Visit the 2026 Pohang Marine Corps Cultural Festival: Experience Military History and Thrilling Equipment Exhibitions

Pohang Marine Corps Cultural Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.14 ~ 2026.11.15

The Pohang Marine Corps Cultural Festival is a representative military culture festival of Korea. It shares the history and spirit of the Marine Corps with citizens and tourists in Pohang, the cradle of the Marine Corps and the station of the 1st Marine Division. Built on the values of coexistence between the Marine Corps and the local community, the festival reflects the strong spirit of the “ghost-catching Marines” and translates the meaning of national defense and veterans’ affairs into cultural content that anyone can enjoy.

Held annually throughout Pohang City, the festival offers unique programs that are not easily accessible elsewhere, including military equipment exhibitions, military band and honor guard performances, and military parades. It spans generations with Marine Corps experiences, performances for comrades and families, citizen-participatory performances, and food markets. The event creates a venue where active-duty and reserve Marines, their families, citizens, and tourists become one. By using the Marine Corps—a differentiated resource unique to Pohang—as a tourism asset, the festival also contributes to revitalizing the local economy and enhancing the city’s brand value.

1. Main Programs

Opening Ceremony and Marine Corps Military Band/Honor Guard Performance: The festival opens with performances by the 1st Marine Division military band and honor guard demonstrations.
Joint Civil-Government-Military Parade: A parade featuring Marine Corps soldiers, veterans’ associations, and citizens.
Marine Corps Unit Open Event: Exhibition of equipment within the unit, including amphibious assault vehicles and tanks, with boarding experiences.
Congratulatory Performances: Invited singers perform in a military consolation show format, alongside performances by local art troupes.

2. Side Programs

Marine Corps History and Culture Exhibition Hall: Photos and artifacts from the founding of the Marine Corps to major operations are displayed.
Marine Corps Soldier Talent Show and Band Competition.
Military Equipment and Medical/Barracks Life Exhibition: Combat rations and military uniforms are exhibited, and barracks life experiences are offered.

3. Consumer Participation Programs

Marine Corps Experience Zone: Survival (laser) shooting, photo zones with red name tags and octagonal caps, and physical endurance experiences.
Children’s Marine Experience: A mini obstacle course and photo shooting while wearing children’s military uniforms.
Visitor Participation Events: Stamp tour, SNS certification events, and prize draws.

4. Other Details

Convenience Facilities: Information centers, medical rooms (emergency relief), nursing rooms, and rest areas are operated.
Safety Management: Safety personnel are deployed by section of the venue, with traffic control and shuttle bus operation.

📍 Address: Area of 85 Yongdeok-ri, Ocheon-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongbuk

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 054-270-2246

Pohang’s significance to the South Korean Marine Corps begins with the Korean War. The city sits on the east coast and had a deep-water port and an airfield, making it a valuable rear area for allied forces defending the Nakdong River line. The ROK Marine Corps, established in 1949, was still a new service when the Korean War broke out. In the summer of 1950, North Korean troops attacked toward Pohang as part of an attempt to break that line and seize a supply hub. Taking the city would threaten the port and airfield and could open the allied line from the east. ROK Marine Corps units, fighting with allied forces, took part in its defense. They occupied ground overlooking the approaches to the city and mounted counterattacks. The fighting slowed the North Korean advance and denied them the use of Pohang as a supply route. This helped keep the eastern section of the defensive line intact when the front was still unstable. The action was not a complete victory, but the line held and the port stayed in allied hands.

The Marine Corps connection to Pohang continued after the war. The ROK Marine Corps Education and Training Facility in the city has since served as the main base for recruit training and unit preparation. The terrain around the training area is similar to the ground fought over in 1950, so the location retains a practical link to the corps’ wartime experience. That connection, rather than any single battle, is what makes Pohang historically important to the ROK Marine Corps: the city was the site of an early defensive action and later became the service’s permanent training center.

October 21, 2026

Visit “Maybe Lie Down First?” Exhibition at Pier-2 Art Center (2026-2027): Reset Your Mind and Body through Art

Or Should I Just Lie Down First? Lay Down

Standing is the posture of labor, alertness, and efficiency. We spend most of our waking hours perpendicular to the ground, and in doing so, we forget that some of the most restorative moments come when we are parallel to it. Lying down changes more than posture: it redistributes gravity, softens the pressure that accumulates in the shoulders, and alters the geometry of a room. A wall you once faced can become a window; a fear that seemed enormous can shrink to a speck of dust on the ceiling. The exhibition Maybe Lie Down First? asks visitors to set aside the vertical habit and re-enter the world from a different angle, letting both body and thoughts slow down among the works. If life has worn you out, the sensible first move is to lie down, reset, and only then get back up.

