January is ice season. It opens with sunrise festivals on the east coast, at Jeongdongjin in Gangneung and Homigot in Pohang, where crowds stay up on New Year's Eve for the year's first sunrise. Then the rivers freeze: Hwacheon cuts thousands of holes in its frozen stream for the mountain-trout festival, Hongcheon holds an ice-fishing festival on the frozen Hongcheon River, and Pyeongchang runs a trout festival beside the KTX line to Gangneung. Up in the Daegwallyeong highlands of the same county, the snow festival of sculptures and sled runs is planned to open on 30 January in 2027, and Taebaek builds snow sculptures in Taebaeksan National Park in late January or early February. In Cheongyang, the Chilgapsan Ice Fountain Festival runs through the month. Seoul's lanterns along Cheonggyecheon usually stay lit into mid-January, Busan's Haeundae Light Festival and Gwangbok-ro light trees into January or February, and the Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong until March; the ASSITEJ children's theatre festival in Daehak-ro runs into the first weekend.
Tip. Daytime temperatures in Hwacheon sit around −5 °C; ice-fishing slots sell out on weekends, so book the weekday session.
In January, 17 of the festivals on this site take place in Korea: Haeundae Light Festival (28 Nov – 10 Jan 2027), Gwanghwamun Market (11 Dec – 10 Jan 2027), Seoul Lantern Festival (11 Dec – 31 Jan 2027), Daegwallyeong Snow Festival (30 Jan – 9 Feb 2027), Gwangbok-ro Winter Light Tree Festival (expected Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb 2026–27), Chilgapsan Ice Fountain Festival (expected Dec/Jan/Feb 2026–27) and 11 more. 10 of them are free to enter, some with paid activities. The next to start is Haeundae Light Festival (28 Nov – 10 Jan 2027).
All checked on or after 18 October 2026. “Expected” dates follow the organizer's usual pattern.
| Festival | Where | Usually | Next dates | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haeundae Light Festival | Busan | Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb | 28 Nov – 10 Jan 2027 | Free entry |
| Gwanghwamun Market | Seoul | Dec/Jan | 11 Dec – 10 Jan 2027 | Free entry |
| Seoul Lantern Festival | Seoul | Dec/Jan | 11 Dec – 31 Jan 2027 | Free entry |
| Daegwallyeong Snow Festival | Pyeongchang, Gangwon State | Jan/Feb | 30 Jan – 9 Feb 2027 | Paid admission |
| Gwangbok-ro Winter Light Tree Festival | Busan | Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb | Expected Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb 2026–27 | Free entry |
| Chilgapsan Ice Fountain Festival | Cheongyang, Chungcheongnam-do | Dec/Jan/Feb | Expected Dec/Jan/Feb 2026–27 | Paid admission |
| Homigot New Year Sunrise Festival | Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do | Dec/Jan | Expected Dec/Jan 2026–27 | Free entry |
| Jeongdongjin New Year Sunrise Festival | Gangneung, Gangwon State | Dec/Jan | Expected Dec/Jan 2026–27 | Free entry |
| Lighting Festival at the Garden of Morning Calm | Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do | Dec/Jan/Feb/Mar | Expected Dec/Jan/Feb/Mar 2026–27 | Paid admission |
| Seoul Winter Festa | Seoul | Dec/Jan | Expected Dec/Jan 2026–27 | Free entry |
| Suseong Light Art Festival | Daegu | Dec/Jan | Expected Dec/Jan 2026–27 | Free entry |
| ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival | Seoul | Dec/Jan | Expected Dec/Jan 2026–27 | Paid admission |
| Hongcheon River Kkongkkong Festival | Hongcheon, Gangwon State | Jan | Expected Jan 2027 | Paid admission |
| Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival | Hwacheon, Gangwon State | Jan/Feb | Expected Jan/Feb 2027 | Paid admission |
| Pyeongchang Trout Festival | Pyeongchang, Gangwon State | Dec/Jan/Feb | Expected Dec/Jan/Feb 2026–27 | Paid admission |
| Taebaeksan Snow Festival | Taebaek, Gangwon State | Jan/Feb | Expected Jan/Feb 2027 | Free entry |
| Inje Icefish Festival | Inje, Gangwon State | Jan/Feb | 2026 edition cancelled | Free + paid activities |
On now, coming up and expected
The Haeundae Light Festival (해운대 빛축제) is Haeundae-gu's free winter illumination along Gunam-ro, the street from Haeundae Station down to the sea, and on the sand of Haeundae Beach in Busan, held every winter since 2014. The 13th edition runs 28 November 2026–10 January 2027, as listed in Haeundae-gu Office's 2026 events calendar, which notes that dates may change; lighting hours and the programme are not yet published.
Gwanghwamun Market (광화문 마켓) is Seoul's free Christmas market: a European-style "Santa Village" of red-roofed stalls, a 15 m tree, photo zones and a carousel on Gwanghwamun Square, run every evening by the Seoul Tourism Organization since 2022. The 2026 edition is scheduled for 11 December 2026–10 January 2027; daily hours are not yet published (17:30–22:00 in 2025).
The Seoul Lantern Festival is a free winter light display along Cheonggyecheon stream in central Seoul, from Cheonggye Plaza to Samilgyo; in 2025 it was lit nightly from 18:00. The 17th edition ran 12 December 2025–18 January 2026.
