Yeongdong Nangye Gugak Festival
🗓️ 2026.10.15 ~ 2026.10.18
Food information at the festival venue is based on the previous year’s (2025) festival content, and the 2026 festival content is currently being updated.
The Yeongdong Nangye Gugak Festival is an annual cultural and artistic performance festival held in Yeongdong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, to commemorate the musical achievements of Master Nangye Park Yeon and to promote Gugak—Korean traditional music—as a cultural heritage worth preserving. Gugak encompasses a broad spectrum of Korean music, from refined court traditions to communal village percussion, and it is precisely this range that the festival puts on display. Now in its 57th edition, the event aims to build on the legacy of the 2025 Yeongdong World Gugak Expo by championing Gugak as a heritage of the Republic of Korea on the global stage, with an eye toward what organizers describe as the second revival of Hallyu, the Korean Wave.
The festival positions itself as the only Gugak festival in the country, one that attempts to modernize the succession of traditional performing arts through both preservation and reinvention. Its program pairs rigorous traditional presentations with fusion experiments, and it makes room for hands-on learning that lets visitors engage with instruments, dress, and customs directly. At the same time, it functions as a local tourism asset, with offerings shaped by the region’s character, and it aims to bring the county’s residents together by raising cultural participation and encouraging voluntary involvement.

Main Programs
- Opening and closing ceremonies
- Authentic Gugak performances, covering court and folk repertory
- Fusion Gugak performances, which blend traditional music with contemporary styles
- World folk dance performances, offering an international counterpoint to the Korean program
- Children’s performances designed for younger audiences
Side and Linked Programs
- The 21st Chupungnyeong Song Festival, named after the historic mountain pass in the region
- National Pungmul (Traditional Percussion) Competition, a showcase of Korea’s communal percussion tradition
- Yeongdong-gun Eup/Myeon Pungmul Competition, a local contest among the county’s townships
- Gugak Broadcasting Station, where visitors can experience the atmosphere of a Gugak radio broadcast
- Hanbok Experience, a chance to wear traditional Korean clothing
- “I am a Singer” Karaoke, an open stage for visitors who want to sing
Consumer Participation and Experience Programs
- Traditional Play Healing Festival, focused on rest and recreation through traditional games
- Challenge! Gugak Golden Bell, a quiz competition inspired by the long-running television quiz show, testing knowledge of traditional music
- Eco-friendly Kids Playground, a play area for children built with environmentally friendly materials
- Gugak Instrument Making and Playing Experience, hands-on workshops where visitors can build and play traditional instruments
Other Contents
- Digital Gugak Museum, a digital exhibition space for Gugak heritage
- Gugak Theme Park, themed installations interpreting Korean traditional music
- Gugak Photo Zone, designated photo spots styled around the festival’s aesthetic
With free admission and programming that spans performance, participation, and play, the festival offers a compact four-day window into Korea’s traditional music culture.
Visitor Information
📍 Address: 117 Yeongdonghealing-ro, Yeongdong-eup, Yeongdong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do
🛏️ Accommodations near the event
💰 Admission: Free (some experience programs cost between 5,000 won and 15,000 won)
📞 Inquiry: 043-745-8917
🖥️ Homepage: https://xn--989aomz2fs84a4hdfuk.com/
What is Nangye?
Nangye is the pen name of Park Yeon, a scholar-musician of the early Joseon dynasty. It is not a genre of music or an instrument. Born in Yeongdong in 1378, Park Yeon worked under King Sejong on the court music of his time: refining ritual pieces, tuning instruments, and helping to standardize performance practices. These efforts gave the court a stable musical repertory and established a framework for Korean traditional music that later generations built on.
The name Nangye was later attached to the Gugak Festival in Yeongdong, Park Yeon’s hometown. The 2026 edition continues that connection. Its concerts and events draw on the court tradition Park Yeon helped shape, including daegeum melodies, percussion, and ensemble repertory that remain part of gugak today. The festival is not an attempt to recreate the fifteenth century. It is a chance to hear how that tradition has been preserved, adapted, and performed in the present. For listeners unfamiliar with Korean court music, it offers a direct way into a repertory with a long, documented history—one that begins, in significant part, with the work of a single musician from Yeongdong.



























