Ansan Science Valley (ASV) Science Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.07 ~ 2026.11.08

The 2026 Ansan Science Valley (ASV) Science Festival is a citizen-participation science culture festival where visitors can encounter future science and technology—AI, robots, and more—in one place. As Ansan City’s brand festival, it brings together ASV-related agencies, universities, research institutes, companies, foundations, and organizations to offer direct opportunities to see and experience a wide range of future science and technology. This year, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Ansan City’s promotion to city status, special programs will be prepared to highlight the region’s scientific and technological development and its future vision.

The festival is composed of exhibition and experience programs themed around high-tech fields such as AI and robots, as well as the environment and carbon neutrality. It also includes creative convergence education, science culture performances, and citizen-participation events. Through programs that cross science, humanities, culture, and art, the festival is designed to let everyone—from children to adults—engage with science in an accessible and enjoyable way.

Program Highlights

Main Program
Approximately 90 types of future science and technology experience and exhibition booths.

Side Programs

• Science talk concerts
• Science culture performances
• Robot performances
• Face painting
• Clown balloon art

Consumer Participation Program

• Stamp tour event

Other Contents

• AI Go robot experience
• K-pop Robot Hunters
• Humanoid control mission
• Random stick-grabbing robot experience
• Fun AI robot control experience
• Augmented reality smart playground
• Drone simulator experience
• Solar-powered cars
• GOGO-ssing! Go-karts
• Finding hidden science in fibers
• Weather and climate playground
• AR dodgeball
• Ride-on robots
• AI photo zone

Practical Information

📍 Address: 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do (Sa-dong)

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 02-780-6881

🖥️ Website: asv-2026-delta.vercel.app

Ansan Science Valley is a science and technology complex in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It houses research institutes, startup companies, and educational programs. The valley runs public events throughout the year, including exhibitions and festivals. Its main annual event, the ASV Science Festival, offers demonstrations, open labs, and workshops for families, students, and general visitors. These activities are intended to show how research in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and data science is conducted, and to give visitors a chance to test related tools and methods themselves. The festival is one of the few times the facility opens its labs to the public. Outside the festival, the site functions as a workplace for the organizations based there, with shared equipment, meeting rooms, and support staff.

Korea National Chrysanthemum Festival

🗓️ 2026.10.23 ~ 2026.11.08

The 2026 Korea National Chrysanthemum Festival is set to take place against the scenic backdrop of Hampyeong’s signature autumn blooms and a pristine natural environment. This year, the event centers on the theme of the ‘Mythical Chrysanthemum Garden,’ a conceptual approach that distinguishes this iteration through its focus on large-scale planned chrysanthemum works and meticulously curated bonsai pieces. Visitors can expect a rich autumn landscape where colorful chrysanthemums harmonize with the local geography to create a visual spectacle.

Beyond the floral exhibitions, the festival is designed to be an immersive destination for families, couples, and tourists—providing a curated blend of cultural, performance, and experiential content that allows guests to linger and absorb the autumn atmosphere. By integrating art, nature, and local culture, the event serves as a nationwide showcase for the unique charm of Hampyeong and the inherent beauty of the chrysanthemum.

Event Highlights and Activities

The festival is divided into several key components to ensure a diverse visitor experience:

1. Performances
Attendees can enjoy a variety of live entertainment, including the Gukhyang Autumn Concert and the energetic Brass Band Street Performance Parade. Additionally, the “2nd Find the Kki-Star” event offers a platform for talent and performance.

2. Interactive Programs
For those seeking engagement over observation, the festival offers several themed activities:

• Adventure & Play: The Chrysanthemum Land Escape Experience and the Wetland Station Electric Cart Experience.
• Cultural Immersion: “Chrysanthemum DAY in Hampyeong” and the opportunity for “Dressing up as a Chrysanthemum Princess.”
• Creativity: A dedicated Chrysanthemum Craft Making Program.

