This post summarizes official announcements; it is not a review of a visit. Sources: Gyeonggi-do's press release (October 6, 2026, Cultural Heritage Division) and its attached file, the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation's Gyeonggi Institute of History and Cultural Heritage notice on the 2026 Gyeonggi–Poland intangible heritage program, and the Korea Heritage Service's National Heritage Portal descriptions of the performances, checked on October 7, 2026. The character illustrations are GPT-generated images.
- Dates
- Fri, Oct 16, 2026 ~ Sun, Oct 18
- Venue
- Gapyeong Culture & Arts Center — indoor & outdoor stages, outdoor plaza (가평문화예술회관)131 Munhwa-ro, Gapyeong-eup, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do (경기 가평군 가평읍 문화로 131)
- Organizer
- Gyeonggi Provincial Government (Polish guest programs: Gyeonggi Institute of History and Cultural Heritage, Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation)
- Official
- Official notice (Korean) ↗
- Updated
- when we last re-checked the official notice
📅 Schedule at a glance
October 2026
Event daysHighlightsTodayKorean public holidays
Korea Meteorological Administration · 10/15, 8 AM issued · forecasts can change
📌 What's on each day
- 10/16Fri★ Papermaking · Polish showToday
- 10/17Sat★ Papermaking · ★ Ceremony · Polish showToday
🔁 Daily · Intangible heritage shows on indoor & outdoor stages
Gyeonggi-do Intangible Heritage Festival 2026 — Schedule & Workshop Sign-up Before You Take the Kids to Gapyeong Culture & Arts Center
Gyeonggi-do’s traditional arts
gather in autumn Gapyeong 🥁
The 28th edition this year!
The 28th Gyeonggi-do Intangible Heritage Festival
(제28회 경기도 무형유산 대축제)
runs for three days, Fri, Oct 16 – Sun, Oct 18,
at Gapyeong Culture & Arts Center
(가평문화예술회관).
We put this together from
Gyeonggi-do’s press release of October 6
and the workshop notice from the
Gyeonggi Institute of History and Cultural Heritage.
🎪 What kind of festival is it?
This year’s subtitle is
’The Style and Joy of Gyeonggi —
Carried On Together, Here Together’.
Gyeonggi-do’s intangible heritage
masters and practitioners
come in person to perform,
show their work
and demonstrate how it’s made.
There are hands-on programs too.
This year there’s also
an international exchange program
introducing the traditional culture
of Poland’s Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The head of Gyeonggi-do’s Cultural Heritage Division
described it as a festival where you meet everything
’from the performing arts on stage
to works born at the fingertips of master artisans’
in one place.
🥁 What performances are there?
Traditional arts handed down
across Gyeonggi-do take to
the indoor and outdoor stages
during the festival.
These are the shows named in the press release.
| Stage | Performances |
|---|---|
| Indoor & outdoor stages (16th–18th) | Icheon Geobuknori (turtle play) · Gyeonggi Geommu (sword dance) · Gyeonggi Songseo & Yulchang · Yangju Nongak · Toegyewon Sandaenori and more |
| Polish guest performance | Legnica Song and Dance Ensemble · traditional Polish folk dance and singing |
| Ceremony, Sat 17th | The first-ever ‘Gyeonggi-do Intangible Heritage Transmission and Remembrance Day’ · tribute performance by transmission instructors, awards for contributors |
Lots of unfamiliar names?
Here are short descriptions from
the Korea Heritage Service’s heritage portal.
| Performance | What it is |
|---|---|
| Icheon Geobuknori (이천거북놀이) | A Chuseok folk game: a turtle is made from sorghum stalks, people get inside, and it goes around the village wishing everyone good fortune |
| Yangju Nongak (양주농악) | ‘Nongsa-puri’ farmers’ music that plays at imitating farm work · a classic of northern Gyeonggi nongak |
| Toegyewon Sandaenori (퇴계원산대놀이) | A mask dance drama from Toegyewon, Namyangju · masks carved from logs; nobles, servants and others bring satire and laughs |
| Gyeonggi Geommu (경기검무) | A dance performed with swords · the first half is calm, the second half, with swords in hand, is powerful |
| Gyeonggi Songseo · Yulchang (경기송서·율창) | ‘Reading sounds’ — old texts and poems read to a melody · like chanting the Thousand Character Classic as ‘haneul cheon, ttang ji’ (sky 天, earth 地) |
Geobuknori is a village-wide game
that unfolds round by round —
a road parade, a well rite,
village play and a gate rite.
