Busan's Gijang Eupseong Festival to debut Oct. 9-11 at 600-year-old fortress
In short
Busan's Gijang County will hold the first Gijang Eupseong Festival from Oct. 9 to 11 around the roughly 600-year-old Gijang Eupseong fortress. The event is an expanded and reorganised version of the Chasung Cultural Festival, with reading, hands-on experience, board game, talk, film and music programmes. County head Woo Seong-bin said he hopes the fortress will be remembered as a place where residents and visitors can stay and enjoy.
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Gijang County in Busan will hold the 2026 Gijang Eupseong Festival from Oct. 9 to 11 around Gijang Eupseong, the county said on Oct. 6, according to Yonhap. Newsis and Kukmin Ilbo also reported the dates, with Kukmin Ilbo noting the festival opens on the 9th. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Yonhap reported that the festival is being held for the first time and is an expanded and reorganised version of the Chasung Cultural Festival, which had highlighted Gijang's history and cultural value. The county restructured the venue and the way programmes are run so that the event centres on the fortress itself, with stay-type content under the concept “let's play at the fortress”: reading, hands-on activities, board games, talks, film and music. [ 3 ]
Gijang Eupseong was built in 1425, the seventh year of King Sejong, and has about 600 years of history, Yonhap reported, a figure also used in the Kukmin Ilbo and Newsis headlines. It was designated a Busan city cultural heritage in May 1996. Repeated excavations identified the fortress wall, gate sites, a moat, battlements and building sites, and part of the wall and the moat have been restored and maintained. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
The county said it hopes the festival will make Gijang Eupseong better known. County head Woo Seong-bin said he hopes the fortress will be remembered not only as a place looking at the past, but as somewhere residents and visitors can comfortably stay and enjoy. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The festival replaces and enlarges an existing local cultural event, tying it to a specific heritage site and to the surrounding commercial area, according to Yonhap. For the county, it is presented as a way to draw outside visitors to Gijang Eupseong and to make the landmark more familiar.
Key facts
- The 2026 Gijang Eupseong Festival will run from Oct. 9 to 11 at Gijang Eupseong in Gijang County, Busan. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The county said the festival is being held for the first time this year. [ 3 ]
- It is an expanded and reorganised version of the Chasung Cultural Festival, which highlighted Gijang's history and cultural value. [ 3 ]
- The concept is “let's play at the fortress,” with reading, experience, board game, talk, film and music programmes. [ 3 ]
- Gijang Eupseong was built in 1425, the seventh year of King Sejong, giving it about 600 years of history. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The fortress was designated a Busan city cultural heritage in May 1996, and excavations have identified walls, gate sites, a moat, battlements and building sites, with part of the wall and moat restored. [ 3 ]
- Gijang County head Woo Seong-bin said he hopes Gijang Eupseong will be remembered not only as a place looking at the past but as somewhere residents and visitors can comfortably stay and enjoy. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Details of the fortress's construction date, its 1996 heritage designation and the excavation findings. These are given only by Yonhap; the other two outlets carry only headline-level summaries.
- The number of visitors expected and the cost or scale of the event. No document states visitor figures or budget.
- The status of the earlier Chasung Cultural Festival, which Yonhap says was expanded and reorganised into the new event. Only one source describes the change and it does not say whether the old festival continues under another form.