This post summarizes official announcements; it is not a review of a visit. Sources: the festival website (ggcfest.com), Gwanak-gu Office and Gwanak Cultural Foundation notices, checked on October 7, 2026. The character illustrations are GPT-generated images.
- Dates
- Fri, Oct 16, 2026 ~ Sun, Oct 18
- Hours
- 10:00–21:00, varies by program · Weekend programs (Sat–Sun) 12:00–21:00
- Venue
- Nakseongdae Park area (낙성대공원 일대)77 Nakseongdae-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul (서울 관악구 낙성대로 77)
- Organizer
- Gwanak-gu Office & Gwanak 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, 2 AM issued · forecasts can change
📌 What's on each day
- 10/16Fri★ Dream Concert · Memorial riteToday
- 10/17Sat★ Fireworks · ★ Talk show · PlaygroundToday
- 10/18SunPlayground · Community ArtsToday
Gwanak Gang Gam-chan Festival 2026 in Seoul — Schedule, Timetable & Parking, plus a History Talk Show and Aerial Fireworks at Nakseongdae Park
Gwanak Gang Gam-chan Festival 2026 TOMORROW poster — Oct 16–18, 2026. Nakseongdae Park, Gwanaksan Mountain, and Anguksa Temple (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 3)
October — time to plan an autumn day out 🍂
In Nakseongdae, Gwanak-gu,
where General Gang Gam-chan,
a great commander of the Goryeo dynasty, was born,
a local history festival is coming up.
The Gwanak Gang Gam-chan Festival 2026
(관악강감찬축제)
runs for three days, Fri Oct 16 – Sun Oct 18,
around Nakseongdae Park.
This year marks its 10th anniversary.
We put this together from
the festival website
and Gwanak Cultural Foundation notices,
as of October 7.
'With Families!' day
🎪 What kind of festival is it?
past festival — Procession and temple approach lined with traditional lanterns (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 3)
past festival — Outdoor stage performance and audience (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 3)
It started fresh in 2016,
when the ‘Gwanaksan Azalea Festival’ (held since 1998)
and the ‘Nakseongdae Inheonje’ (held since 1988)
were merged into one.
In January 2024,
Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
named it a ‘preliminary Culture & Tourism Festival’.
This year’s theme is
’TOMORROW — Opening the Future’.
On the website’s timetable,
each day has its own name:
16th — With Young People
17th — With Families
18th — With Residents
✨ What’s on each day?
We’ve put the three days’ timetable into a table for each day.
Fri, Oct 16 — With Young People
| Date & time | Program |
|---|---|
| Oct 16 (Fri) 10:00–12:00 | Memorial rite for General Gang Gam-chan (Anguksa Shrine 안국사) |
| Oct 16 (Fri) 13:00–17:00 | Inheon calligraphy contest (Open Yard 열린마당) |
| Oct 16 (Fri) 15:00–16:00 | Chungnam Youth Art Festa performance |
| Oct 16 (Fri) 19:00–21:00 | Youth Dream Concert (Main Plaza 대광장) |
The concert features Dynamic Duo, rapper Sinseu (신스)
and hip-hop clubs from five Seoul universities.
The foundation’s press release says
both shows are free for anyone to watch.
Sat, Oct 17 — With Families
| Date & time | Program |
|---|---|
| Oct 17 (Sat) 10:00–17:00 | Children’s drawing contest (Inheon Art Festival, Seoul Citizens’ University) |
| Oct 17 (Sat) 11:00–18:00 | ‘Find the Little Gang Gam-chan’ (Anguksa Shrine) |
| Oct 17 (Sat) 13:00–14:00 | Seol Min-seok’s Gang Gam-chan talk show (Seol Min-seok 설민석 is a well-known Korean history lecturer) |
| Oct 17 (Sat) 14:30–16:00 | Quiz show (planned, Main Plaza) |
| Oct 17 (Sat) 16:00–18:00 | ‘Ullim (Resonance)’ intergenerational concert (Open Yard) |
| Oct 17 (Sat) 19:30–20:30 | 10th-anniversary special show ‘Gang Gam-chan, Who Came from the Stars’ (Main Plaza) |
The special show is a 60-minute outdoor performance —
traditional performing arts, contemporary dance
and live music,
topped off with an aerial fireworks performance.
Sun, Oct 18 — With Residents
| Date & time | Program |
|---|---|
| Oct 18 (Sun) 11:00–17:00 | Community Arts Festival performances & hands-on activities (Anguksa Shrine) |
| Oct 18 (Sun) 12:00–14:30 | Citizens’ Pungnyu Festival (Main Plaza) |
| Oct 18 (Sun) 16:00–19:00 | Community Arts Festival performances (Main Plaza) |
Under the timetable it says:
“Programs may change
depending on how things run on the day.”
🎡 Weekend all-day programs
past festival — Hands-on activities in front of a traditional building (Photo: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 3)
On Saturday and Sunday,
the all-day programs run
daytime 12:00–19:00
evening 19:00–21:00.
