| Dates | 26–29 Sep 2024 |
|---|---|
| Hours | Evening headline events: opening 26 Sep 19:00, musical gala 27 Sep 20:30, parade and DJ party 28 Sep 20:00, closing 29 Sep 19:00; daytime hours not stated |
| Venue | Jangsaengpo Whale Culture Special Zone울산광역시 남구 장생포고래로 244 (매암동) |
| Admission | Shuttle buses: Free |
| Next edition | 2025: 25–28 Sep 2025 |
Program
- 26 Sep 19:00opening at Jangsaengmadang (multipurpose sports ground) with a media performance, a concert by Son Tae-jin and Kim Da-hyun (about 7,000 people on a weekday night) and fireworks
- 27 Sep 20:30musical gala with Kim So-hyun, Lee Geon-myeong and Lisa, drawing over 10,000 people
- 28 Sep 20:00night whale parade of about 1,000 people, including residents of Nam-gu's 14 neighbourhoods, along roughly 1 km from the Jangsaengpo Welfare Culture Center to Jangsaengmadang, then a DJ party
- 29 Sep 19:00closing with the Whale Song Festival awards, a festival documentary, fireworks and the crossover group La Poem
- A media stage of about 150 m combining LED screens and holograms; Whaleland theme park, food trucks and a flea market
- Jangsaengpo Culture Warehouse: a Claude Monet media exhibition, a glocal art market and short-film screenings
- Whale Marble board game with a stamp tour, a children's drawing contest, a national photo contest and a youth dance contest
Prices
| Item | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Admission | — | Not stated in the 2024 sources opened |
| Dishes at the 17 food booths | — | About ₩5,000–₩12,000, served on reusable tableware |
| Shuttle buses | Free | Free |
Notes on the 2024 edition
28th edition; theme 'Dream of Jangsaengpo! Hope of Ulsan!' (장생포의 꿈! 울산의 희망!); run by the Whale Culture Foundation. Waste fell by nearly 80% on the previous year after disposable tableware was dropped.
About the festival
The Ulsan Whale Festival (울산고래축제) is a free four-day festival at the Jangsaengpo Whale Culture Special Zone in Nam-gu, Ulsan, a former whaling port that is now Korea's only whale-culture district. The 30th edition ran from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October 2026, 10:00–21:00, with a whale parade, fireworks, concerts and children's programmes. The 2027 dates are not announced; recent editions have fallen between late September and mid-October. From Seoul, KTX-Eum trains from Cheongnyangni reach Taehwagang Station in about 3 hours (₩48,800), and in 2026 a free festival shuttle ran from there every 30 minutes.
Transport, booking, crowd and accessibility details are on the main Ulsan Whale Festival page, which covers every edition.
Source
Facts checked
19 October 2026, against the sources listed below.