Goesan Kimchi-Making Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.05 ~ 2026.11.08

The 2026 Goesan Gimjang Festival is a gimjang culture festival held for four days from November 5 to 8, 2026, around the Organic Expo Plaza and Goesan General Stadium in Goesan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do. Gimjang — the traditional Korean practice of preparing large batches of kimchi to last through the winter — is the heart of the event, and participants get to make kimchi themselves using local agricultural products grown in Goesan, such as napa cabbage and clean chili peppers.

What makes this festival stand out among kimchi-related events is the sheer convenience of its two main programs. ‘One-Stop Gimjang Making’ lets participants mix and take home kimchi using pre-reserved salted cabbage and stuffing ingredients, all set up at the Organic Expo Plaza. ‘Drive-Thru Gimjang’ goes a step further: participants park their vehicles at individual booths within the Goesan General Stadium, make gimjang right there, and load the finished kimchi into their cars without ever leaving the driver’s seat.

The festival is designed for all ages and all levels of experience. ‘Children and Youth Gimjang Experience’ offers younger visitors a hands-on introduction to kimjang, while ‘Master’s Gimjang Kitchen’ showcases the techniques of gimjang masters. For those curious about how kimchi translates across cultures, ‘World Kimchi Taste Tasting’ provides samples of kimchi from various countries. The main event lineup also includes K-Red Food Street, a Grilled Food Zone, and the Korea Gimjang Contest,adding plenty of flavor beyond the kimchi-making itself.

In addition to the festival grounds events, the ‘Village Gimjang Experience’ runs throughout the month of November, allowing participants to make gimjang directly in villages within the Goesan area — a more intimate, community-based take on the tradition.

Main Programs

• One-Stop Gimjang Making
• Drive-Thru Gimjang Making
• Children/Youth Gimjang Experience
• Master’s Gimjang Kitchen
• World Kimchi Taste Tasting
• Village Gimjang Experience

📍 Address: 92 Imkkeokjeong-ro, Goesan-eup, Goesan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do

🛏️ Accommodations near the event

💰 Fee: Free (Some experience fees partially paid at 5,000 won)

📞 Inquiry: 043-830-3463

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

🖥️ Homepage: https://gimjang.kr

What is Gimjang?

Gimjang is the Korean practice of making large batches of kimchi before winter. It usually takes place in late autumn, from November to early December, when napa cabbage is in season. Families and neighbors prepare vegetables—salting, washing, seasoning with garlic, ginger, scallion, and chili powder—then pack them into jars or containers to ferment. The finished kimchi is stored in a cool place and eaten through the colder months.

The scale is what distinguishes gimjang from ordinary kimchi-making. A household may use dozens of cabbages, and the work requires coordination. People divide tasks: one person salts the cabbage, another prepares the seasoning paste, another packs the jars. In many villages, several households work together over the course of a day, then share the results. Recipes are usually not written down; they are passed from older to younger family members, with variations by region and taste.

The Goesan Kimchi-Making Festival, scheduled for 2026, offers visitors a chance to see or take part in this process. It is not a staged demonstration but a working session: visitors join local producers in preparing kimchi, with guidance on technique and ingredients. The festival also covers the history of gimjang, regional differences, and the reasons it has remained practical even as commercially made kimchi is widely available. For anyone interested in Korean food or food preservation, it provides a direct introduction to a practice that is less about nostalgia than about useful knowledge and seasonal work.

Cheongsong Apple Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.04 ~ 2026.11.08

Cheongsong Apple Festival is a representative local festival held in Cheongsong, South Korea’s leading apple-producing region. It takes place annually to promote the quality of Cheongsong apples, introduce local agricultural specialty products, and publicize the area’s tourism resources. During the festival period, the grounds are filled with apple-focused experience programs, exhibitions, sales booths, and performances.

Visitors can stop by the on-site agricultural specialty product sales centers to see and taste Cheongsong apples firsthand, or join participatory programs and events built around apples. Performances and cultural events involving both local residents and tourists are also part of the lineup. In particular, the festival offers unique apple-themed programs such as ‘Honey-Jam Apple Nanta’, ‘Challenge-Apple Sorting Lotto’, and ‘Find the Golden Apple’, and it is open to people of all ages.

