This post summarizes official announcements; it is not a review of a visit. Sources: Paju City's press releases (September 30 and October 7, 2026) and the 2026 timetable, festival details and 'How to get to the festival' guide on Paju City's culture & tourism ginseng festival page, checked on October 7, 2026. The character illustrations are GPT-generated images.
- Dates
- Sat, Oct 17, 2026 ~ Sun, Oct 18
- Venue
- Imjingak Plaza & Pyeonghwa Nuri area (임진각광장·평화누리 일원)Around Imjingak Resort, 164 Imjingak-ro, Munsan-eup, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do (경기 파주시 문산읍 임진각로 164 (임진각관광지) 일대)
- Organizer
- Paju City (organized by the Paju Gaeseong Ginseng Festival Promotion Committee)
- 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
- 10/17Sat★ Bibimbap tasting · ★ Moonlight Theater · Cook-off · Opening · Open micToday
- 10/18Sun★ Ginseng auction · Marathon awards · Closing showToday
🔁 Daily · Small-stage shows · ginseng market · Heo Jun herbal village · Touring Car
Paju Gaeseong Ginseng Festival 2026 — Schedule, Timetable & Getting There Before You Take the Kids to Imjingak
Autumn sunshine falls on Imjingak —
it’s the third weekend of October 🍂
The 21st edition this year!
The 21st Paju Gaeseong Insam (Ginseng) Festival
(제21회 파주개성인삼축제)
runs for two days, Sat, Oct 17 – Sun, Oct 18,
at Imjingak Plaza
and around Pyeonghwa Nuri (평화누리).
We put this together from
Paju City’s press releases (September 30 & October 7)
and the 2026 timetable on
Paju City’s culture & tourism festival page.
🎪 What kind of festival is it?
Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri Park — grassy hill and Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri building (Sep 2012) (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization Photo Gallery · 한국관광공사 김지호 · KOGL Type 1)
Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri Park — windmill field, large tent, and pond scenery (Sep 2012) (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization Photo Gallery · 한국관광공사 김지호 · KOGL Type 1)
It’s a farm-produce festival
starring Paju’s signature crops,
Jangdan Sambaek (장단삼백 — rice, soybeans & ginseng),
and 6-year-old Paju Gaeseong ginseng.
This year’s theme is ‘Run Together, Enjoy Together —
the Paju Gaeseong Ginseng Festival Runs Again’.
Only 6-year-old ginseng is picked for the festival,
and the city manages it all the way —
safety tests before harvest,
then digging, sorting and sealing
with city officials present.
The city says that every year during the festival
it sells 10 tons of ginseng and farm produce
direct from the farms
at 15–20% below market prices.
✨ What’s on, and when?
This is the 2026 timetable
posted on Paju City’s culture & tourism website.
Saturday runs into the evening Moonlight Theater,
and Sunday has the ginseng auction
and the closing show.
| Date & time | Main stage program |
|---|---|
| 10/17 (Sat) 10:30–12:00 | Jangdan Sambaek Cooking Contest — 20 finalist teams |
| 10/17 (Sat) 13:00–14:00 | Cooking contest awards → pre-opening performance |
| 10/17 (Sat) 14:00–15:00 | Opening ceremony (ribbon cutting) |
| 10/17 (Sat) 15:00–15:30 | Free ginseng bibimbap tasting |
| 10/17 (Sat) 15:30–17:30 | Open-mic festival for young adults & teens |
| 10/17 (Sat) 17:30–19:30 | Moonlight Theater (달빛극장) — evening film screening |
| 10/18 (Sun) 10:00–12:00 | Marathon awards → Imjingang Art Troupe performance |
| 10/18 (Sun) 13:00–14:00 | Arts & culture performances |
| 10/18 (Sun) 14:00–14:30 | Ginseng auction |
| 10/18 (Sun) 15:00–17:00 | Closing show |
There’s also a permanent small stage
next to the main stage.
| Permanent small stage | Performances |
|---|---|
| Morning 09:00–12:00 | Performances by Paju artists |
| Afternoon 14:00–17:00 | Performances by Paju artists · lawn performances at Pyeonghwa Nuri (‘Art Out on the Street’, 거리로나온예술) |
The Moonlight Theater lineup
is set to focus on films
the whole family can watch together.
