Gyeonggi Province to hold DMZ OPEN Festival from Oct 12 to Nov 29
In short
Gyeonggi Province said it will stage the 2026 DMZ OPEN Festival from Oct 12 to Nov 29 at Imjingak Peace Nuri in Paju and venues around Goyang, under the theme “Open the Line, Connect the Life.” The programme has three parts: an art exhibition running the full period, an international music festival at Goyang Aram Nuri on Oct 23–25, and an eco-peace forum at Sono Calm Goyang on Oct 28. The province said it expects the DMZ’s ecological and peace values to be experienced in daily life and carried beyond Korea.
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Gyeonggi Province said it will hold the 2026 DMZ OPEN Festival from Oct 12 to Nov 29 at Imjingak Peace Nuri in Paju and at venues around Goyang. The province announced the schedule on Oct 5, saying the festival is themed “Open the Line, Connect the Life” — opening the line of the Demilitarized Zone, described as a symbol of division and borders, to connect people with one another and daily life with the world. [ 1 , 2 ]
The programme has three parts: the DMZ OPEN exhibition, the DMZ OPEN international music festival and the DMZ OPEN eco-peace forum. The exhibition opens Oct 12 and runs to Nov 29, centred on Imjingak Peace Nuri, and the province says 14 Korean and foreign artists will present works on the DMZ’s history, ecology, memory and coexistence. The two documents differ on part of the line-up: Yonhap lists Ahn Kyu-chul, Seon-mu, Abigail Raphael Collins, Yoon Su-yeon, Dennis Berch and Yeon Jin-young, while Asia Economy lists Ahn Kyu-chul, Seon-mu, Abigail Raphael Collins, Yoon Su-yeon and Park Chan-kyung. [ 1 , 2 ]
The international music festival will be held four times from Oct 23 to 25 at the Aram Concert Hall of Goyang Aram Nuri, under the theme “PACE: Returning to Peace,” with a sequence titled Pulse, Awaken, Connect and Eternity. The KBS Symphony Orchestra, Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahlerian Orchestra and Millennium Philharmonic Orchestra are taking part, with conductors Michael Sanderling, Yeo Ja-kyung and Jin Sol, pianist Son Se-hyeok and violinist Lim Ji-young. Asia Economy also reports that soprano Cho Sumi will perform with the Millennium Philharmonic Orchestra at the closing concert, a detail not in the other document. Yonhap reports tickets have been on sale since Oct 2 through the Goyang Aram Nuri website and NOL Ticket. [ 1 , 2 ]
On Oct 28, the eco-peace forum will be held at Sono Calm Goyang under the main theme “Opening the Path to Peaceful Coexistence.” Gyeonggi Province, the Unification Ministry and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation are co-hosting it, with about 350 domestic and foreign experts and residents expected. Asia Economy adds that Valérie Gelézeau of France’s School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences will give the keynote speech and hold a dialogue with the heads of the co-hosting organisations, and that the Unification Ministry and the foundation will each run afternoon peace sessions while the province holds an ecology session. [ 1 , 2 ]
Park Hyun-suk, director of the Gyeonggi Province Peace Cooperation Bureau, said, “I hope that through art, music and international discussion, the ecological and peace values of the DMZ can be experienced in daily life and that those values become an occasion to extend to the world.” [ 1 , 2 ]
Why it matters
The festival is a provincial government cultural programme that uses the Demilitarized Zone — described in the documents as a symbol of division and borders — as its subject, and it pairs art and music with a policy-oriented forum. The Oct 28 forum is co-hosted by the Unification Ministry and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which gives the event a policy dimension alongside its cultural line-up. Beyond that, the documents offer no stated outcomes or impact.
Key facts
- Gyeonggi Province announced the 2026 DMZ OPEN Festival will run from Oct 12 to Nov 29 in Paju and around Goyang. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The theme is “Open the Line, Connect the Life,” described as opening the line of the DMZ to connect people and daily life with the world. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The festival has three main programmes: the DMZ OPEN exhibition, the DMZ OPEN international music festival and the DMZ OPEN eco-peace forum. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The exhibition runs Oct 12 to Nov 29, centred on Imjingak Peace Nuri in Paju, with 14 Korean and foreign artists taking part. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The international music festival will be held four times on Oct 23–25 at the Aram Concert Hall of Goyang Aram Nuri. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The eco-peace forum takes place Oct 28 at Sono Calm Goyang, co-hosted by Gyeonggi Province, the Unification Ministry and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, with about 350 experts and residents expected. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Music festival tickets can be booked through the Goyang Aram Nuri website and NOL Ticket. [ 1 , 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The 2026 DMZ OPEN Festival will be held from Oct 12 to Nov 29 in Paju and around Goyang, organised by Gyeonggi Province. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The festival theme is “Open the Line, Connect the Life.” [ 1 , 2 ]
- The programme consists of an exhibition, an international music festival and an eco-peace forum. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The exhibition opens Oct 12 and runs to Nov 29, centred on Imjingak Peace Nuri, with 14 Korean and foreign artists. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The international music festival runs Oct 23–25 at Goyang Aram Nuri’s Aram Concert Hall, with four performances under the theme “PACE: Returning to Peace.” [ 1 , 2 ]
- The KBS Symphony Orchestra, Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahlerian Orchestra and Millennium Philharmonic Orchestra are taking part, with conductors Michael Sanderling, Yeo Ja-kyung and Jin Sol, pianist Son Se-hyeok and violinist Lim Ji-young. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The eco-peace forum is held Oct 28 at Sono Calm Goyang under the main theme “Opening the Path to Peaceful Coexistence,” co-hosted by Gyeonggi Province, the Unification Ministry and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, with about 350 participants. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Park Hyun-suk, director of the Gyeonggi Province Peace Cooperation Bureau, said he hopes the DMZ’s ecological and peace values can be experienced in daily life through art, music and international discussion and extend to the world. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Tickets for the international music festival went on sale from Oct 2. [ 1 ]
Still unclear
- Which artists make up the 14-person exhibition line-up. The two documents give partly different names: Yonhap lists Ahn Kyu-chul, Seon-mu, Abigail Raphael Collins, Yoon Su-yeon, Dennis Berch and Yeon Jin-young, while Asia Economy lists Ahn Kyu-chul, Seon-mu, Abigail Raphael Collins, Yoon Su-yeon and Park Chan-kyung. Neither gives the full 14-name roster, and the documents do not explain the difference.
- A closing performance by soprano Cho Sumi with the Millennium Philharmonic Orchestra. Mentioned only by Asia Economy; Yonhap’s account of the music festival does not include it.
- A keynote speech at the forum by Valérie Gelézeau of France’s School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. Mentioned only by Asia Economy; the other document describes the forum’s date, co-hosts and participant numbers but not the speaker.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Tickets for the international music festival go on sale through the Goyang Aram Nuri website and NOL Ticket. [ 1 ]
- Gyeonggi Province announces the 2026 DMZ OPEN Festival schedule and programme. [ 1 ]
- Asia Economy publishes its report on the festival, adding the closing performance and forum speaker. [ 2 ]
- The festival opens and the DMZ OPEN exhibition begins at Imjingak Peace Nuri in Paju. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The DMZ OPEN international music festival opens at Goyang Aram Nuri, running through Oct 25 with four performances. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The DMZ OPEN eco-peace forum is held at Sono Calm Goyang. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The exhibition and the festival close. [ 1 , 2 ]