Festival Programs

The event is organized into five main categories.

1. Performance Events

• Cheongsong Apple Parade, celebratory performances, talent donation performances, etc.

2. Competition Events

• National Cheongsong Apple Flower Stringing Contest, Apple King Selection Contest, etc.

3. Experience Events

• Honey-Jam Apple Nanta, Find the Golden Apple, Challenge-Apple Sorting Lotto, etc.

4. Exhibition and Sales

• Cheongsong Apple Promotion Hall, Cheongsong Apple Dish Exhibition, Cheongsong Tourism Photo Exhibition, apple and agricultural specialty product sales, surprise apple auctions, etc.

5. Side Events

• Cheongsong Cultural Festival, World Confucianism Culture Festival, fireworks, etc.

Among the program highlights are the apple-specific experiences, which give visitors a hands-on way to engage with the festival’s main theme. The exhibition and sales halls offer another direct way to explore the region’s signature product, and the competitions and performances keep the event lively for different age groups.

Visitor Information

📍 Address: 484-1 Wolmak-ri, Cheongsong-eup, Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongbuk

💰 Fee: Free (Some experience programs require a fee)

📞 Inquiry: 054-873-3686

⭐️ Instagram: instagram.com/gocheongsong

🖥️ Homepage: csapplefestival.kr

What is Cheongsong?

Cheongsong is a county in the northern part of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It lies along the eastern edge of the Taebaek Mountains, and much of its terrain is upland. The elevation, combined with cool nights following warm days, is well suited to apple cultivation. Cheongsong apples are a specialty product with firm, crisp flesh and high sugar content, and they are marketed under the name “Cheongsong Apple.” A large share of the county’s farmland is given over to orchards.

The county also contains Juwangsan National Park, established in 1976 around the granite massif of Juwangsan. The park has a network of hiking trails that pass through pine forest, along streams, and up to rock formations. Jusanji Pond, at the edge of the park, is an agricultural reservoir rather than a natural lake. Its main draw is the reflection of the surrounding cliffs, which is visible on calm days. The park is the most visited part of the county, and most tourist facilities are located near its entrance.

Outside the mountain area, Cheongsong retains a number of historical sites from the Joseon period. The village of Deokdong contains several preserved hanok houses. Oksong Seowon, a Confucian academy in the county, was founded in the sixteenth century and still holds seasonal ceremonies. Stone pagodas and temple ruins are scattered through the countryside, some dating to the Goryeo dynasty.

The county’s agricultural output is not limited to apples. Local farms also produce Welsh onions, peppers, and edible mountain herbs. These appear in the weekly markets in the county’s towns, alongside apple-based products such as juice and vinegar. For visitors, the main activities are straightforward: hiking in Juwangsan, walking through the market in Cheongsong-eup, and visiting the orchards during the harvest season. The county’s appeal lies less in any single landmark and more in the combination of mountain scenery, working farmland, and rural towns that have not been heavily developed for tourism.

Cheongsong Apple Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.04 ~ 2026.11.08

Note: The food details of the festival below are from the previous year’s (2025) festival, and the food details for the 2026 festival are currently being updated.

The Cheongsong Apple Festival is a representative regional festival held in Cheongsong, a leading apple-producing region in South Korea, with Cheongsong apples as the theme. It is held annually to widely promote the excellence of Cheongsong apples and to introduce the area’s agricultural specialties and tourism resources. Visitors to the festival can expect a program built around apples, including experience, exhibition, and sales components as well as live performances. Around the festival grounds, agricultural specialty sales centers offer direct opportunities to see and taste Cheongsong apples, while participatory programs and events keep the fruit at the center of the experience. Performances and cultural events involving both local residents and tourists are also part of the schedule. The festival is particularly known for hands-on activities that are open to all ages, such as ‘Honey-Jam-Apple Nanta’, ‘Challenge-Apple Sorting Lotto’, and ‘Find the Golden Apple’.

