Festivals

Korea’s big festivals cluster in five windows: ice fishing in January (Hwacheon runs 9–31 January 2027), cherry blossoms around early April, the Lotus Lantern parade in Seoul in May, the Boryeong Mud Festival from late July, and a run of lantern, mask and film festivals in October. Most are free to attend; you pay only for activities and reserved seats.

Apart from Hwacheon, the organisers had not announced 2027 dates by 26 October 2026, so the table shows the 2026 dates as a guide to the usual timing. Festivals move by a few days each year, and the lunar-calendar ones by up to a few weeks. Each festival’s official dates appear between a few weeks and a few months ahead.

Festivals by month

Month	Festival	Where	2026 dates	Next edition
January	Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival	Hwacheon, Gangwon	10 Jan – 1 Feb	9–31 Jan 2027
January–February	Pyeongchang Trout Festival; Taebaeksan Snow Festival	Gangwon	9 Jan – 9 Feb; 31 Jan – 8 Feb	Not announced
Late March–April	Cherry-blossom festivals, Jinhae Gunhangje the largest	Changwon, Seoul, Gyeongju	Jinhae 27 Mar – 5 Apr	Not announced
Late April–May	Jeonju International Film Festival	Jeonju	29 Apr – 8 May	Not announced
May	Lotus Lantern Festival (lantern parade)	Seoul, Jongno to Jogyesa	16–17 May	Not announced
June	Gangneung Danoje (lunar calendar)	Gangneung	15–22 Jun	Not announced
Late July–August	Boryeong Mud Festival	Daecheon Beach, Chungcheong	24 Jul – 9 Aug	Not announced
Late September–October	Andong Maskdance Festival	Andong	24 Sep – 4 Oct	Not announced
October	Hwaseong Cultural Festival; Busan International Film Festival; Jinju lantern festival; Gangneung Coffee Festival	Suwon, Busan, Jinju, Gangneung	4–11 Oct; 6–15 Oct; October; 21–25 Oct	Not announced
November	Busan Fireworks Festival	Gwangalli Beach	7 Nov 2026	–
December–January	Seoul Lantern Festival	Cheonggyecheon, Seoul	11 Dec 2026 – 31 Jan 2027	–

Dates from the organisers’, city and VisitKorea pages, checked 26 October 2026; the Jinju dates are from Korean press only, so the table gives just the month. If your dates are fixed, the table tells you whether a big festival overlaps your trip. If they are flexible, January, early April, mid-May and October give you the most choice.

Which festival fits your trip

Your situation	Do this
In Korea in early November 2026	Busan Fireworks on Saturday 7 November; book a Busan room now
Seoul in December or early January	The free Seoul Lantern Festival on Cheonggyecheon in the evening, an easy walk from Myeongdong and Insadong
January trip, want snow and ice	A day or night in Hwacheon or Pyeongchang for ice fishing
Spring, first time in Korea	Plan around the cherry blossoms; Jinhae fits a Busan stay
Seoul in May	Check whether the lantern parade falls on your weekend; the lanterns at Jogyesa are up for weeks before it
Summer, travelling with friends	Boryeong Mud Festival, a weekend at Daecheon Beach
October, flexible route	Combine Andong, Suwon and Busan; this is the densest festival month

Winter: lanterns, fireworks and ice (November–February)

Busan Fireworks Festival

The 21st Busan Fireworks Festival is on Saturday 7 November 2026, with Gwangalli Beach as the main stage. Watching from the shore is free. Paid seats on the sand cost ₩100,000 (R, with a table) and ₩70,000 (S), sold on NOL Ticket. It is one of Busan’s largest crowds of the year, so expect closed roads and full trains that night, and book a room early.

Seoul Lantern Festival

The Seoul Lantern Festival fills Cheonggyecheon, the stream in central Seoul, with large lit lantern sculptures. The 2025–26 edition ran from 12 December 2025 to 18 January 2026, from 18:00 to 22:00, along the stretch from Cheonggye Plaza to Samilgyo Bridge. Entry was free; some hands-on programmes cost extra. The 2026–27 edition runs from 11 December 2026 to 31 January 2027, as part of the city’s Seoul Winter Festival. It sits between Myeongdong and Insadong, so it fits any evening in central Seoul.

For skiing, snow and the Seoul Plaza ice rink, see winter in Korea.

Ice and snow festivals in Gangwon

• Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. The best known of Korea’s winter festivals: ice fishing for mountain trout (sancheoneo) through holes in the frozen river, with night fishing and other events on the ice. The organisers list 9–31 January 2027, for 23 days, in Hwacheon-eup. The 2026 edition ran from 10 January to 1 February. Fishing is a paid activity; 2027 prices had not been posted.
• Pyeongchang Trout Festival. Ice and indoor trout fishing on the Odaecheon stream in Jinbu. In 2026 it ran from 9 January to 9 February, and indoor fishing or bare-hand trout catching cost ₩20,000.
• Taebaeksan Snow Festival. Snow sculptures and winter events at the foot of Taebaeksan National Park, for nine days from 31 January to 8 February in 2026.