3. Markets and Sales Booths
A wide array of commercial offerings are available, ranging from agricultural and artisanal goods to specialized flora:

• Local Goods: Agricultural Special Products Market and a Fruit Promotion Hall.
• Artisanship: A Handicraft Market and the Chrysanthemum Bonsai Sales Center.
• Dining & Novelties: A Food Market and the Hwang-Baki & Ppom-Bi Pop-up Store.

4. Visitor Services
To ensure accessibility for all guests, the site provides a Stroller/Wheelchair Rental Center and a Plant Sales Center.

Admission and Pricing

The festival employs a tiered pricing structure that rewards advance planning.

Advance Reservation (Available 9. 23. Wed ~ 10. 22. Thu)

• Individual: Adult 6,300 won | Youth/Military 4,500 won | Kindergarten/Child/Seniors 2,700 won
• Group: Adult 5,400 won | Youth/Military 3,600 won | Kindergarten/Child/Seniors 1,800 won

On-site Reservation (Available 10. 23. Thu ~ 11. 8. Sun)

• Individual: Adult 7,000 won | Youth/Military 5,000 won | Kindergarten/Child/Seniors 3,000 won
• Group: Adult 6,000 won | Youth/Military 4,000 won | Kindergarten/Child/Seniors 2,000 won

Free Admission
Entry is free for residents of Hampyeong-gun, infants and toddlers under 4 years old, persons with disabilities (including one accompanying guardian for those with severe disabilities), and persons eligible for national merit or veterans benefits.

Additional Discounts
A 50% discount is applicable for groups of 20 or more, seniors aged 65 or older, and residents of sister-tied local governments. Furthermore, the Munhwa Nuri Card is accepted for payment.

Visitor Information

📍 Address: 27 Gonjae-ro, Hampyeong-eup, Hampyeong-gun, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Paid

📞 Inquiry: 061-320-2247

🖥️ Website: Korea National Chrysanthemum Festival Website

Hampyeong is a rural county in South Jeolla Province, in the southwestern part of South Korea. Its landscape is mostly flat, with rice paddies, reed beds, and flower farms spread across the plain, bordered by low mountains. The county town, Hampyeong-eup, is small: a few streets of restaurants, markets, and houses, with none of the commercial density of larger Korean cities. For most of the year, daily life follows agriculture and fishing. In autumn, the county hosts a chrysanthemum festival centered on the Hampyeongcheon Ecology Park, and visitors come from elsewhere in the country.

Hampyeong’s environmental reputation is based on particular projects rather than general slogans. The ecology park follows the Hampyeongcheon stream through wetlands and reed fields, with wooden boardwalks that make the area easy to explore on foot. The county has also invested in butterfly conservation and has hosted a butterfly expo in the past; the insect appears in local signage and promotional material. These efforts are part of a longer attempt to build tourism around the area’s natural assets, and the chrysanthemum festival is the most visible result.

The festival itself is straightforward: chrysanthemums are displayed in planted beds, pots, and temporary structures arranged along the park’s paths. The flowers are not meant to illustrate an abstract idea; they are simply grown and placed well enough to look good in cool autumn weather. Alongside the displays, local stalls sell sweet potatoes, honey, and other farm produce. The nearby coast provides seafood for the county’s restaurants, which are mostly family-run and inexpensive.

What Hampyeong offers is modest, and that is its main appeal. Visitors come for the reed fields in late light, for the flower displays that change each year, and for a pace of travel that is not dictated by a crowded itinerary. The county does not try to mimic a city or turn its landscape into a spectacle. It simply provides the conditions for a calm day outside, and that is enough.

Iksan Ten Million Chrysanthemum Festival

🗓️ 2026.10.23 ~ 2026.11.01

The Iksan Ten Million Chrysanthemums Festival is one of autumn’s representative flower festivals in Korea, known for its super-large chrysanthemum sculpture works and expansive flower displays. In 2026, the festival returns under the theme “GLOW IKSAN, Iksan Shining Anew Like a Jewel”, turning the city into a vast garden filled with the scent of ten million chrysanthemums.