Overall, the festival is organized as a mix of performances, competitions, hands-on experiences, exhibition and sales, and side events. Each category offers a distinct way to engage with the region’s central crop—whether through watching a parade, competing in an apple-themed contest, trying one of the experiential programs, or buying apples and specialty products directly.

Program Highlights

1. Performance Events

• Cheongsong Apple Parade, celebratory performances, talent donation performances, etc.

2. Competition Events

• National Cheongsong Apple Flower-string Competition, Apple King Selection Contest, etc.

3. Experience Events

• Honey-Jam-Apple Nanta, Find the Golden Apple, Challenge-Apple Sorting Lotto, etc.

4. Exhibition and Sales

• Cheongsong Apple Promotion Hall, Cheongsong Apple Cooking Exhibition, Cheongsong Tourism Photo Exhibition, Apple and agricultural specialty sales, surprise apple auctions, etc.

5. Side Events

• Cheongsong Cultural Festival, World Confucian Culture Festival, fireworks, etc.

Practical Information

• 📍 Address: 484-1 Wolmak-ri, Cheongsong-eup, Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongbuk
• 💰 Fee: Free (Some experience programs require a fee)
• 📞 Inquiry: 054-873-3686
• ⭐️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gocheongsong
• 🖥️ Homepage: https://csapplefestival.kr/

Cheongsong is a county in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, set among mountains and apple orchards. It is one of the country’s main apple-producing areas, and the geography helps explain why. Surrounding peaks create a growing season with warm days and cool nights. That daily temperature gap encourages fruit to hold its firmness and accumulate sugar, which is why Cheongsong apples have a crisp texture and a pronounced sweetness. The reputation is long-standing enough that the region is often called the land of good apples. The harvest comes in autumn, and the fruit is sold fresh in local markets and through wholesalers to the rest of the country.

Outside the orchards, the county’s main natural landmark is Juwangsan National Park. The park has granite rock formations, forested valleys, and a set of walking trails that range from short nature paths to longer ridge routes. Some trails reach streams and small falls; others pass temple buildings and stone pagodas. The surrounding countryside includes working farms, roadside apple stands, and village markets where growers sell the season’s harvest. For travelers, the appeal is straightforward: hiking in the mountains, staying in a farming area, and eating apples at the point of production.

Gimhae Buncheong Ceramics Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.06 ~ 2026.11.10

The Gimhae Buncheong Ceramics Festival is a ceramic culture festival held in Gimhae, one of the representative production sites of Buncheong ware from the early Joseon Dynasty. Now in its 31st year, the festival is Gimhae’s flagship cultural event, carrying forward the value of traditional ceramic culture while presenting it through a modern lens. Over its five-day run, visitors can encounter the distinctive beauty and artistry of Gimhae Buncheong ceramics through artwork exhibitions, direct sales, live pottery demonstrations, and hands-on workshops.

What sets this festival apart is the rare combination of heritage and living craft. Local potters display and sell their work in one place, while visitors are invited to touch clay themselves—whether on a potter’s wheel, through coiling, or by decorating a mug. The program is intentionally participatory, with children’s activities, family competitions, performances, and educational events designed to keep traditional ceramic culture rooted in everyday life rather than confined to museum displays.

Exhibition

The exhibition program offers a broad look at Buncheong ceramics, from historical context to contemporary practice:

• Buncheong History Theme Hall
• Ceramic Master Hall (wheel demonstration)
• Exhibition of Buncheong Ceramics Competition winning works
• UNESCO Creative Cities Network Craft Culture Regional Exchange Exhibition
• Youth Pottery Exchange Hall

Sales

For those looking to take a piece home, the festival includes a dedicated sales section:

• Sales of ceramics by local pottery artists
• Sales of ceramic cups linked with non-alcoholic beer tasting

A 20% discount applies to all ceramic items, and food service business operators receive an additional 10% discount.