Exhibition Dates | 2026.06.12 (Friday) – 2027.03.01 (Monday)
Exhibition Venue | Pier-2 Art Center, Dayong District Warehouse C5

Ticketing Hours

Weekdays (Monday to Thursday): 10:00–17:00
Weekends (Friday to Sunday), National Holidays: 10:00–19:00

Exhibition Hours

Weekdays (Monday to Thursday): 10:00–18:00
Weekends (Friday to Sunday), National Holidays: 10:00–20:00

🛏️ Hotels near the event

What is Pier-2 Art Center?

Pier-2 Art Center is a waterfront arts complex in Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s southern port city. It occupies a group of former warehouse buildings at the old Pier No. 2 of Kaohsiung Harbor, originally used for storing sugar and cargo. After the port’s industrial activity moved elsewhere, the sheds were converted into galleries, installation spaces, and open-air exhibition areas. The site now hosts contemporary art exhibitions, design fairs, festivals, and performances throughout the year.

The architecture still shows its industrial past: concrete floors, steel beams, loading docks, and wide doors that open onto the boardwalk and surrounding plazas. Murals and large-scale sculptures are placed around the outdoor areas, while the interior halls remain largely intact, with the original structure left visible. Alongside the exhibition spaces, the complex contains artist studios, small design shops, cafés, and event venues. It functions as a cultural district in regular use rather than a single contained museum.

For an exhibition like “Maybe Lie Down First?”, the site’s physical character is relevant. The high-ceilinged halls and open waterfront setting give visitors room to move at their own pace, and the contrast between the weathered warehouse architecture and the contemporary works on display shapes how the exhibition is experienced.

October 21, 2026

Pohang International Fireworks Festival 2026: Your Complete Guide to the Best Shows, Events, and Local Eats

Pohang International Fireworks Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.19 ~ 2026.11.21

The following festival details are from the previous year’s (2025) festival; the 2026 festival details are currently being updated.

In Pohang, the ‘City of Fire and Light,’ the representative cultural tourism festival ‘Pohang International Firelight Festival’ is held every year. It began in 2004 with a fireworks show to commemorate Pohang Citizens’ Day, and its theme has always drawn on two symbols at the heart of the city’s identity: ‘light,’ representing Pohang’s standing as a world-class steel city, and ‘fire,’ evoking the hot furnace that powers its industry.

What started as a local commemorative display has since expanded into an international-scale festival, with famous fireworks teams from overseas participating every year. More importantly, it has moved away from being a simple fireworks-centered event. The program now unfolds as a festival of harmony, fusing industrial and cultural elements through produced performances and light parades—so there is something for visitors who come for the fireworks as well as those who stay for the atmosphere.

Main Programs

The centerpiece is the International Fireworks Show, featuring teams from Korea, Canada, and Italy. The Drone Light Show offers a different kind of night-sky display, with synchronized drones forming patterns overhead. The Light Art Way turns the festival site into an open-air gallery of illuminated works, while the Street Parade brings music and performers through the streets. Rounding out the program is the Daily Fireworks Show, which ensures there is a fireworks display on each day of the festival.

Side Programs

Between the main attractions, the side programs fill out the festival experience. The Firelight Music Festa and Fringe Performances provide music and street entertainment, while the Firelight Canal Market and Firelight Theme Zone are good places to slow down and explore. Food is well accounted for: the Fire-flavor Gourmet Road gathers food stalls along the festival route, Phang-staurant—a portmanteau of Pohang and restaurant—serves as another dining option, and the Agricultural and Special Products Sales Zone lets visitors take home regional produce and specialty goods.

Visiting Information

Admission to the festival is free. The event takes place at the following address:

📍 Address: 48 Haean-ro, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do (Hanggu-dong)

For visitors traveling from outside Pohang, nearby accommodation is available through the link below.

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 054-289-7852~5

🖥️ Homepage: festival.phcf.or.kr/fireWorks/intro.do

What is Pohang?