The press release (September 30) calls it
’making ginseng bibimbap’,
while the timetable lists it as
’free ginseng bibimbap tasting’.
🌿 What can you see and taste?
Besides the stages,
there are permanent exhibitions and a market too.
| Program | What it is |
|---|---|
| Heo Jun’s Herbal Pharmacy Village (허준 약방 한방촌) | 2 thatched-roof houses — a traditional pharmacy & ginseng tea tasting, with herb-trimming demos all day |
| 2 ginseng exhibition halls | Paju Gaeseong Ginseng Exhibition Hall · a new-dishes hall showing menus made with ginseng |
| Find the Ginseng Master | Top entries picked by grade, right up to an on-site auction |
| Direct sales market | 6-year-old ginseng & ginseng products, Paju farm specialties |
| Cooking contest tasting | Last year’s grand prize dish, ‘Jangdan-bean tofu-noodle keto gimbap’ — for about 300 visitors, on contest day (the 17th) |
The food zone is said to bring together
ginseng dishes, Paju farm specialties
and local food in one place.
🚇 Getting there & parking
This is the ‘How to get to the festival’ guide
on the ginseng festival page
of the city’s tourism website.
| How | Route |
|---|---|
| Car | Jayu-ro or Tongil-ro → Imjingak |
| Train | Gyeongui Line (경의선), Munsan Station (문산역) → Imjingang Station (임진강역) → walk to Imjingak |
| Shuttle bus | In front of Munsan Station exit 1 → festival site, free, runs frequently (09:00–17:00) |
But this guide has no date on it.
Some of the material on the same page
is from past years,
so double-check this year’s shuttle
in the official notices.
This year’s festival parking info
isn’t in the official notices yet.
👨👩👧 Going with kids
So families with strollers can get around easily,
there’s a little train that loops the festival grounds,
the Touring Car.
It circles the main spots at a slow pace.
With kids, put these on your list:
the free ginseng bibimbap tasting,
the herbal village with its herb-trimming demos,
and the evening Moonlight Theater.
The Moonlight Theater starts at 17:30
and runs until 19:30 — after sunset.
Pack an extra layer for the kids.
30 min from 15:00 on Sat the 17th
and the Moonlight Theater at 17:30 that day —
it's all packed into Saturday afternoon
⏳ Not announced yet
□ Overall festival hours
□ Admission info
□ Moonlight Theater lineup
□ How to join the Ginseng Health Marathon
□ This year’s shuttle bus & parking
□ Time of the cooking contest tasting
□ 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 the Agricultural Education Team
at the Agricultural Technology Center
(농업기술센터 농업교육팀), +82-31-940-5282.
👍 Recommended for these families
✔ Families who want to stay for the Saturday evening family film
✔ Families getting around the festival with a stroller
✔ Families shopping for 6-year-old ginseng & farm produce
From daytime tastings and shows to an evening film —
a festival that easily fills a whole Saturday.
We put this together from official announcements before going ourselves. 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 8
Swipe to see more
🔄 Updates
- One-week check
- First write-up
📎 Sources
- 한국관광공사 관광사진 갤러리 — 임진각광장 사진(공공누리 제1유형) 한국관광공사 · 관공서
- [기획] 디엠지(DMZ)에서 펼쳐지는 6년근 인삼의 향연, '제21회 파주개성인삼축제' 파주시(9월 30일 보도자료) · 2026.9.30 · 관공서
- 믿고 먹는 6년근 인삼…'제21회 파주개성인삼축제' 준비 총력 / 장단삼백요리 전국경연대회 본선 진출팀 확정 파주시(10월 7일 보도자료) · 2026.10.7 · 관공서
- 인삼축제 축제소개 — 2026 인삼축제 시간표 파주시 문화관광 · 관공서
- 파주시, 10월 17~18일 '제21회 파주개성인삼축제' 개최 데일리안 · 2026.9.30 · 기사
- DMZ에 6년근 인삼 향 퍼진다…'제21회 파주개성인삼축제' 17일 개막 위키트리 · 2026.9.30 · 기사
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. We did not check whether the festival offers guidance in English. Original post (Korean)