The festival grounds will feature fragrant chrysanthemum gardens, large-scale sculptures, and flower artworks that draw on Iksan’s historical and cultural stories. Visitors can explore the nation’s largest chrysanthemum garden, view a special exhibition of chrysanthemum bonsai, watch cultural performances, and enjoy a musical fountain alongside a variety of hands-on experiences and events. As the sun sets, the atmosphere shifts: light sculptures, landscape lighting, and fireworks transform the festival into a night garden where chrysanthemums and light come together. It is a rare chance to experience an autumn flower festival both by day and by night.

Main Programs

The festival’s main exhibition areas are organized into several components, each offering a different way to appreciate chrysanthemums.

Chrysanthemum Venue Exhibition & Large-Scale Sculpture Exhibition

The central exhibition showcases chrysanthemums planted across the festival grounds, with an emphasis on large-scale sculpture works. The Iksan Jewel theme is carried through the sculptural displays, creating visual anchors throughout the venue. These oversized pieces are among the festival’s most distinctive attractions and are designed to be viewed both up close and from a distance.

Special Exhibition Hall

The Special Exhibition Hall pairs chrysanthemums with jewels, presenting arrangements in which the flowers “shine” in a way that echoes the festival’s overall theme. This indoor exhibition offers a more refined and intimate setting, contrasting with the large-scale outdoor works.

Indoor Exhibition

Inside the festival halls, visitors will find:

• Chrysanthemum bonsai displays
• New floral varieties
• Multi-wheel large-scale works
• Bonsai landscape works

These exhibits highlight the range of chrysanthemum cultivation, from delicate miniature compositions to ambitious large-format arrangements.

Night Landscape

Once the sun goes down, the festival grounds open a different kind of display:

• Moving light sculptures
• Chrysanthemum light tunnel
• Landscape lighting

The nighttime program extends the festival experience well beyond daylight hours, with the chrysanthemum light tunnel serving as a walk-through centerpiece and fireworks adding to the evening atmosphere.

Side Programs

Local companies, organizations, farms, and invested or affiliated institutions operate booths throughout the festival. These side programs are organized into several zones:

• Agricultural and specialty product industrial sales halls
• Jewel halls
• Food halls
• Experience halls
• Promotion halls

The festival also promotes local home-grown companies, including Dasarang and Samyang Foods, giving visitors a chance to discover and purchase regional products.

Consumer Participation Programs

A number of interactive programs encourage visitors to engage with the festival in a more active way:

• Hide-and-seek with flowers
• Mobile stamp tour
• Instant printing of “life photos”

In addition, the “Let’s Eat Yam (si-go) Eat (meok-go) Go (ja-go) in Iksan” event offers bouquets to visitors who certify that they have used local restaurants and accommodations. The certification requirement is a purchase of 30,000 won or more for food or accommodation, or 15,000 won or more for cafes. This event is open to 1,000 people in total, with 100 participants per day.

Other Events

A range of additional performances and activities will run alongside the main exhibitions:

• Following the Flower Path ON AIR (visible radio)
• “The Last Night of October” lovers’ event
• Ten Million Beautiful Postcards contest
• Bubble show
• Magic show
• Fairy tale storytelling

These programs add variety for visitors of different ages and interests, making the festival suitable for families, couples, and solo travelers alike.

Visitor Information

📍 Address: 322 Hanaro, Iksan-si, Jeonbuk-do (Eoyang-dong)

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 063-859-4977

🖥️ Website: www.iksan.go.kr/gukhwa

The Iksan Ten Million Chrysanthemums Festival offers a full autumn itinerary: flower gardens and sculpture exhibitions during the day, light installations and fireworks at night, and a free setting that makes it accessible to all. With its combination of horticultural skill, local culture, and seasonal beauty, the festival stands out as one of the most distinctive flower events of the year.