Pohang is a coastal city in North Gyeongsang Province, on South Korea’s eastern seaboard. It is the largest port city on the East Sea and the site of POSCO, one of the world’s largest steelmakers. The steel industry has shaped the city’s economy and public identity; working ports, industrial facilities, and residential neighborhoods sit close together. The coast provides a different side: beaches, rocky headlands, and a seafood economy that supports local markets and restaurants.

The Hyeongsan River runs through the city and empties near the harbor. Yeongildae and Guryongpo beaches have wide sand flats and clear water; they are popular for swimming and for early-morning views of the sunrise. Bukbu Beach, just north of the center, is the usual venue for the Pohang International Fireworks Festival, an event that draws large crowds along the waterfront in late summer or autumn. The exact schedule changes by year, so visitors should check before planning a trip.

Away from the water, Pohang’s neighborhoods reflect its maritime and industrial history. Guryongpo village retains a number of buildings from the Japanese colonial period and has a local raw-fish market. Jukdo Market sells seafood brought in by nearby fishing boats and also has produce and prepared food stalls. These areas are not staged for tourists; they serve daily life, which makes them useful places to observe how the city works.

Pohang is not a polished tourist destination. Its appeal lies in the combination of an active industrial port and an ordinary coastal city where fishing, steel, and summer holidays overlap. Visitors who want a quiet seaside stay or a look at South Korea’s heavy-industry side will find both here, often within a short drive of each other.

October 21, 2026

Exploring “Re: Battle City” in Kaohsiung: Discover Chang Li-jen’s Immersive World of Art and Imagination

Re: Battle City

This exhibition is part of Taipower’s Kaohsiung Third Phase Public Art Installation Project, a long-running initiative that brings contemporary art into the public sphere across the city’s industrial and urban landscapes. It marks a significant moment for artist Chang Li-jen, whose “Battle City” series returns to the spotlight in a new and expanded form.

“Re” carries the meaning of restarting and returning once again. In this exhibition, it symbolizes the trajectory of artist Chang Li-jen’s complete exhibition of the “Battle City” series at the Taipei Education University Art Museum in 2024, and how, after the works were collected by Taiwan Power Company, he looked back at his own creations based on existing accumulations to further adjust, supplement, and advance them. Through animated videos, comics, storyboard manuscripts, scene models, characters, and filming props, this exhibition focuses on the “worldview” constructed by the artist in “Battle City,” forming a multiple contrast with the real world between retrospection and renewal.

For Chang Li-jen, “Battle City,” which took fourteen years to complete, was a process of exploring the “essence of art.” Initially, he wondered: what exactly is art? Could it avoid being defined too quickly? Were there other imaginative possibilities? Simultaneously, he explored how an artist creates paths for thinking and perceiving the world, and how to confirm the meaning of one’s environment and era to oneself. These are not abstract concerns; they shape the very structure and content of the series, which builds an intricate fictional universe while remaining in constant dialogue with the artist’s own cultural surroundings.

The model animations of Parts 1 and 2 and the comic of Part 3 of “Battle City” are “by-products” generated during the artist’s process of exploring these paths and possibilities, resembling a kind of creative residue. Other components of the series, such as scene models, characters, and storyboards, are like nested Russian dolls, produced solely for the purpose of making the animations. This means that what the public previously perceived as final works—including animations and comics—as well as the scenes and props from the production process, are, for the artist, “results that were not the primary objective.” The exhibition invite visitors to reconsider their assumptions about what constitutes a completed artwork, and to appreciate the layered process behind the finished images.

Even the artist himself could be described as a by-product of a specific culture. Chang Li-jen does not seek a creative home within mainstream art history or discourse. Instead, viewers can discover many shadows of subcultures in “Battle City”: whether it is the tokusatsu filming techniques inspired by the “Doraemon” comics, or the strange tales regarding the end of the world and aliens in “World Mysteries.” The peculiar imaginations of the world presented in childhood readings deeply fascinated the artist. These childhood reading experiences remained in his memory and consciousness, and years later during creation, they were reorganized and transformed into part of the works.

The meaning of the exhibition title “Re” is embodied in the first-time presentation of “Battle City” Part 1 〈Light of Taiwan (Second Playthrough)〉. In the world of gaming, a “second playthrough” represents the process where a player, after completing the game for the first time, starts the game again carrying accumulated experience points, equipment, and other gains. For the artist, this re-creation is like stepping into a time machine, deliberately overlapping the present with the past to respond to and compensate for his past self who was limited by the conditions of that time.

