Tradition & cultureGyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do

Silla Culture Festival 2025 in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

신라문화제 2025

Oct2025
10 –12
Fri–Sun
Past edition

10 October 2025 to 12 October 2025

This edition has ended. It is kept as a record of what the 2025 festival offered. The current information is on the Silla Culture Festival page (Expected Oct 2027).

Venue this year. Bonghwangdae, Woljeonggyo and the Jjoksaem district.

Dates10–12 Oct 2025
VenueBonghwangdae tomb park and Woljeonggyo Bridge, central Gyeongju경상북도 경주시 노동동 261
AdmissionFree: KTO lists the festival as free. Food, drink and goods at the night market are paid.
Previous edition2024: 11–13 Oct 2024
Next edition2026: 9–11 Oct 2026

Program

  • Hwabaek Jejeon on the Woljeonggyo floating stage: a multimedia show on the Silla founding myth
  • Hwarang Hip-Hop Festa, which drew more than 10,000 people
  • Silla Art Festival strand at the Gyeongju Arts Center
  • Festival area expanded from Bonghwangdae to Woljeonggyo and the Jjoksaem district; Silla costume try-ons on the tomb lawns

Notes on the 2025 edition

52nd edition, under the slogan 'a festival made by citizens', with more than 360 citizen participants (234 supporters, 83 citizen producers, 50 youth). Held 20 days before the APEC summit in Gyeongju, and YTN reported that its scale was expanded for that reason.

About the festival

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 2027 edition is expected on a Friday to Sunday in early or mid-October; take the KTX to Gyeongju Station (about 2 h 15 m from Seoul), then a taxi of about 20 minutes.

Transport, booking, crowd and accessibility details are on the main Silla Culture Festival page, which covers every edition.

Source

Facts checked
19 October 2026, against the sources listed below.

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