What is Iksan?

Iksan is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea, with a population of roughly 300,000. It lies in the Honam Plain, one of the country’s main agricultural areas, where rice and flowers are widely cultivated. In ancient history, Iksan was a major city of the Baekje kingdom (18 BCE–660 CE). The Mireuksa temple site, a large Buddhist complex from that period, is part of the Baekje Historic Areas on the UNESCO World Heritage list; its surviving stone pagoda is one of the oldest in Korea.

In the modern period, Iksan developed as a railway junction where the Honam and Jeolla lines connect, and as a center for the country’s jewelry trade. Every autumn, the city holds the Ten Million Chrysanthemum Festival, which uses its parks and historic sites to display locally grown chrysanthemums. The festival is Iksan’s largest annual event and reflects the same horticulture that has long supported the local economy. For most visitors, that combination—Baekje-era ruins, railway infrastructure, and flower farming—defines the city more than any single landmark.

Gimpo Marine Corps Cultural Festival at Daemyeong Port

🗓️ 2026.11.07 ~ 2026.11.07

The Gimpo Marine Corps Cultural Festival at Daemyeong Port is a one-day festival that honors the strong spirit and tradition of the Marine Corps while making the most of the region’s identity as the station of the 2nd Marine Division. It offers citizens a direct way to see, feel, and communicate with Marine Corps culture through equipment displays, performances by the military band and honor guard, a steel muscle competition, and hands-on activities such as dog tag and eight-cornered cap making.

The festival is divided into two connected themes. By day, the focus is on Marine Corps culture; by night, the Sunset Night Market takes over the rooftop plaza of the seafood direct sales center. There, visitors can enjoy Gimpo’s food, including seasonal seafood, local food, and self-barbecue. At dusk, the market adopts a night market atmosphere, with busking performances set against the sunset over Daemyeong Port.

This combination makes the event distinctive: two themed festivals—Marine Corps culture by day and sunset and food by night—are experienced together in one space.

1. Main Programs

• Marine Corps equipment exhibition and experience, military band and honor guard performances, Sunset Night Market (Daemyeong Port direct sales center rooftop), etc.

2. Side Events and Programs

• Military uniform experience, dog tag making, eight-cornered cap making, laser shooting experience, etc.

Event Details

• 📍 Address: 110-36 Daemyeonghang 1-ro, Daegot-myeon, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do
• 🛏️ Accommodation near the event
• 💰 Fee: Free
• 📞 Inquiry: 031-980-5110
• 🖥️ Website: https://www.gimpo.go.kr/u/53850

What is Daemyeong Port?

Daemyeong Port is a working harbor on the western edge of Gimpo, where the Han River meets the tidal waters of the West Sea. For most of its history, it served as a fishing and ferry point for the surrounding villages. Boats went out before dawn and returned in the afternoon with their catches. The tidal flats beside the harbor remain wide and are used by migratory shorebirds and by people digging for shellfish.

The port’s facilities are modest: old concrete seawalls, a short wharf, and rows of mooring buoys. At low tide the water pulls back far enough to open a broad view of the mudflats. In the evening, markets operate on the flat ground just behind the seawall. The site has also been used as a military post at different periods, and traces of that use survive in the area’s layout. The festival takes place within this working setting. It includes formal ceremony, but the surrounding place remains what it is during any other evening: a harbor with boats, tide, mud, and people gathered around food and stalls.

Hwasun Unju Culture Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.07 ~ 2026.11.08

The Hwasun Unju Culture Festival is a representative cultural festival held at Hwasun Unjusa, a mysterious temple site where a thousand Buddhist statues and stone pagodas reside in every valley. In the tranquil temple grounds, where the legend of the Reclining Buddha—which has embraced a thousand years of time—harmonizes with numerous stone pagodas, various cultural and artistic programs unfold for people of all ages and genders. From heart-stirring traditional bell-ringing and Pungmulnori (folk percussion music) to music performances of various genres that enhance the excitement of the festival grounds, participatory missions to explore various parts of Unjusa and rich traditional and cultural experiences are provided. As the autumn deepens, visitors can take a journey through time and space into the mysterious legend of a thousand Buddhas and a thousand pagodas, creating warm rest and special memories.