Experience

The hands-on program makes Buncheong techniques approachable for first-timers and families:

• Buncheong Land Stamp Tour (5 types of experiences)
• Buncheong pottery wheel experience
• Buncheong coiling experience
• Buncheong mug decorating experience
• Buncheong ceramic excavation experience

Performance

Alongside the visual and tactile programs, the festival presents a lively lineup of performances and events:

• Opening ceremony and opening performance
• Squeaker performance
• Busking
• Magic show
• Bubble show
• Children’s tea ceremony demonstration
• Buncheong Ceramics Competition International Symposium

Competition

The festival also invites active participation through friendly competitions and auctions:

• Our Family Ceramics Making Competition
• Family Clay Stacking Competition
• Public Ceramics Auction

📍 Address: 551 Jangyu-ro, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do (Sinmun-dong)

🛏️ Accommodations near the event

💰 Fee: Paid (20% discount on all ceramic items, Food service business operators: additional 10% discount)

📞 Inquiry: 055-330-3244

🖥️ Website: http://festival.buncheong.co.kr/main.web

Buncheong is a type of Korean stoneware produced mainly in the 15th and 16th centuries, during the early Joseon dynasty. It came after Goryeo celadon and before the more formal white porcelain of later Joseon. The name means “powder-celadon” and refers to the practice of coating grayish clay with a white slip before applying a transparent glaze.

Its decoration is distinctive. Potters used several techniques: sanggam, carving lines into the clay and filling them with white or black slip; gwiyal, scraping away slip to expose the darker body beneath; bakji, stamping repeated designs into the surface; and cheolhwa, painting with iron pigment over the slip. These methods allowed for relatively fast production, and the results vary from piece to piece.

Most buncheong was made for ordinary use: bowls, jars, bottles, and ritual vessels. The surfaces often show visible brushwork, exposed clay, and the effects of natural ash glazes. These features were not necessarily deliberate artistic choices; they came from practical, economical methods of manufacture. In recent decades, buncheong has gained attention for its visual restraint and its connection to everyday life, and it is now a common subject in museum exhibitions and ceramic workshops.

Jukbyeon Port Seafood Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.06 ~ 2026.11.08

The Jukbyeon Port Seafood Festival is a representative festival of Uljin-gun, held from November 6th to November 8th in the area of Jukbyeon Port, Uljin-gun. It is built around the theme of Uljin’s fresh seafood, with a program lineup that includes hands-on experiences, performances, and auctions.

What to Expect

The festival’s major programs include bare-handed live fish catching, seafood dismantling shows, mulhoe (spicy raw fish soup) performances, and sea workshop experiences. During the festival period, a fishing boat parade against the backdrop of Uljin’s sea and instant seafood auctions are held, providing abundant sights and food. Additionally, through the operation of various booths, regional seafood and specialty products can be encountered in one place.

Main Programs

• Opening Ceremony Celebration Performance
• Night Fireworks
• Mulhoe Performance

The opening celebration performances feature Park Seo-jin, Park Hyun-bin, and Park Ju-hee.

Side and Participation Programs

• County Resident Harmony Festival
• Bare-handed Live Fish Catching
• Instant Seafood Auction
• MBN National Star Birth Final Round Open Recording

Purpose and Background

This festival serves as a place of harmony where local fishermen and tourists mingle together, aiming to promote the excellence of Uljin Jukbyeon Port seafood and revitalize the local economy.

Practical Information

📍 Address: 150 Jukbyeonhang-gil, Jukbyeon-myeon, Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do

🛏️ Accommodations near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 054-789-5485~6

🖥️ Website: https://www.uljin.go.kr/

Jukbyeon Port is a working fishing harbor on South Korea’s eastern coast, in Uljin County, North Gyeongsang Province. The harbor sits along a rocky stretch of shoreline, protected by breakwaters, and is used by local boats that land squid, mackerel, crabs, and shellfish. Squid is the port’s primary catch, and it dominates the market stalls and restaurant menus.

The fish market runs along the waterfront. Boats pull in beside the quay, unload crates, and buyers sort through the day’s catch while visitors watch. Vendors sell fish fresh, dried, or marinated, and nearby restaurants grill portions at tables. The rest of the harbor is made up of moored boats, gear sheds, and narrow quays, with Jukbyeon Beach and the breakwaters at the edges. The port is not a staged attraction; it is a place where seafood is caught, sold, and eaten, and the routines of that trade are visible from the dockside.

