Gyeongju holds a cherry blossom festival along the walls of the Daereungwon royal tomb park in late March or early April and the Silla Culture Festival, its celebration of the Silla kingdom with a night show on a floating stage at Woljeonggyo Bridge, in early to mid October. Andong, two hours from Seoul by KTX-Eum, holds the mask-dance festival at the end of September with performances in a riverside park and the Hahoe folk village. Mungyeong Saejae hosts the Chasabal tea-bowl festival from late April or early May, the apple festival from mid-October and the Yakdol Hanu beef festival in October or November, and Punggi in Yeongju sells its ginseng for nine days in October. Gimcheon sells gimbap at the gate of Jikjisa temple in late October, and in November its neighbour Gumi turns the street outside its station into a ramyeon market for a weekend. On the east coast, Pohang runs a steel-art festival from October, often into November, serves gwamegi, half-dried saury, at Guryongpo in mid to late November and greets the New Year's first sunrise at Homigot.
On now, coming up and expected
The Mungyeong Apple Festival (문경사과축제) is a free harvest festival at Mungyeong Saejae Provincial Park in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, built around the Gamhong apple, a local variety that is in season only in October and averages 16.5 Brix. The 21st edition is running now, 17 October–1 November 2026, 09:00–18:00 daily, with growers' sales and tastings, orchard picking, an apple exhibition hall and family games.
The Pohang Steel Art Festival (포항스틸아트페스티벌, PSAF) is a free public-art festival in Pohang, Korea's steel city in Gyeongsangbuk-do, showing sculpture, photography and architecture made with or about steel. The 2026 edition runs 24 October–15 November 2026 at Dongbin Culture Warehouse 1969, Songdo Beach, Art436 and downtown Pohang; KTO lists 10:00–21:00 Tuesday to Saturday and 10:00–18:00 on Sunday.
The Yecheon Bow Festival (예천활축제) is a free archery festival at Hancheon Sports Park in Yecheon-eup, Gyeongsangbuk-do, the home county of archers Kim Jin-ho, Yun Ok-hee and Olympic champion Kim Je-deok: you can try Western and traditional Korean archery, a team bow battle and children's bow games. The 2026 edition runs Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, 10:00–21:00, together with the Yecheon Agricultural Festival; as of mid-October it was going ahead as planned despite foot-and-mouth cases in Yecheon in 2026.
The Cheongsong Apple Festival (청송사과축제) is a five-day harvest festival on the Yongjeoncheon stream beside Hyeonbiam cliff in Cheongsong-eup, Gyeongsangbuk-do, a mountain county known for its apples. The 20th edition runs 4–8 November 2026 (Wednesday–Sunday), 09:00–20:00 per KTO, with growers' apple sales, an apple parade, hands-on games and evening concerts.
The Gumi Ramyeon Festival (구미라면축제) is a free three-day street-food festival around Gumi Station in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do, the city where Nongshim fries most of Korea's Shin Ramyun. Local chefs serve creative ramyeon dishes along a 475 m 'ramyeon street' opposite the station, and Nongshim sells packs fried that morning.
The Pohang International Fireworks Festival (포항국제불빛축제) is a free three-day festival on the waterfront of Pohang, Korea's steel city in Gyeongsangbuk-do, held since 2004 and built around an international fireworks show over the sea, with a street parade and, in recent years, drone shows and concerts. The 2026 edition runs Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 November, moved from its planned June slot because of the local elections: an opening media-art lighting ceremony at Songdo Pier on 19 November, a fireworks street parade on 20 November and the international fireworks show over Yeongildae Beach on 21 November, 20:00–21:00, with teams from France, Japan and Korea.
The Guryongpo Gwamegi Festival (포항 구룡포 과메기 축제) is a free two-day weekend food festival on Ara Plaza, on the Gwamegi Culture Street of Guryongpo in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Guryongpo is Korea's largest producer of gwamegi, saury dried in the winter sea wind.
The Homigot New Year Sunrise Festival (호미곶 한민족 해맞이축전) is Pohang's free all-night New Year's Eve festival at Homigot Haemaji Plaza, the cape at the eastern tip of the Korean Peninsula, where crowds watch the year's first sunrise beside the bronze Hand of Harmony rising from the sea. The 2026–27 edition is expected on 31 December 2026–1 January 2027 (not yet announced as of 19 October 2026), with sunrise at about 07:33.
The Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Festival, billed in 2026 as the Gyeongju Daereungwon Stone-Wall Road Festival (경주 대릉원돌담길 축제), closes the cherry-lined road along the walls of the Daereungwon royal tomb park for three days at peak bloom, with street performances, a night light show, food trucks and a craft market. The 2026 edition ran 3–5 April, 13:00–22:00, with free admission; the 2027 edition is expected on a Friday-to-Sunday weekend in late March or early April, with dates set by the bloom.
The Mungyeong Chasabal Festival (문경찻사발축제) is a ten-day pottery and tea festival at the Mungyeong Saejae Open Set, a Joseon-era drama set inside Mungyeong Saejae Provincial Park, Gyeongsangbuk-do, where potters who fire tea bowls in traditional wood-burning mangdaengi kilns show, demonstrate and sell their work. The 28th edition ran 1–10 May 2026, 09:00–18:00; 2027 dates have not been announced, but recent editions fell between late April and mid-May.
Andong Maskdance Festival (안동국제탈춤페스티벌) is a 10- or 11-day celebration of Korean and international mask dance held each late September–early October in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, at the old Andong Station site, Mask Dance Park and the old downtown. The 2026 edition ran 24 September–4 October (opening ceremony 25 September); 2027 is expected in the same window.
The Chilgok Transmedia Festival is a free art festival in Waegwan, the main town of Chilgok County near Daegu, run by the county's culture and tourism foundation since 2023. The 4th edition, on the friendship between the poet Ku Sang and the painter Lee Jung-seop, sets media art in 11 spaces along a walking route from Waegwan Station to the Gusang Literature Museum, 15 September–25 October 2026, 09:00–18:00, closed on Mondays.
EX Pumpkin Night is a Halloween-themed night walk along the 2 km lit trail through Hwarang Forest (Luminight) at Gyeongju Expo Park, at the entrance to Gyeongju's Bomun resort area. The 2026 edition, built around the park mascots Hwani and Wani and Silla's twelve zodiac guardians, runs 24 September–24 October, 18:00–22:00 daily with last entry at 21:00; tickets are ₩10,000, or ₩8,000 booked online.
The Gimcheon Gimbap Festival (김천김밥축제) is a free food festival devoted to gimbap, held in the parks at the entrance to Jikjisa temple in Gimcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do. The third edition runs Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October 2026, 09:00–18:00 (from 10:00 on Friday), with more than 60 kinds of gimbap and about 80 food, dessert and flea-market vendors; entry is free and you pay for what you eat.
The Mungyeong Yakdol Hanu Festival (문경약돌한우축제) is a free three-day beef festival at Mungyeong Saejae Provincial Park in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do: you buy the city's Yakdol Hanu beef at 20–33% below market price (2023–2025) and grill it yourself in a grill area that seated 800 people at once in 2025. The 15th edition, 9–11 October 2026, ran as a scaled-down beef market because of a foot-and-mouth outbreak in neighbouring Yecheon; 2027 dates have not been announced, but recent editions fell on a weekend between early October and early November.
The Silla Culture Festival (신라문화제) is Gyeongju's city-wide autumn festival of the Silla kingdom, first held in 1962 and one of Korea's oldest local festivals. The 53rd edition ran 9–11 October 2026 around the Bonghwangdae tomb park and Woljeonggyo Bridge, 15:00–24:00 with free admission; its centrepiece is the Hwabaek Jejeon night show on a floating stage at Woljeonggyo, with drones and fireworks.
The Yeongju Punggi Ginseng Festival (영주풍기인삼축제) is a nine-day ginseng market festival on the Namwon-cheon stream and in Punggi Ginseng Park in Punggi-eup, Yeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, the town that claims Korea's first cultivated ginseng. The 2026 edition ran 3–11 October, 10:00–20:00, and drew about 511,000 visitors; 2027 dates are not announced, and a Saturday-to-Sunday run in early to mid October is most likely.
These come straight from the Korea Tourism Organization’s public festival database. We have not checked them against the organizer, so dates and details can be wrong or out of date. Confirm on the official page before you book.