The sandaenori has 12 acts,
with songs such as
’Cheongchunga’ and ‘Changbu Taryeong’.
Gyeonggi Geommu has more moves
that look like sparring with a partner
than the court sword dance.
Times for each performance
haven’t been announced yet.
🏺 What’s on display?
In the exhibition hall,
the works of artisans who have carried on
traditional crafts show the past
and future of intangible heritage.
| Exhibition | What’s in it |
|---|---|
| Memory Space (기억 공간) | Works, photos, videos and instruments of late masters — a look back at the footsteps of past artisans and performers |
| Future Exhibition (미래전) | Works by transmission instructors · traditional skills passing to the next generation |
| Polish crafts | 43 pieces of Bolesławiec pottery, a 700-year tradition · 13 pieces of traditional glasswork |
📜 Shall we try papermaking with the kids?
The one to try with kids is
the traditional papermaking workshop
from the Paper Museum
in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland.
The press release describes it as a chance
to experience Polish paper culture first-hand
in Gapyeong, a place that keeps
the tradition of hanji (Korean paper).
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| When | Fri 16th, 14:00 · Sat 17th, 10:30, 13:30 |
| Where | Outdoor plaza, Gapyeong Culture & Arts Center |
| Who | Ages 5 and up (with a guardian) |
| Fee | Free |
| How to apply | Advance sign-up via Naver Form · first come, first served · until October 16 |
| Contact | Gyeonggi Institute of History and Cultural Heritage, +82-31-231-8522 |
The sign-up form link is in
the Gyeonggi Institute of History and Cultural Heritage notice
listed in the sources at the end of this post.
🚗 Getting there & parking
The venue is Gapyeong Culture & Arts Center,
at 131 Munhwa-ro, Gapyeong-eup.
Parking and public transport info
isn’t in the press release or the workshop notice.
We’ll add it here once it’s out.
👨👩👧 Going with kids
In the Gyeonggi Institute of History
and Cultural Heritage notice,
the Polish performance, exhibition and workshop
run on Fri the 16th and Sat the 17th —
one day shorter than the festival period
in the province’s press release (until the 18th).
For papermaking, plan for
the afternoon of the 16th or the 17th,
and sign up in advance.
The workshop is held in the outdoor plaza.
On Saturday the 17th there’s also the ceremony
and a tribute performance
by the transmission instructors —
a moment to honor the practitioners
who have kept intangible heritage alive.
Sign-up closes on the 16th
There's no papermaking on Sunday the 18th
⏳ Not announced yet
□ Opening hours & performance timetable
□ Hands-on activities other than papermaking
□ Festival admission (only the Polish programs are marked free)
□ Parking & shuttle
□ The outdoor stage if it rains
None of this is in the official notices yet.
We’ll update this post once it’s out.
Questions? Call Gyeonggi-do’s
Cultural Heritage Division at +82-31-8008-3348.
👍 Recommended for these families
✔ Families who want to show kids traditional performances like turtle play and nongak
✔ Families with kids aged 5+ who’d like to try papermaking
✔ Families looking for an autumn outing in Gapyeong
Shows, exhibitions and hands-on fun in one place —
a Gyeonggi-do traditional culture outing.
We put this together from official announcements before going ourselves. The character illustrations are GPT-generated images.
🔄 Updates
- One-week check
- First write-up
📎 Sources
- 경기도, 16~18일 가평서 무형유산 대축제…공연·전시·체험 한자리 경기도(문화유산과) · 2026.10.6 · 관공서
- 2026년 경기도-폴란드 무형유산 초청 공연·전시·체험 경기문화재단 경기역사문화유산원 · 주최
- 경기도 무형유산 이천거북놀이 국가유산청 국가유산포털 · 관공서
- 경기도 무형유산 양주농악 국가유산청 국가유산포털 · 관공서
- 경기도 무형유산 퇴계원산대놀이 국가유산청 국가유산포털 · 관공서
- 경기도 무형유산 경기검무 국가유산청 국가유산포털 · 관공서
- 경기도 무형유산 경기송서(송서·율창) 국가유산청 국가유산포털 · 관공서
This is a guide based on official announcements, not a visit review. Schedules, programs and fees can change, so please re-check the official notice before you go.
Translated from our Korean post with AI assistance. Dates, times and other numbers were checked against the Korean original on October 7, 2026. The festival and performance names are our own English renderings (romanized Korean with a short explanation); we did not find official English names in the sources. We did not check whether the festival offers guidance in English. Original post (Korean)