Yanggu Youth Punch Bowl Dried Radish Greens and Apple Festival

The 2026 Youth Yanggu Punchbowl Apple and Dried Radish Greens Festival is an autumn festival centered on apples and dried radish greens, the representative agricultural specialties of Yanggu Punchbowl. This year’s theme, “Falling into Punchbowl,” is the organizing idea behind the entire event: visitors can fully immerse themselves in the charms of Punchbowl, from the taste of apples and dried radish greens to the beautiful nature and various attractions. Newly introduced apple and dried radish greens characters appear in photo zones and goods, adding friendliness and fun, and the program includes food and experience activities using local specialties, performances, and events that families can enjoy together.

What to see and do

• Performances: Opening ceremony celebratory concert, daily main performances.
• Events: Making Crown Haitai Punchbowl Apple/Dried Radish Greens collage kits, among others.
• Promotion and Experience: Apple/dried radish greens promotion hall, apple/dried radish greens experience programs, rural experience villages, and more.
• Sales: Food and agricultural specialties, cafe snacks, local restaurants, and more.

At its core, the festival is Yanggu’s representative agricultural specialty festival, where visitors can directly appreciate the excellence of local produce amid the autumn scenery of Punchbowl. The promotion and experience offerings give context to the region’s main products through a dedicated apple and dried radish greens promotion hall, hands-on experience programs, and rural experience villages. For entertainment, the schedule includes an opening ceremony celebratory concert and daily main performances, as well as events such as making Crown Haitai Punchbowl Apple/Dried Radish Greens collage kits. The sales area brings together food and agricultural specialties, cafe snacks, and local restaurants, making it easy to taste what the region has to offer.

Event details

• 🗓️ 2026.11.06 ~ 2026.11.08
• 📍 Address: 15 Haeanseohwa-ro, Haean-myeon, Yanggu-gun, Gangwon-do
• 🛏️ Accommodation near the event
• 💰 Fee: Free admission
• 📞 Inquiry: 033-482-9174
• 🖥️ Website: ygcf.or.kr/Festival/F60000/index

The Punchbowl in Yanggu is a high basin in the mountains of Gangwon-do, close to the Demilitarized Zone. Its formal name is Yupung Basin. During the Korean War, American soldiers called it the Punchbowl because the basin, with its flat floor and encircling ridges, resembled the wide serving bowl used for punch. The nickname has remained in use.

The basin is volcanic in origin. Its floor sits at high elevation, and the surrounding ridgelines drop into slopes that give way to fields. From the rim, the view extends over the mountains of the central peninsula. The altitude keeps temperatures lower than in the lowlands and shortens the growing season. The basin floor is used for potatoes, dried radish greens, and other cool-weather crops.

The same high ground made the area strategically important during the Korean War. Battles were fought for control of the ridges around the basin. After the armistice, the Punchbowl was placed within the civilian control line, a restricted zone near the DMZ. Public access was limited, and the land was left largely to its own devices. The result was not a restored or curated natural park; it was simply an area that had been off-limits for a long time.

Today, the Punchbowl draws hikers and domestic tourists. Roads wind up to the rim, where there are walking paths and lookout points. The lower land is still farmed, and local produce, especially dried radish greens and apples, is available at markets and seasonal events. The area now combines a rural agricultural district with the visible security infrastructure of the nearby border. That combination is part of the reason it draws visitors.

Unjeong Lake Park Fireworks Festival

🗓️ 2026.10.31 ~ 2026.12.31

Established in 2017 through the dedicated efforts of local residents, the Unjeong Lake Park Fireworks Festival has evolved into a representative regional event that illuminates the night skies of Paju every autumn. Although the event faced interruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has returned as a cornerstone of the city’s cultural calendar. The 2026 iteration marks the festival’s 8th anniversary, centering on the theme ‘Light, Again,’ and will take place on October 31st throughout the scenic surroundings of the Unjeong Lake Park area.

For visitors, the event offers a comprehensive blend of daytime engagement and evening spectacle. The festivities begin in the afternoon with street art performances and interactive experience booths, both of which operate from 2:00 PM to 6:30 PM. As dusk falls, the focus shifts to the formal lighting ceremony and the primary fireworks display, scheduled for 7:30 PM. A defining feature of this year’s celebration—distinguishing it from previous editions—is the special firebird production, which will be staged with the Soricheon Stream as its central backdrop.

