers aim to make mud festival more family friendly this year . Everything mud-related goes . Festival originally launched to promote cosmetic mud treatments .