25th World Scout Jamboree

In Summer 2023, more than 40,000 Scouts from all over the world will gather in Korea for the 25th World Scout Jamboree. The World Scout Jamboree (WSJ) is a World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM) event, it happens every four years, each time hosted by a different country. We’re so proud that thousands of UK young people aged 14 to 17 and their leaders will get the chance to be part of the UK Contingent in South Korea.

The UK’s Contingent are more than just travel buddies, they are planners, fundraisers, motivators and mentors. We’ve got a lot to achieve in a short time but we’ll leap at the challenge as we… Think big. Dream wild. Act Together.

The 25th World Scout Jamboree will take place on a brand new site in SaeManGeum, South Korea. The campsite is flat and overlooks the sea on one side and features a view of the mountains. It is situated in close proximity to the beautiful Byeonsanbando National Park (Byeonsan Peninsula) located on the West Coast of Jellabuk-do https://goo.gl/maps/2HYNuZdqwnpxzgd19

The Jamboree will take place between the 1st and 12th August 2023. In addition to the actual Jamboree itself, the UK contingent will organise some pre and post event experiences. We are yet to have these confirmed but, in the past, these have included visiting other areas of the country and experiencing the cultures and family life in that country. The 25th World Scout Jamboree will be part of the Korean Scout Associations celebration of a century of Scouting in Korea and to prepare for the next 100 years.

A Jamboree is a unique experience. Our Unit will be living amongst units from all other countries, cooking and caring for themselves as a team, doing a wide and varied choice of physical, adventurous, creative, cultural, environmental and global activities with a friendly and safe festival feel to the whole adventure.

The Jamboree is attended by around 40,000 people from around the world. This includes Scouts, Leaders and an International Service Team (IST). Around 4,000 of these will be from the UK.

“Draw your Dream!” expresses the desire of the members of the Scout Movement to transform the World Scout Jamboree into their own festival and to grow their dreams through it. Saemangeum, will be shaped into a spacious recreational ground (10 k㎡), where young scouts from around the world will pursue their dreams throughout the World Scout Jamboree.

The Jamboree is not just a huge gathering of Scouts and Guides from all around the World, it is more than that. Scouts from around the world living, working and having fun together. When a member of the United Nations visited the Jamboree in Japan, he described it as “the way the World should be”. It is truly a special place where Scouts can share their cultural and national backgrounds and words cannot do it justice.

A Jamboree is the size of a small town, once everyone arrives there will be tents as far as the eye can see!  It can often take as long as one hour to walk from one side of the site to another, particularly if you keep stopping to say hello to Scouts from all over the world! Your unit will be allocated a small area to camp in, this is where you will sleep, cook and relax for the 12 days.

You will normally go to activities as a whole Unit, or sometimes in your Patrol of 9 Scouts and 1 Leader. There are a huge variety of amazing activities in a typical Jamboree programme, too many to list here!

In the evening, after the duty Patrol has cooked dinner (maybe with some visiting Scouts from another country), there is still lots to do on site. You might choose to go badge swapping, trying to find the rarest badges out there. Or, you might join in some of the evening entertainment, watching a traditional performance from another country or even getting up on stage yourself!

It wouldn’t be a Jamboree without the Opening and Closing Ceremonies! It is quite incredible to have Scouts from all over the world sat together in one field.  The atmosphere is electric and it is likely to be a very special part of your Jamboree experience.

The UK Contingent typically organises a 2-3 day experience for UK Scouts just before or after the Jamboree. We don’t have any details yet for this for 2023, but as an example, the UK Contingent to the Japan 2015 Jamboree spent 3 days exploring the sights of Tokyo and in USA 2019, units went to New York and Washington DC.

There is a long history of Scouts enjoying HoHo (Home or Hosted Hospitality) before or after a Jamboree. Ho Ho has changed in recent years and the Contingent Team will be working on ways for you to connect to local Koreans as part of your pre/post event experience.