The celebration extends beyond a single night; a dedicated Light Garden will operate from the initial festival date on October 31st until December 31st. This installation allows guests to experience curated light landscapes that transition through the autumn season and lead into the end of the year. Hosted by Paju City and organized by the Paju Cultural Foundation, the festival serves as both a community gathering and a public art exhibition.

Event Schedule

1. Opening Ceremony and Lighting Ceremony: 18:50~19:30
2. Fireworks Show: 19:30~19:50
3. Street Art Performances: 14:00~18:30
4. Experience Booth Operation: 14:00~17:50
5. Light Garden Operation Period: 2026.10.31.(Sat) ~ 12.31.(Thu) Daily streetlight lighting

📍 Address: 67 Soricheon-ro, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do (Wadong-dong)

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 031-950-8433

🖥️ Website: https://www.pajucf.or.kr/business/02_3_view.php?no=182&page=1

Unjeong Lake Park is a public lakeside park in Paju, Gyeonggi-do. It was built as part of the Unjeong New Town development and occupies a central position in the district. The lake is artificial, and the surrounding land is laid out as a city park rather than a natural landscape.

The main loop around the lake is a paved path used by walkers, joggers, and cyclists. It is lined with willows, cherry trees, and seasonal flower beds. Wooden bridges and observation decks extend over the water at several points, and the route opens up to views of the lake and the apartment towers beyond. The park also contains a musical fountain, several garden areas, shaded seating, and large lawns where people picnic and play. Benches are spaced along the path, and the overall layout makes it easy to move between the water and the open green spaces.

The park is the main public gathering place in northern Paju. Its size and flat, open grounds suit large events, and it hosts the annual fireworks festival. The display is visible across the lake, and the surrounding paths fill with spectators. In winter, the park is used for a seasonal light display, with installations placed along the water’s edge. Both events are well attended, but on ordinary days the park is also used for walking, cycling, and spending time outdoors.

Southernmost Yellowtail Festival

🗓️ 2026.11.19 ~ 2026.11.22

The Southernmost Yellowtail Festival connects Jeju’s sea, land, and people in one event. It celebrates the winter-flavored yellowtail that comes from the clean waters around Jeju and pairs it with local specialties such as garlic and potatoes. The festival is designed to strengthen the region’s brand value, attract tourists, expand local consumption, and revitalize the local economy. It also aims to bring together residents and visitors across generations and regions through shared experiences, culture, and performances. Because the event takes place at the southernmost point of Korea, it uses that geographical identity to stand out, with the goal of becoming the country’s representative marine fisheries tourism festival. The joy starts from the sea, leads into the village, and carries the excitement of the festival into the vitality of the local economy.

Visitors can take part in fishing activities, watch live performances, taste fresh yellowtail, and explore local food offerings. The program lineup is especially strong for families, with hands-on experiences for children, a firefighting experience, parades, photo zones, and fireworks to close the event.

Program highlights

• Catching yellowtail by hand, Children’s catching yellowtail by hand
• Yellowtail auction with visitors
• Cage yellowtail fishing experience
• Gil-teugi (Parade)
• Free yellowtail sashimi tasting and discounted yellowtail sales
• Various stage events (local singers, local performance teams, invited singers)
• Yellowtail Song Festival
• Yellowtail Mukbang (Eating) Contest
• Haenyeo (Female Diver) Singing Contest and Haenyeo performances
• Catch the Golden Key game experience using yellowtail
• 119 Firefighting experience
• Operation of various photo zones
• Operation of local food restaurants
• Closing ceremony Hope Fireworks

Practical information

📍 Address: 66 Chuenamdanhaean-ro, Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 064-794-8032

🖥️ Homepage: www.bangeofestival.com

Yellowtail, known in Korean as bang-eo, is a migratory fish of the jack family. In winter, schools move into the warmer waters off Jeju Island’s southern coast, where they feed on anchovies and squid. That feeding affects the quality of the fish: by the time the yellowtail reach Seogwipo, they have built up enough fat to give the meat a rich flavor and a firm, smooth texture.