From filming and editing animated images from years ago—where the process of exploring production techniques was not yet perfected—to supplementing story fragments deleted due to real-world factors, the artist seems to have restarted the life-gears of creation, rolling “Battle City” toward the next narrative cycle, and continuing to carve out brand new paths within the déjà vu of reincarnation. The result is an exhibition that rewards both newcomers encountering the series for the first time and those who followed its earlier iterations, offering a rare look at how an artist revisits, reworks, and ultimately reimagines his own deep-rooted creative world.

🛏️ Hotels near the event

Who is Chang Li-jen?

Chang Li-jen is a Taiwanese contemporary artist working with digital media, architecture, and memory. Born in Tainan in 1982 and now based in Taipei, Chang studied sculpture before turning to new media. His work uses 3D animation, video-game aesthetics, and virtual environments to reconstruct real places from remembered or imagined experience.

Much of his art is about how people inhabit and remember space. He treats digital environments not as simulations but as places where memory can be examined and changed. His video installations are often narrative-driven, leading viewers through altered urban landscapes in which familiar buildings and streets follow the logic of memory rather than geography.

Chang has shown his work throughout Taiwan and internationally. His pieces combine autobiographical details with broader social history, and their tone is more reflective than sensational. In Re: Battle City, an immersive exhibition in Kaohsiung, he applied this approach to the city itself. The exhibition used his characteristic 3D and game-like imagery to present Kaohsiung as both a real place and a constructed one, shaped by personal association and collective experience. The result was less a depiction of the city than a version of it built from multiple perspectives.

The value of Chang’s work lies in its insistence that digital media can carry emotional and historical weight. His environments ask to be explored rather than simply viewed, and they reward attention with a clearer sense of how memory and invention overlap.

October 21, 2026

Experience the 2026 Muan YD Festival: Dive into Youth Culture, AI Games, and Local Attractions in Jeonnam

Muan YD Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.20 ~ 2026.11.22

The Muan YD Festival returns for its sixth edition, taking over Namak Central Park in Samhyang-eup for three days of youth culture this November. Running from Friday, November 20 to Sunday, November 22, 2026, the festival is organized by Muan-gun under the theme ‘PLAY YD,’ which is an explicit invitation to participate rather than just spectate.

The festival was founded to broaden cultural participation among young people and to create spaces where they can communicate and collaborate with one another. In practice, that means a program built around performances, hands-on experiences, and participatory events, with ample room for attendees to take an active role. For young people, it functions as a stage for their talents and ambitions; for families and tourists, it offers an accessible entry point into the youth culture of the region. The organizers have deliberately designed many of the activities as joint programs for local youth, county residents, and visitors, so the exchange works in every direction.

Several details set this year’s edition apart. The sixth YD Festival leans into interactivity: experience booths let you try drone piloting, beauty workshops, and AI games, while the street basketball tournament brings a competitive edge that should draw both players and spectators. Beyond the youth-focused lineup, the festival retains a distinctly local character through its side programs, which include a chrysanthemum exhibition and a market for agricultural and fishery specialty products. It’s a pairing that showcases Muan’s identity as a youth city while grounding the event in the region’s own culture and produce.

Main Programs

Opening parade
Celebratory concert
Street basketball tournament

Side Programs

Chrysanthemum exhibition
Sale of agricultural and fishery specialty products
Youth participation programs

Consumer Participation Programs

Drone piloting
Beauty programs
AI games

Other Contents

Street parades and busking performances
Various promotional events

📍 Address: 16 Daejukseo-ro 16beon-gil, Samhyang-eup, Muan-gun, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free (Some programs are paid)

📞 Inquiry: 061-450-5474

🖥️ Website: https://tour.muan.go.kr/tour/festival/yd%5Ffestival/introduce

Muan sits on the southwestern coast of Jeollanam-do and serves as the provincial government’s administrative seat. That role places it at the center of regional administration, but the county’s coastal setting has shaped its other activities. Its tidal flats and salt farms are among its more visible features. Seawater is drawn into shallow beds and left to dry in the sun, producing salt through a process that has remained largely unchanged. The flats also support a range of wetland species, and the reed fields and estuaries attract migratory birds on their seasonal routes. During the summer, lotus flowers appear across local wetlands, and the annual lotus festival draws visitors for the flowers and the food sold at nearby stalls. In recent years, the county has also hosted the YD Festival, an event oriented toward youth and digital culture, with AI-based games and interactive installations. It is a modest addition to a county whose main draws remain natural and administrative.