The ice festivals need thick ice, so a warm spell can delay openings or close the ice. Check the official site a few days before you go. Dress for a hard frost; see weather by month.

Spring: blossoms, films and lanterns (March–May)

Cherry-blossom festivals are the biggest events of spring. Jinhae Gunhangje in Changwon, near Busan, is the largest: free, it ran from 27 March to 5 April in 2026. Seoul’s Yeouido and Seokchon Lake festivals follow in early April. Bloom dates move each year, so see cherry blossoms in Korea for the forecasts and the dates of each festival.

The Jeonju International Film Festival, Korea’s main showcase for independent film, takes over Jeonju for ten days from late April; in 2026 it ran from 29 April to 8 May. Jeonju’s hanok village is busy then, so book rooms early.

Lotus Lantern Festival (Yeondeunghoe)

The Lotus Lantern Festival celebrates Buddha’s Birthday and is on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list. In 2026:

• Lantern parade: Saturday 16 May, starting at 19:00, from Dongguk University past Heunginjimun Gate and along Jongno to Jogyesa Temple.
• Traditional culture street: Sunday 17 May, 11:00–19:00, on the road in front of Jogyesa, with lantern-making and other Buddhist culture stalls.
• Cost: free, open to all ages and nationalities.

Jongno’s main road closes to traffic for the parade, so use the subway that evening. Jogyesa hangs its canopy of lanterns weeks before the festival, so you see them even if you miss the parade; see temples. The 2027 dates had not been announced by 26 October 2026.

Summer: Danoje and mud (June–August)

The Gangneung Danoje Festival on the east coast, with shamanic rites, mask drama and a market, is on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list. It follows the lunar calendar, so the dates move each year: in 2026 it ran from 15 to 22 June by the Namdaecheon river, free. See Gangneung for the rest of the city.

Boryeong Mud Festival

The Boryeong Mud Festival turns Daecheon Beach on the west coast into mud play zones, concert stages and a drone show for about two and a half weeks. The 29th festival ran from 24 July to 9 August 2026.

• Mud experience zone (adults): ₩12,000 Monday to Thursday, ₩16,000 Friday to Sunday in 2026. Each ticket included a ₩5,000 local gift voucher.
• Teens (140 cm and taller): ₩11,000 on weekdays and ₩14,000 at weekends; a separate family zone took children aged 3–12.
• Getting there: Boryeong is in Chungcheong; Daecheon Beach is the town’s main beach. See beaches in Korea for the swimming season.

Autumn: the busiest season (September–November)

From late September to early November there is a large festival almost every week.

• Andong Maskdance Festival. About 11 days of Korean and international mask dance in the city of Andong and Hahoe Village; 24 September to 4 October in 2026. Outside the festival, the Hahoe mask-dance drama is performed at the village most afternoons.
• Hwaseong Cultural Festival, Suwon. Events around Haenggung Plaza and the walls of Hwaseong Fortress, with a re-enactment of King Jeongjo’s royal procession; 4–11 October in 2026. See Suwon and fortresses.
• Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). Korea’s big international film festival, centred on the Busan Cinema Center in Centum City, with public events at BIFF Square in Nampo; 6–15 October in 2026.
• Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival. Lanterns float on the Namgang River below Jinju Fortress in South Gyeongsang for about two weeks every October. Check the city’s official site for the year’s dates.
• Gangneung Coffee Festival. Roasters and cafés of Korea’s coffee city; 21–25 October in 2026.

October is also autumn-leaves season, and the festival weekends compete with foliage crowds for trains and rooms.

Tips for festivals in Korea

• Book rooms first. Small festival towns such as Andong, Hwacheon and Boryeong have limited rooms, and festival weekends fill well before the dates. Busan on fireworks night and Jeonju during the film festival are the same.
• Go on a weekday. Boryeong charges more at weekends, and every festival is most crowded on Saturdays.
• Take the train or subway. Roads close around the Busan fireworks and the Seoul lantern parade, and parking at festival sites is very limited.
• Expect Korean-first information. Many festival sites post programme times in Korean only, and close to the date. VisitKorea’s English site has short summaries; Naver Map handles the routes.
• Check the year’s notice. Ice festivals can change with the weather, and outdoor shows can be cancelled for rain or wind. Look at the official site or its social media the day before.
• Mind public holidays. Festivals that overlap Chuseok or other long holidays are much busier, and intercity trains sell out early; see KTX trains.

Where to next

For the seasonal events, see cherry blossoms and autumn leaves. For when to travel overall, see weather by month. For getting between festival towns, see transportation.