In Korean cuisine, yellowtail is most often served as hoe, or raw sashimi. It is sliced and eaten with a gochujang-based dipping sauce, wrapped in perilla leaves, or seasoned simply with salt and sesame oil. The belly cut is the fattiest, while the back meat is firmer; the skin is slightly chewy and is sometimes briefly torched. The fish also works well grilled, braised, or in stews, and no part is wasted—the head and bones make a light stock.

Winter is the peak season because the fish are at their fattest after their southward migration. The Jeju Southernmost Yellowtail Festival is held in Seogwipo at this time, and its program is built around the local catch. Visitors can watch yellowtail being cut, buy it from the fishermen who supplied it, and eat it at tables near the harbor. The festival does not try to be more than that; the direct connection between the catch and the meal is the draw.

Masan Gagopa Chrysanthemum Festival

🗓️ 2026.10.31 ~ 2026.11.08

The Masan Gagopa Chrysanthemum Festival is Changwon’s representative autumn festival, held annually since 2000 to promote the quality of Masan chrysanthemums and encourage chrysanthemum consumption. Masan has a distinctive place in Korean floriculture: in 1961, six farmers in the Hoewon-dong area began the country’s first commercial cultivation of chrysanthemums, and in 1972, Masan chrysanthemums became the first domestic variety to be exported to Japan. The region’s mild climate and accumulated cultivation techniques sustained that industry, and the festival draws on this heritage, offering both historical context and a broad array of chrysanthemum artworks.

The 26th edition takes place across the 3·15 Marine Nuri Park, Happo Waterfront Park, and the Marine New Town area, all of which lie along the Masan coastline. Because the venues are waterfront parks, the chrysanthemum exhibition, performances, and food stalls all unfold with the sea in view—an unusual setting for a flower festival. Evening events, including the multimedia fireworks show and Marine Nakwha-nori, make direct use of the waterfront, and the festival’s programming extends well beyond the flower displays themselves into music, competitions, hands-on activities, and seasonal outdoor events.

1. Main Programs

• Chrysanthemum Exhibition – the centerpiece of the festival, featuring elaborate chrysanthemum artworks displayed throughout the park grounds.
• Opening Ceremony – officially marks the start of the festival.
• Multimedia Fireworks Show – a fireworks display combined with lights and visual effects.
• Marine Nakwha-nori – a fireworks performance over the sea; the name evokes flower petals falling and scattering across the water’s surface.
• Chrysanthemum Makeup Contest – a competition in which participants incorporate chrysanthemums into makeup and styling.
• Gukhyang Song Festival – a song festival whose name references the fragrance of chrysanthemums.

2. Side Programs

• Indie Music Festa – live sets from indie musicians.
• Cultural Performances by Local Artists – a platform for regional performers across various disciplines.
• New Chrysanthemum Competition – a showcase of newly developed chrysanthemum varieties.
• Chrysanthemum Dance Cheerleading – cheerleading performances incorporating chrysanthemum motifs.
• Autumn Cinema – outdoor film screenings set against the autumn seaside.

3. Consumer Participation Events

• Wedding Photo Zone – a dedicated photo area for couples and commemorative portraits.
• AI Experience Booth – hands-on activities involving artificial intelligence.

4. Others, Food, etc.

Food stalls operate at each festival site, so visitors can take a break between exhibits and performances without leaving the festival grounds.

Visitor Information

📍 Address: Wolnam-dong 1-ga, Masanhappo-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 055-225-2341

🖥️ Website: www.changwon.go.kr

🛏️ Accommodations near the event

What is Gagopa?

Gagopa (가고파) is a Korean expression meaning “I want to go” or “I long to return.” In Masan, the phrase is closely associated with the lyric poem “Gagopa” by Kim Dong-hwan, which describes longing for one’s hometown. The poem helped make the word a familiar reference point for Masan, a port city whose history has long involved people leaving and coming back.