October 21, 2026

The Great Tipsy Hotel 2025-2026 in Kaohsiung: Experience an Award-Winning Immersive Journey at Hamasing Trading Building

The Great Tipsy Hotel

3 Drinks × 5 Guests × 90 Minutes
The Great Tipsy is an immersive experience housed in Kaohsiung’s Hamasing Trading Building, a structure with a deep historical heritage. Over the course of 90 minutes, you will traverse four floors, drink three tipsy cocktails, and meet five guests who have long remained in this space. It is part theatrical performance, part interactive storytelling, and part journey through a building that holds memories within its walls.

Everyone who has visited will remember someone; who will you remember?
Time moves differently inside. You will be situated within the past, present, and future, pushing open door after door to meet him and his passion, some guests who cannot leave, and those who have lingered in your memories for a long time. Some yearnings only happen here; some words can only be told here. It is an experience designed to unsettle, comfort, and provoke—and one that leaves a lasting impression long after you step back into the streets of Gushan District.

A Classic Restart Recognized by the “Golden Point Design Award” and the “German Red Dot Design Award”
The Great Tipsy first premiered in Taipei in 2019, with a cumulative total of over 55,000 people entering the experience. One out of every two guests walked out of the hotel in tears. The production’s accolades reflect the care behind its design: it has been recognized by both the Golden Point Design Award and the German Red Dot Design Award. Now, after several years, it returns in an upgraded form in Kaohsiung.

Returning visitors have shared their recollections:

“After it ended, I still couldn’t get enough; my mood has been shaken these few days, but I choose to continue being tipsy in my dreams.”

“The problems the guests faced touched upon things I have always been afraid to face.”

“As for what the answer to the question truly is, I think it varies from person to person; the guests who cannot leave make me believe that every choice has a reason for existing.”

If you missed the Taipei run, this is your opportunity. In 2026, The Great Tipsy will be available in Kaohsiung, with an upgraded version of the experience running for over a year.

Event Details

Event Dates: 2025/10/01 – 2026/12/31
Event Location: Hamasing Trading Building (No. 5, Linhai 3rd Rd., Gushan Dist., Kaohsiung City)
Transportation Information: 1-minute walk from Hamasing MRT Station Exit 2 / 5-minute walk from Hamasing Light Rail Station Exit 2

🛏️ Hotels near the event

What is the Hamasing Trading Building?

The Hamasing Trading Building is a commercial building in Kaohsiung’s Hamasen district, the area around the old harbor and railway terminus. It was built in the early 20th century, when the district handled trade in sugar, rice, and timber between the port and the rest of southern Taiwan. The name “Hamasing” comes from the old local designation for the area. The district’s position between the sea and the rail line made it a practical hub for shipping agents, wholesalers, and other merchants.

For decades, the building was used for the routine work of that trade. Shipping agents and wholesalers kept offices there; cargo was documented, boxes inspected, and transactions closed. Travelers and dockworkers moved through its verandas, and the building’s design reflected these functions. Wide verandas shaded the interior, deep-set windows admitted light without direct heat, and the Japanese-colonial detailing gave the facade a formal, durable appearance appropriate for a place where business agreements were made.

The building later lost its commercial role and fell into decline. A recent restoration returned the exterior and main structure to their original condition, while adapting the interior for a new use. It now houses The Great Tipsy Hotel. The hotel’s design uses sound, scent, and stagecraft to evoke the trade routes that once passed through the district. The building no longer stores crates or ledgers, but that history remains visible in its proportions and planning, and it now provides the context for a different kind of hospitality.

October 20, 2026

2026 Gangneung Coffee Festival Guide: Experience the Ultimate Coffee Culture and Local Events in Korea

Gangneung Coffee Festival

🗓️ 2026.10.21 ~ 2026.10.25

Food and beverage details for the 2026 festival are currently being updated.

The Gangneung Coffee Festival began as a collection of daily memories rooted in the coffee vending machines at Anmok Beach and the cafe and roasting culture shaped by local coffee artisans. Since 2009, it has grown into a venue that embodies the city’s unique identity by connecting Gangneung’s nature, lifestyle culture, and local commercial districts. Citizens, merchants, coffee industry professionals, and visitors come together to enjoy coffee and share stories of Gangneung through humanities, art, and local content. What started as a cup of coffee enjoyed while looking at the sea has expanded into a culture shared by the city, and the festival now serves as a living local cultural asset that conveys the region’s history, tastes, and community pride.