Programs

1. Unjusa Bell-Ringing Event

The Unjusa Bell-Ringing Event opens the festival with the deep, resonant sound of the temple bell, offering a reflective start to the two-day celebration.

2. Admiring Market (Low and Less)

The Admiring Market (Low and Less) offers a calmer market experience, inviting visitors to slow down and appreciate the quieter details of the festival atmosphere.

3. Buddhist Statue Unveiling Ceremony

This ceremony provides a solemn and meaningful moment, highlighting the Buddhist heritage of Unjusa and its long history of stone statues and pagodas.

4. Experience Programs

• Temple food experience using vegetarian ingredients
• Photo printing SNS event
• Drawing and writing wishes on roof tiles: Displayed in the courtyard of Daeungjeon Hall
• Hwasun Wood Culture Experience Center: Woodcraft experience, making wooden houses, etc.

5. Resident Participation Programs

Dojang-ri field song demonstration, History and Culture Research and Preservation Society, Doam Women’s Association

6. Performance Programs

A variety of music performances will fill the festival grounds, adding rhythm and energy across different genres throughout the event.

Event Information

📍 Address: Daecho-ri, Doam-myeon, Hwasun-gun, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 061-373-5482

Unjusa

Unjusa is a Buddhist temple on the slopes of Cheonbulsan, or “Thousand Buddhas Mountain,” in Hwasun-gun, South Jeolla Province. The name means “Temple of the Cloud Jewel.” In Korean it is often called the “Mystery Temple,” a nickname that comes from the stone figures scattered across its grounds.

Most Korean temples follow a common layout: prayer halls, gates, and wooden pavilions arranged along a central axis. Unjusa does not follow that layout. Its most recognizable features are stone Buddhas and stone pagodas standing in open fields. More than one hundred of these figures are spread across the property, either alone or in small groups. Some are larger than life; some are no higher than a person’s waist. They are carved from local stone and placed without obvious symmetry. There is no central row, no clear beginning or end. The collection appears to have been built up over time, but not according to any plan that is visible today.

The temple is traditionally said to have been founded in the early Goryeo period by Doseon, a monk known for geomancy and for reading the spiritual qualities of mountains and water. The common account is that the temple was built to protect the young state and calm unsettling features in the landscape. That may explain why the site was chosen, but it does not explain the number or variety of statues. The reasons behind the stone figures are not recorded. Some historians suggest a royal vow to place a thousand Buddhas at the temple. Others have proposed a military purpose, or a display of state-sponsored Buddhist devotion. Local folklore tells a different story: monks made the stones walk to the site during the night.

Today the collection can be seen directly. Standing Buddhas, seated Buddhas, and Buddhas wearing thin stone hats stand alongside pagodas of plain, compact construction. The phrase “Thousand Buddhas” does not mean that one thousand statues were ever present. It refers to a devotional convention: by moving from stone to stone, offering a sincere bow at each one, a pilgrim may carry his or her wishes to the mountain.

Unjusa remains an open place rather than a tightly organized complex. The unresolved questions about the figures are part of its character, but the site does not depend on solving them. The Hwasun Unju Culture Festival uses the fields as a setting for performances and events, but the stone Buddhas are not an exhibit or an installation. They are simply there, in the grass, and they do not need an explanation to be worth looking at.