The name fits the festival in a more seasonal way. Chrysanthemums bloom in late autumn, and the festival takes place as the year moves toward its end. Timing, not sentiment, is the main reason the flower and the festival are tied together. Still, the connection between late-autumn flowers and memory is easy enough to understand. A visitor may think of earlier autumns, or of a place they have left behind; the event does not need to insist on that response.

The Masan Gagopa Chrysanthemum Festival is an annual event in Masan, a district of Changwon since the 2010 municipal merger. It is one of South Korea’s larger autumn festivals, with potted chrysanthemum displays, large sculptural arrangements made from flowers, and a program of performances and street stalls along the harbor. The festival’s location gives it a clear character: an old port city with a walkable waterfront, crowded in late October and November with people who have come specifically to see the flowers. The name “Gagopa” offers a convenient cultural reference, but the event itself is best understood as a practical and visual occasion—an annual display of chrysanthemums at the one time of year they are in full bloom.

Fisherman’s Market X Port Village, Tongyeong

🗓️ 2026.11.06 ~ 2026.11.08

The 2026 Fisherman’s Market x Port Village Tongyeong is a local gastronomic festival born from a collaboration between the Tongyeong Fisherman’s Market and Port Village, a harbor gourmet festival. Held over three days from November 6 to November 8, 2026, at the Triathlon Square in Donam-dong, Tongyeong, the event showcases a wide range of menus built around Tongyeong’s signature seafood and local food culture.

The festival is organized into three main sectors. General food booths serve menus that highlight Tongyeong’s representative raw ingredients—oysters, eels, sea squirts, and red sea bream. Performance booths combine cooking with visual spectacle, offering on-site cooking demonstrations, menu presentations, and opportunities for customer participation. Chef consulting booths pair local ingredients with renowned chefs, developing new menus that put a professional spin on Tongyeong’s culinary heritage.

More than a simple food fair, the festival treats Tongyeong’s sea and gastronomy as local content in their own right. It creates a meeting point between local brands, producers, and visitors, while also functioning as a platform that connects the event to the city’s broader tourism and branding efforts. Rather than remaining a one-off occasion, the festival links promotions, content, and brand performance before and after the event, supporting Tongyeong’s local identity well beyond the festival dates.

1. Main Program: Local F&B and Local Food Content

• Tongyeong’s seasonal seafood and local food
• Local brands growing in Tongyeong

2. Side Programs: Experience, Performance, and Brand Content

• Sea and craft experiences
• Welcome performances
• Street performances
• Photo zones
• Pop-up stores promoting Tongyeong brands

3. Consumer Participation Programs: Visitor-Participatory Content

• Children’s mission book
• Stamp tour
• SNS sharing event
• Participatory content for experiencing and judging the competition between veteran fishermen and young fishermen

📍 Address: Donam-dong, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do

🛏️ Accommodation near the event

💰 Fee: Free

📞 Inquiry: 070-4680-1718

⭐️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ty_fisherman.official/

🖥️ Website: http://xn--or3b13mug43d97vxwa.kr/main/main.php

What is Tongyeong?

Tongyeong is a coastal city on the southern edge of Gyeongnam Province, South Korea. It sits on a peninsula with sea on three sides and more than 150 islands nearby. During the Joseon Dynasty it functioned as a naval base, and the port still supports fishing, aquaculture, and island ferry routes.

The sea is the city’s main economy. Its cold, nutrient-rich waters are good for oysters, abalone, and seaweed, and local fisheries also land hairtail and anchovies. The catch appears each morning at fish markets and in small port villages, where boats are unloaded at the dock and buyers sort through the day’s supply. These villages are still working places, not staged versions of themselves.

The terrain reinforces this relationship with the water. Hills rise behind the harbor, and neighborhoods are arranged around irregular coastlines rather than a central plain. As a result, most of Tongyeong is close to a working waterfront.

The food follows from that. Raw fish, oyster dishes, abalone porridge, miyeok soup, and the local roll-style gimbap are all common. They are prepared simply, with ingredients that did not travel far. The Fisherman’s Market x Port Village uses this setting: a port-side market where seafood vendors and restaurants operate together, allowing visitors to eat what was landed nearby. The appeal is not a theme or an image; it is the product itself, served where it was caught.