The festival runs over five days in late October, with programs arranged across Coffee Street, linked spaces, and the wider city. The 2026 edition is divided into three main program groups:

1. Coffee Street Core Programs

100 People 100 Tastes
Starry Night
Anmok-eyed Coffee RADIO
Coffee Busking
Coffee Star
All Kinds of Gangneung Coffee
Coffee Experience Zone
Coffee Picnic
Coffee Wave
Coffee Therapy
Coffee Festival Market
Handicraft Market
All Kinds of Coffee Bean Shop
Coffee and Humanities
Coffee Master Class

2. Coffee Street Linked Programs

Festival Exchange
Fireworks
Kids Playground
Coffee Sports Day

3. City-wide Expansion Programs

Welcome Coffee Shop
Receipt Event
Stamp Rally
Coffee Festival Neighborhood Branch

📍 Address: 20-1 Changhae-ro 14beon-gil, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do (Gyeonso-dong)

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Some programs are paid

📞 Inquiry: 033-647-6802

⭐️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gn.coffeefestival/

🖥️ Homepage: https://www.coffeefestival.net/

Gangneung is often called Korea’s coffee capital, and the label is not simply a tourism slogan. The city’s coffee reputation rests on a series of concrete developments: a long row of independent cafés, an early commitment to specialty roasting, a major annual festival, and a local habit of treating coffee as something to be consumed slowly. Together, these factors explain why the title sticks.

The most visible place to see this is Anmok Coffee Street. The stretch along Anmok Beach is lined with independent operations, many of them connected to roasters who began doing small-batch roasting in the decades before specialty coffee became a mainstream term in Korea. During that period, most coffee sold in the country was instant or commercially blended, and Anmok’s roasters were working with green beans, roast profiles, and brewing conditions in a way that was unusual at the time. Their presence turned the beach road into a practical workshop: you can watch a roaster work, ask about the origin of the beans, and then drink a cup brewed a few meters from the ocean.

Gangneung also developed a specialty coffee culture earlier than most Korean cities. Local baristas and roasters entered national and international competitions, and they brought back not only awards but also new techniques and a broader network of contacts. This concentration of trained professionals raised the local standard. A café in Gangneung has less room to rely on mediocre beans or careless brewing, because a significant share of its customers and neighboring shopkeepers know the difference.

Geography plays a supporting role. The city has clean air and water, and the sea breeze off the east coast has long been cited by local roasters as an advantage in drying and roasting beans. The claim is not easy to verify, but it is an old and commonly repeated part of the local coffee culture. More tangibly, Gangneung’s coastal setting and tourist traffic meant that cafés had to be destinations in their own right. A coffee shop could not survive on convenience alone; it needed a reason for people to travel.

The Gangneung Coffee Festival has made this history more public. The annual event brings together roasting demonstrations, cupping sessions, latte art competitions, and bean markets, and it draws large crowds every autumn. The festival did not invent the city’s coffee culture, but it gave it a formal stage and connected it to a wider audience. For many visitors, the festival is an entry point to a scene that existed all along.

Finally, the pace of Gangneung’s coffee culture is part of the reason for its reputation. Its cafés are not built around fast takeaway service. They are spaces where customers sit by windows, watch the sea, and stay for more than one cup. This way of running a coffee shop is not a marketing angle; it reflects how residents use the cafés. The nickname “coffee capital” may sound exaggerated, but in Gangneung’s case it is a shorthand for a specific, locally developed coffee culture that is still visible today.

October 20, 2026

FUSHIMI Jazz Night 2026 in Nagoya: Enjoy Free Live Jazz Performances Across Fushimi’s Top Venues

“FUSHIMI Jazz Night”

This October, the town of Fushimi becomes a stage for five evenings of live jazz. “FUSHIMI Jazz Night” brings together 35 jazz musicians performing across four venues, each with a different atmosphere. The event is free, and visitors are encouraged to move between venues while enjoying food and drinks along the way.

The performances run from Monday, October 19, 2026, through Friday, October 23, 2026, with sets scheduled between 17:15 and 20:00. Note that start and end times vary by venue, so it is worth checking the schedule at each location before planning your route.