The Daegwallyeong Snow Festival (대관령눈꽃축제) is a ten-day snow-sculpture and sledding festival run by local residents beside the Songcheon stream in Hoenggye, Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang, about 2 h 10 min by direct bus from Dong Seoul. Held since 1993, it last ran 13–22 February 2026, and the 35th edition is planned for 30 January–9 February 2027, 09:30–17:30.
The Gwangbok-ro Winter Light Tree Festival (광복로 겨울빛 트리축제), held since 2009 and long known as the Busan Christmas Tree Festival, lights about 1.1 km of Gwangbok-ro, the shopping street of Busan's old downtown in Nampo-dong, with a large media tree and light sculptures for about 80 nights each winter. The 2025 edition ran 5 December 2025–22 February 2026, lit 17:30–22:00 daily; 2026 dates are not announced yet, but the lights usually go on between mid-November and early December and stay up into February.
The Chilgapsan Ice Fountain Festival (칠갑산 얼음분수축제) is a village-run winter festival at Alps Village (Cheonjang-ri) below Chilgapsan in Cheongyang, Chungcheongnam-do, where about 90 giant ice fountains, snow sculptures of cartoon characters and snow and ice sledding make a family day out, about three hours from Seoul by bus. The 2025–26 season, its 18th, ran 24 December 2025–22 February 2026; the 2026–27 season is expected from late December 2026 (in past years the full programme opened on 1 January) to mid or late February 2027, with dates not yet announced.
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 Jeongdongjin New Year Sunrise Festival is Gangneung City's free New Year's Eve and first-sunrise event at Sandglass Park beside Jeongdongjin Station on Korea's east coast, where an 8 m hourglass is turned over at midnight. In 2025–26 it ran 20:00–00:30 on 31 December and 06:00–08:00 on 1 January, with sunrise at 07:39; the 2026–27 edition is expected on the night of 31 December 2026 but had not been announced by 19 October 2026.
The Lighting Festival at the Garden of Morning Calm (아침고요수목원 오색별빛정원전) fills a 100,000-pyeong private arboretum in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do, about 65 km north-east of Seoul, with LED light displays every winter, lit from sunset (about 17:00) to 21:00 and to 23:00 on Saturdays. The 19th edition ran 5 December 2025–15 March 2026; 2026–27 dates are not announced, but recent editions opened on the first Friday of December and closed on a Sunday in mid-March.
Seoul Winter Festa (서울윈터페스타) is the Seoul city government's free December–January umbrella festival in central Seoul, joining the Cheonggyecheon lanterns, the Gwanghwamun Market, the Seoul Light media-art shows at Gwanghwamun and DDP, the Seoul Plaza ice rink (about ₩1,000 an hour) and the New Year's Eve bell-ringing at Bosingak. The 2025 edition ran 12 December 2025–4 January 2026 and counted 10.98 million visits.
The Suseong Light Art Festival (수성빛예술제) lines Suseongmot Lake in Daegu's Suseong district with light sculptures and media art made by local residents, students and artists, with drone shows over the water, every Christmas and New Year season since 2019. The 2025 edition ran 24 December 2025–4 January 2026, lit 17:00–22:00 daily; 2026 dates are not announced yet, but it usually opens between 20 and 24 December.
The ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival (서울 아시테지 겨울축제) is a winter-holiday festival of Korean theatre for children and teenagers, held every year since 2005 in the Daehak-ro theatre district of Jongno-gu, central Seoul. The 22nd edition ran 26 December 2025–4 January 2026 with seven main shows; dates for 2026–27 had not been announced by 18 October 2026, but the last two editions ran ten days from late December into early January.
The Hongcheon River Kkongkkong Festival (홍천강 꽁꽁축제) is a January ice-fishing festival on the frozen Hongcheon River in Hongcheon-eup, Gangwon, where visitors fish for trout raised on feed mixed with six-year-old ginseng; Hongcheon is about 1 h 07 m by intercity bus from Dong Seoul Terminal. The 14th edition ran 9–25 January 2026; 2027 dates have not been announced, and the festival usually opens on a Friday or Saturday between 5 and 18 January.
The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival (얼음나라화천 산천어축제) is Korea's largest winter festival: three weeks of ice fishing for mountain trout through holes in the frozen Hwacheon stream in Hwacheon, Gangwon, about 3 h 30 m by direct bus from Seoul. The 2026 edition ran 10 January–1 February; 2027 is expected 9–31 January.
The Pyeongchang Trout Festival is a month-long ice-fishing event on the frozen Odaecheon stream at Jinbu, Pyeongchang, Gangwon, about 1 h 40 min from Seoul by KTX. The 17th edition ran 9 January–9 February 2026, 09:00–17:00; ice fishing cost ₩25,000, tent fishing ₩39,000 and bare-hand catching ₩20,000.
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The Taebaeksan Snow Festival (태백산눈축제) is a free winter festival of large snow sculptures, sledding and a snow-flower hike, held since 1994 around Dangol Plaza in Taebaeksan National Park, Taebaek, Gangwon, about 2 h 50 m by bus from Dong Seoul. The 33rd edition ran 31 January–8 February 2026, 10:00–17:00, with the sculptures lit until 22:00.
Past editions, next dates not yet announced
The Inje Icefish Festival (인제빙어축제) is a free ice-fishing festival for bingeo, a small icefish, on Bingeoho, a dammed arm of upper Soyang Lake at Bupyeong-ri, Nam-myeon, Inje, Gangwon, about 1 h 45 min by bus from Dong Seoul. Held since 1998, it last ran 20–29 January 2023 and was cancelled in 2024, 2025 and 2026 because Soyang Dam's water was too high for safe ice.
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.