Harmonious Brothers Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.07 ~ 2026.11.08

The Harmonious Brothers Festival is a family-participation cultural festival held in Daeheung-myeon, Yesan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do. It modernly reinterprets the values of brotherly love, sharing, and consideration based on the folk tale of the “Harmony Brothers” passed down in Daeheung-myeon. Through fairy-tale storytelling, traditional games, family-participation events, cultural performances, and markets for local food and agricultural specialties, the festival is structured so that visitors of all ages can experience the region’s history and culture while understanding the values of community.

Near the festival venue are Yesan-gun’s representative tourism facilities, including the Yedang Lake Suspension Bridge and the Yedang Lake Monorail. The event is a representative cultural tourism festival of Yesan-gun, allowing visitors to experience local culture and tourism in one place.

Program Highlights

1. Pre-event: Brotherly Love Singing Contest, Celebration Performances
2. Official Event: Opening Ceremony, LED Tron Dance, Saxophone Performance
3. Performances: Theme Performance, Bubble Magic, Finger Guitar Performance (appeared on KBS Immortal Songs)
4. Themes: Family-type experiences/practicing filial piety, Traditional game experiences, Storytelling-linked experiences
5. Regular: Daeheung Tavern, Family Rest Area, Food Zone/Experience Booths

The pre-event opens with a Brotherly Love Singing Contest and celebration performances. The official event follows with an opening ceremony, an LED Tron dance, and a saxophone performance. Additional performances include a theme performance, bubble magic, and a finger guitar act that has appeared on KBS Immortal Songs. The thematic programs focus on family activities and filial piety, traditional games, and experiences linked to the Harmony Brothers story. Throughout the festival, the Daeheung Tavern, Family Rest Area, and Food Zone/Experience Booths operate as regular features.

Practical Information

📍 Address: 3, Uijoeunhyeongjegil, Daeheung-myeon, Yesan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do

🛏️ Accommodations near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 041-331-0619

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

The story of Yesan’s Harmonious Brothers is a local tale from Chungcheongnam-do. It has been passed down for generations, but it is not a myth in the usual sense. There are no supernatural events in it. Its point is that two brothers treated each other with consideration, and that this ordinary behaviour had lasting effects on the people around them.

The story is set in a small farming village in what is now Yesan. Two brothers had worked their father’s land together. When their father died, each received a share of the land, and each used it to support his own family. They no longer lived in the same house, but they continued to work the adjacent fields and to pay attention to each other’s circumstances.

Every autumn, after the harvest, the elder brother thought about his younger brother. The younger brother had more children to feed, and his household was under greater pressure. The elder brother worried that the younger man’s share of the harvest would not be enough. So, at night, he carried a bundle of rice from his own storehouse to his brother’s, left it by the door, and returned home. He did this every year, and he never told anyone. He did not want his brother to feel that he had to repay him or even acknowledge the gift.

What the elder brother did not know is that the younger brother was doing the same thing. The younger brother thought about the elder’s age and the increasing difficulty of farm work. He, too, waited until night, took rice from his own harvest, and left it at his elder brother’s door.

This went on for years. Each brother gave what he could, and each brother found that his own supply of grain never seemed to run out. They did not understand why. They assumed that some kind of protection was at work in their home.

One clear autumn night, under a bright moon, the two brothers met on the narrow path between their houses. Each was carrying a bundle of rice. They understood immediately what the other had been doing. Their surprise was followed by laughter, and then by tears. They realised that they had both been giving in secret, out of the same concern and the same desire to spare the other any sense of debt.

From then on, the brothers shared not only their harvests but their households as well. Their families lived together, and the neighbours took notice. People in the village began to call them “the Harmonious Brothers.” The story spread through the region, and the village gained a reputation for the same kind of cooperation.

The story is now the basis of the Yesan Harmonious Brothers Festival. The festival does not treat the tale as a distant legend. It uses the story as a starting point for activities that bring families and neighbours together: shared meals, folk games, and performances staged by local residents. The aim is not to deliver a grand lesson about love or loyalty. The aim is to remind people that harmonious relations are built from small acts of kindness, done without expectation of recognition.