Venues

The four venues are all located in the Naka-ku area of Nagoya City, close to Fushimi Station. They include indoor open spaces and an outdoor sunken garden, offering different settings for each performance.

Nagoya Intercity 1st Floor Open Space — 1-11-11 Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya City
Nagoya Intercity B1 Floor Sunken Garden — 1-11-11 Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya City
Fushimicho POPEYE — 2-2-36 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya City
Denki Bunka Kaikan Open Space — 2-2-5 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya City
(In case of rain, performances move to the 1st Floor Entrance.)

Because the venues sit within a compact area, you can walk from one stage to the next and catch a variety of musicians over the course of the evening. The open-air format means you are free to listen casually, then continue your stroll through Fushimi.

Access

All venues are reachable from Fushimi Station on the Subway Higashiyama and Tsurumai Lines:

Venues ① and ② are directly connected to Exit 10 of Fushimi Station.
Venues ③ and ④ are a 2-minute walk from Exit 4 of Fushimi Station.

The following map indicates Nagoya Intercity.

Admission and Contact

Fee: Free
Contact: Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate Co., Ltd. Nagoya Building Division
TEL: 052-201-5843
FAX: 052-231-3950
Website: https://nagoya-intercity.jp/

For those traveling from outside Nagoya, the event is well placed for an evening outing, with no admission cost and easy access by subway.

🛏️ See hotels near the event

Fushimi is a central district in Nagoya, located between the Nagoya Station area and Sakae. It functions primarily as a business and financial hub, with office towers and wide streets that stay busy during working hours. Beneath street level, an underground shopping network connects stations and buildings, providing a practical route through the area. In the evening, the district’s focus shifts to the many restaurants, bars, and music venues scattered throughout the blocks. Its concentration of small establishments is notably higher than in the surrounding areas, and the walkable street layout allows visitors to move easily from one venue to another. For a live jazz event, this means audiences can sample several performances in a single night without needing long transfers. Fushimi does not rely on a single landmark or attraction; its appeal is the ordinary density and convenience of a working district that also happens to be a destination for evening outings.

October 20, 2026

2026 Mungyeong Apple Festival: Taste the Famous Gamhong Honey Apples and Enjoy Hands-On Orchard Experiences

Mungyeong Apple Festival

🗓️ 2026.10.17 ~ 2026.11.01

Mungyeong is a mid-mountainous region where apples grow in a clean natural environment, nurtured by fertile soil and a wide diurnal temperature range between day and night. That temperature fluctuation is what concentrates sugars in the fruit as it matures, and the resulting apples are renowned as “honey apples” for their firm texture, rich aroma, and high sugar content. The farmers behind them reinforce that reputation, completing technical training to produce safe, delicious fruit and taking pride in being “kind farmers” who put the consumer at the center of everything they grow.

The Mungyeong Apple Festival is the annual celebration of that effort, built around the Gamhong apple — a national representative luxury variety with an average sugar content of 16.5 Brix, among the highest in the country. The festival pairs event programming with promotion and sales activities to introduce the excellence of Mungyeong Gamhong apples to a wider audience, and it gives visitors a chance to taste, pick, and purchase the fruit at its source. For those who cannot make the trip in person, the festival also operates an online store, so the region’s apples are available beyond the festival grounds.

Festival Program

1. Official Events

Opening Ceremony Celebration Performance — a performance marking the official start of the festival.

2. Special Sales Events

Mungyeong Apple Special Sales Booths — purchase Gamhong apples directly from local growers.
Agricultural Specialty Product Sales Booths — browse and buy other agricultural specialties from the Mungyeong region.

3. Experience Events

Apple Picking Farm Experience — pick apples straight from the orchard.
Tree Playground Experience — recreation and play in a tree-lined outdoor setting.
Apple Sticker Tattoos — a light, playful activity for younger visitors.
Making Apple Paper Hats — a hands-on craft project for all ages.
Cornhole Toss Experience — a simple, approachable lawn game.

4. Special Events

Apple Sharing Event — a community-centered event where apples are shared with attendees.
Apple Day — a day devoted entirely to the region’s signature fruit.

Visitor Information

📍 Address: 932 Saejae-ro, Mungyeong-eup, Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do

🛏️ Accommodations near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 054-571-7677

🖥️ Website: https://www.mgapple.or.kr/

What are Gamhong apples?

