Written: October 7, 2026 · Updated: October 14, 2026

This post summarizes official announcements; it is not a review of a visit. Sources: Namyangju City's festival website (overview & directions, the schedule updated September 30, 2026, programs, pre-registration and the Robot Creation Contest pages), Namyangju City's press release (October 6, 2026), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's regional festival listing, the Namyangju Cultural Center's contest notice, the Jeong Yak-yong Historic Site directions page and the city's Book Festa listing, checked on October 7, 2026. The character illustrations are GPT-generated images.

Dasan Jeong Yak-yong Cultural Festival 2026 — Schedule, Programs & Parking Before You Take the Kids to the Jeong Yak-yong Historic Site

40th Dasan Jeong Yak-yong Cultural Festival poster — Oct 17–18, 2026, Jeong Yak-yong Historic Site & Dasan Ecological Park area (정약용유적지 및 다산생태공원 일원) (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 3)

An autumn festival is coming
to the home village of
Joseon-era scholar Jeong Yak-yong 🍂

The 40th edition this year!
The 40th Dasan Jeong Yak-yong Cultural Festival
(제40회 다산정약용문화제)
runs for two days, Sat, Oct 17 – Sun, Oct 18,
10:00–17:30,
around the Jeong Yak-yong Historic Site
and Dasan Ecological Park in Namyangju.

We put this together from the schedule
on Namyangju’s festival website
(updated September 30), its program guide
and the city’s press release (October 6).

🎪 What kind of festival is it?

Jeong Yak-yong Historic Site — View of traditional buildings with trees and mountains in the background (Jun 2022) (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization Photo Gallery · 한국관광공사 이범수 · KOGL Type 1)

Jeong Yak-yong Historic Site — View of the Dasan Memorial Hall in front of the lawn courtyard (Jun 2022) (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization Photo Gallery · 한국관광공사 이범수 · KOGL Type 1)

Running since 1986,
it’s Namyangju City’s signature festival.
This year’s theme is ‘Jeong Yak-yong,
Who Designed His Era, Innovates Today’.

The festival grounds are
the Jeong Yak-yong Historic Site —
with Yeoyudang (여유당), the house where
he was born and grew up, his tomb
and the Dasan Memorial Hall —
and Dasan Ecological Park,
facing Paldang Lake.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s
regional festival listing
shows admission as free.

✨ What’s on, and when?

Past festival — Tightrope-walking performance on a traditional tiled roof (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 3)

The hands-on booths, Dasan Farm Market
and ‘exile’ experience run
10:00–17:30 on both days.
We’ve put the stage shows and contests
into a table for each day.

The Top Scholar times follow the pre-registration notice.
The full schedule blocks it out
from 10:00 to 14:00.

The Silhak Museum’s special exhibition ‘Isipsa’ (이십사)
is open 10:00–18:00 on both days.

🏗️ What activities are there?

Past festival — Children in traditional clothing participating in a quiz activity (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 3)

Past festival — People participating in a robot-building activity (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 3)

Jeong Yak-yong’s inventions and ideas —
there are lots of activities to discover them through play.

The Top Scholar lower division is for grades 1–3,
and the upper division for grades 4–6 of elementary school.

Entries for the arts & writing contest close
Thursday, October 8, per the Namyangju Cultural Center notice.

The Robot Creation Contest’s call for 60 family teams
already closed on September 30.

🚌 Getting there & parking

There’s no info yet on a festival shuttle bus
or temporary parking.
Here are the bus routes from the festival website.

From the Entrance stop
it’s a 15-minute walk.
We’ve put the weekend intervals in a table too.

The parking info is from the historic site’s regular guide,
and there are spaces reserved for disabled drivers.

👨‍👩‍👧 Going with kids

If your kids are in elementary school,
on the 18th you can pair
the Top Scholar quiz
with the crane at Dasan Playground.

The booths open at 10:00,
and the big stage shows are all after 16:00.

The same week, Oct 15–17,
Namyangju City’s ‘2026 Book Festa’ also runs
at Dasan Culture Park in front of
Jeong Yak-yong Library in Dasan-dong.
On Sat the 17th it’s 11:00–18:00,
and it’s open to ‘any Namyangju resident’.

⏳ Not announced yet

□ Festival shuttle bus & temporary parking
□ Dasan Ecological Park parking fee
□ Booth material fees & how to sign up on site
□ Top Scholar registration deadline
□ How to attend the anniversary concert (seats & entry)
□ What happens if it rains

None of this is in the official notices yet.
We’ll update this post once it’s out.

Questions? Call Namyangju City’s
Performance & Festival Team (남양주시 공연축제팀),
+82-31-590-2799.

👍 Recommended for these families

✔ Families with elementary schoolers looking for quizzes & making activities
✔ Families who want to show kids Jeong Yak-yong and his crane through play
✔ Families who want to stay for the weekend afternoon stage shows

Activities in the morning, the stage in the afternoon —
a festival that fits nicely into a day out.

We put this together from official announcements before going ourselves. Event photos are from the Korea Tourism Organization, released under KOGL Type 3 (attribution, no derivatives) and shown unedited. Photos marked ‘Photo Gallery’ are from the Korea Tourism Organization under KOGL Type 1 (shooting dates noted). The character illustrations are GPT-generated images.

📷 The festival in photos 14

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Translated from our Korean post with AI assistance. Dates, times, bus intervals and other numbers were checked against the Korean original on October 7, 2026. We did not check whether the festival offers guidance in English. Original post (Korean)