Here they are by location.
| Location | Programs & markets |
|---|---|
| Middle Plaza (중광장) | 🧒 Byeolbyeol Playground (별별놀이터) — a family activity where you try out Gang Gam-chan’s strategy and tactics through play |
| Nakseong Flower Garden (낙성꽃뜰정원) | 🏹 Archery program by Gwanakjeong (traditional Korean archery) · instant photos for three-generation families · 10th-anniversary archive exhibition |
| Anguksa Shrine | 📚 Goryeo Suseowon pop-up outdoor library — an outdoor library run with Seoul Library (17th–18th, 12:00–18:00) |
| Open Yard | Goryeo Market — market, from Friday 13:00 |
| Walking trail | Byeongnando 21 — market |
There are also booths from Gwanak’s 21 neighborhoods,
a Wish Tunnel, and the permanent exhibition
at the Gang Gam-chan Exhibition Hall.
🚇 How do I get there? What about parking?
the subway or bus
Here’s how the website says to get there.
| Transport | Where to get off · walk |
|---|---|
| Subway | Nakseongdae Station (Line 2), exit 4 — 10-minute walk |
| Bus | Nakseongdae Entrance stop (낙성대입구) — 5-minute walk |
Here’s the website’s notice, word for word:
“Roads around Nakseongdae Park may be congested
during the festival.
Please use the subway or bus where possible.”
If the nearby public car parks fill up,
they say they’ll direct you to alternative parking.
👨👩👧 Going with kids?
If you can pick only one day,
make it Saturday the 17th,
the day the website calls ‘With Families!’.
The afternoon talk show, Byeolbyeol Playground
and the 19:30 fireworks show are all on the same day.
On the 18th, the Community Arts Festival
sets up craft and flea-market booths at Anguksa Shrine.
Only two of the activities need a reservation.
| Activity | Booking |
|---|---|
| Knitting ‘Punggyeong (풍경)’ | Reservation required |
| Pottery ‘Clay Crew (클레이크루)’ | Reservation required |
| Other activities | Sign up on site |
If you sign up with the ‘사전신청하기’ (pre-register) button on the website,
you get a ‘Gang Gam-chan Summons’ image.
Save it and show it on site to check in, they say.
The fireworks show is outdoors after dark,
so pack an extra jacket for the kids.
No sign-up needed
Pre-registered for the quiz show?
Check in on site by 12:30 that day!
If you're late, your spot
goes to on-site participants
⏳ Not announced yet
□ What happens if it rains
□ Number of parking spaces & fees, shuttle buses
□ Any admission fee for the festival as a whole
□ How to sign up for the drawing contest & ‘Little Gang Gam-chan’
□ How to join the AR treasure hunt & stamp mission
□ Benefits for checking in with the Summons
The AR treasure hunt, stamp mission,
plogging challenge and the daily 17:00 lucky draw
were all ‘COMING SOON’ as of October 7.
We’ll update this post when they’re out.
👍 Who this is for
✔ Families who want to hear Gang Gam-chan’s story with their kids
(Seol Min-seok’s talk show — no sign-up needed to watch)
✔ Families looking for play and making activities
(Byeolbyeol Playground, crafts on the 18th)
✔ Families staying for the evening fireworks show
(17th at 19:30, Main Plaza)
Talk show and play by day,
fireworks by night —
a Saturday that makes a great full day out.
For questions, contact the Gwanak Cultural Foundation
festival planning team at
02-828-5762.
We put this post together from official announcements, before visiting ourselves. Event photos are from the Korea Tourism Organization, released under KOGL Type 3 (attribution, no derivatives) and shown unedited. The character illustrations are GPT-generated images.
📷 The festival in photos 10
Swipe to see more
🔄 Updates
- One-week check
- First write-up
📎 Sources
- 한국관광공사 국문 관광정보(TourAPI) — 관악강감찬축제 행사 사진 (contentid 2612274) 한국관광공사 · 관공서
- 2026 관악강감찬축제 10주년, 미래를 열다 TOMORROW (축제안내·프로그램·타임테이블·오시는길) 관악문화재단(관악강감찬축제 누리집) · 주최
- 관악강감찬축제 (축제 소개·개최 이력) 관악구청 · 2026.9.2 · 관공서
- 2026 관악강감찬축제, 청년예술로 물든다! '청년 드림 콘서트' 개최 관악문화재단 · 2026.9.30 · 주최
- 「2026 관악강감찬축제」 토크쇼&퀴즈쇼 참가자 사전모집 공고 관악문화재단 · 2026.9.7 · 주최
- 강감찬의 별을 따라 걷는 가을밤... 서울대 천문대 별 관측 '낙성대 야별회' 참가자 모집 관악문화재단 · 2026.9.30 · 주최
- 2026 관악구 생활예술페스티벌 개최 안내(10/18) 관악문화재단 · 2026.9.30 · 주최
- 2026 관악강감찬축제 서울특별시 펀서울 · 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. We did not check whether the festival offers guidance in English. Original post (Korean)