Gamhong is a South Korean apple variety developed by the country’s agricultural research institutes. The name translates as “sweet red,” which is a fair summary of the apple’s main traits: deep red skin and a pronounced sweetness with honey notes. It is one of the varieties grown around Mungyeong, and it is the focus of the Mungyeong Apple Festival.

The flesh is firm, dense, and juicy. A bite breaks cleanly, and the flavor is sweet enough to work as a dessert apple, with a slight tartness that keeps the sweetness from becoming cloying. The aroma is mild and a bit floral. The skin can range from bright red to a darker crimson, depending on how much sun the fruit receives while growing. These qualities make it a reliable choice for fresh eating, packed lunches, and simple fruit arrangements.

Mungyeong’s mountain climate contributes to the quality of the crop. Wide swings between warm days and cool nights during the growing season give the apples time to accumulate sugar and develop their color. This is why local orchards are well suited to Gamhong and why the festival, which will be held again in 2026, draws on that local supply. Visitors can sample the apples at the festival, buy them from market stalls, and, in some cases, pick them directly from the trees. The festival is best understood as a regional harvest gathering centered on one apple.

October 19, 2026

2026 Hwangmaesan Silver Grass Festival in Hapcheon: Experience Autumn’s Beauty with Cultural Performances and Scenic Tours

Hwangmaesan Silver Grass Festival

🗓️ 2026.10.17 ~ 2026.10.25

As autumn deepens, the slopes of Hwangmaesan turn silver. The 5th Hwangmaesan Silver Grass Festival takes place from October 17 to October 25, offering a full immersion in the season’s atmosphere against the backdrop of the mountain’s sweeping silver grass landscapes. The festival pairs that natural spectacle with a varied program of performances and hands-on activities, giving visitors plenty of reasons to linger.

The opening ceremony on October 17 officially kicks things off, followed by celebratory performances and weekend cultural arts performances. On weekdays, the schedule shifts to smaller, more personal programs — Hwangmaesan Life Four Cuts, healing music listening sessions, “Catch the 10 Seconds,” and dice games — each designed to add small joys to a leisurely visit.

Alongside the performances, the festival operates a local agricultural product sales center and a food market, so visitors can taste what the Hapcheon region has to offer while taking in the scenery. Sharing Cart Tours are available for the transportation-vulnerable, and docent tours led by forest interpreters provide a comfortable way to explore different parts of Hwangmaesan County Park. Whether you come with family, a partner, or friends, walking slowly through the swaying silver grass and stopping to enjoy performances along the way is the kind of autumn day that stays with you.

Main Programs

The 5th Hwangmaesan Silver Grass Festival Opening Ceremony
Opening Celebration Performance
Weekend Cultural Arts Performances

Side Programs

Healing Music Listening
Local Agricultural Product Sales Center
Food Market

Consumer Participation Programs

Hwangmaesan Life Four Cuts
Catch the 10 Seconds
Dice Game
Docent Tour with Forest Interpreter

Other Information

Operation of Sharing Cart Tours so that the transportation-vulnerable can also look around the Hwangmaesan County Park area

📍 Address: 331 Hwangmaesan-gongwon-gil, Gahoe-myeon, Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 055-930-4769

⭐️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hwangmae_love

🖥️ Website: https://www.hc.go.kr/09418/09428/09429.web

What is silver grass?

Silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is a tall, clumping perennial grass native to East Asia. In Korea, it is a familiar autumn sight, growing on hillsides and in open fields where many other plants struggle. It typically reaches 1–2 meters in height, with slender, arching leaves and feathery, silvery flower plumes that appear in late summer and mature by October. When the late afternoon sun hits them, they stand out clearly against the surrounding dry vegetation.

The plant is hardy. It establishes itself in poor soil and tolerates wind, drought, and seasonal temperature swings. These traits have made it useful as well as ornamental: in rural areas, Miscanthus has been used for thatching, fencing, weaving, and animal fodder. It also helps stabilize slopes and field borders.

The connection to autumn in Korea is practical. Silver grass blooms at harvest time, when fields are being cleared and the landscape is preparing for winter. The Hwangmaesan Silver Grass Festival exists for the same reason people have always stopped to look at it: the scale. Entire ridgelines covered with silvery plumes are striking without needing to be framed as a metaphor. The plant itself is enough.