Korea's October 2026 Festivals With English Info: Dates, Tickets

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Last checked: September 24, 2026 (KST); the "What is left in October" section was updated on October 14, 2026 · Sources: maskdance.com ticket and shuttle pages, yudeung.com program list and ticket mall, Suwon City press releases of Aug 24 and Sept 15, Naju City press releases of Sept 18–23 · What changed recently: Andong opened Sept 24; Jinju's 2026 fees and free shuttle days are now published; Suwon's two paid night shows cost 5,000 won; Naju added a water show, a magistrate procession and a Black Eagles air show.

Most "best autumn festivals in Korea" lists give you twenty names and no way to tell which ones you can actually navigate without reading Korean. This post uses one hard filter instead: does the organizer itself publish the 2026 dates, tickets and transport in English? Each official festival site below was read on September 18, 2026 (KST), in its English version where one existed, and compared against the Korean page. Where a date appeared on blogs but not on the official site, the official site wins.

The short version: three of the four festivals below have usable English pages for 2026. The fourth has an English tourism site whose festival board has not been updated since 2024.

At a glance

Festival	2026 dates	Where	English info from the organizer
Andong International Maskdance Festival	Sep 24 (Thu) – Oct 4 (Sun)	Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do	Yes — dates, tickets, shuttle timetable
Jinju Namgang Yudeung (Lantern) Festival	Oct 3 (Sat) – Oct 18 (Sun)	Jinju Fortress and Namgang River	Yes — schedule, hours and program fees; overview fields still in Korean
Suwon Hwaseong Festival (63rd)	Oct 4 (Sun) – Oct 11 (Sun)	Hwaseong Haenggung area, Suwon	Yes — programs plus bookings for international visitors
Naju Yeongsan River Festival	Oct 7 (Wed) – Oct 11 (Sun)	Yeongsan River Garden, Naju	English board still shows the 2024 edition

What is left in October (updated October 14)

Andong (ended October 4), Suwon (October 11) and Naju (October 11) are over. Two events remain this month:

Date	What happens	Where
Until Oct 18, nightly	Jinju lantern festival: lanterns lit 18:00 – 24:00, floating bridges 13:00 – 23:00	Jinju Fortress and Namgang River
Oct 17 (Sat), evening	Jinju drone show and fireworks, the last of each this year	Namgang River, Jinju
Oct 16 – 18	Jinju free shuttle days (16:00 – 23:00, booked via Kakao T)	Jinju
Oct 21 – 25	Gangneung Coffee Festival, 10:00 – 20:00 daily, free shuttle from Gangneung Station	Anmok Coffee Street, Gangneung
Oct 24 (Sat), 20:00	Gangneung Coffee Festival fireworks	Gangneung Port breakwater

The Jinju times above are from the official pages read in September (details in the Jinju section below). On October 14 the festival's stage timetable still listed a drone show on the evening of October 17. The Gangneung rows come from the festival's programme and transport pages, re-read on October 13; our Gangneung Coffee Festival 2026 guide has the full timetable, shuttle loop and parking.

Andong International Maskdance Festival (Sep 24 – Oct 4)

The English festival site lists the 2026 run as September 24 to October 4, across Central Line 1942 Andong Station, the old downtown, Talchum Park and Hahoe Village. The Korean page adds that the opening ceremony starts on September 25 at 18:00. The site has English, Japanese and Chinese language options.

Tickets. The English ticket page lists an adult ticket at 8,000 won and a student ticket at 6,000 won. Adults get a 2,000-won "Talchum Love Coupon" back when exchanging the ticket. Preschool children under 6 and people with disabilities enter free. Advance tickets must be exchanged at the booth, and one ticket covers one performance viewing — the audience leaves after each show. The page does not print a year next to the prices. The Korean ticket page adds what the English one leaves out: those are the on-site prices, and advance tickets cost less — 6,000 won for adults and 4,000 won for students. For international visitors the English site also lists five special tour courses at USD 20 to 27 per person, including a Hahoe fire-rope premium tour on Sept 26, Oct 3 and Oct 4.

Getting to Hahoe Village. The shuttle page gives an hourly bus from the festival grounds toward the Hahoe Village ticket office, 10:00 to 20:00, with break hours from 12:00 to 12:59 and 18:00 to 18:59. The return route runs from Hahoe Village via Andong Intercity Bus Terminal and Andong Station back to the festival grounds. On weekdays (Sept 24 and Sept 28 – Oct 1) the last bus to Hahoe leaves at 17:00. On September 26, October 3 and October 4 — the Seonyu Julbullori fire rope nights — the timetable changes and the Hahoe stop moves to the Andong Ganggodeungeo Sutbul Garden main branch, as the Korean shuttle page lists it, so check that table separately.

Festival office: 054-840-3424.

Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival (Oct 3 – Oct 18)

Third-party travel guides still list October 1 to 18. The official English site says October 3 (Sat) to October 18 (Sun), 2026, held at Jinju Fortress and along the Namgang River, hosted by Jinju City and the Jinju Culture and Arts Foundation.

Hours on the official page:

• Lantern lighting: 18:00 – 24:00
• Floating bridges and booths: 13:00 – 23:00

Key dates from the English main-event listing:

• Oct 3, 18:00 — Goyuje announcement ritual at Jinju Fortress; 18:30 lantern parade from the Music Fountain; 19:30 opening lantern lighting
• Drone light show — Oct 3 and Oct 17 at 19:50, Oct 10 at 20:00
• Fireworks — Oct 3, Oct 9 and Oct 17 at 20:00, between Jinju Bridge and Cheonsu Bridge

A caveat on the English support: after checking the original English event overview page, the theme, venue and host fields are still written in Korean.

What costs money in 2026. Walking into the festival is free — VisitKorea's page lists admission as free. The paid parts are in the festival's own program list, which I compared against its ticket mall:

Program	2026 fee
Floating bridge crossing	2,000 won one way · 6,000 won day pass (tickets sold until 22:50)
Make and float your own lantern (floating from 18:00)	5,000 won
Hang a wish lantern	10,000 won
LED hanbok rental	10,000 won for 1 hour · 15,000 won for 2 hours

Free shuttle. The festival runs free shuttle buses on Oct 3–5, Oct 9–11 and Oct 16–18, from 16:00 to 23:00, booked through a Kakao T shuttle page linked on the site. The site does not list a shuttle for the other days.

Suwon Hwaseong Festival (Oct 4 – Oct 11)

The 63rd edition runs October 4 to October 11 around Hwaseong Haenggung Square (825 Jeongjo-ro, Paldal-gu, Suwon). The English site is the most complete of the four for visitors who want to book something: its booking section separates "Booking for Ticketed Performances" from "Exclusive Reservations for International Visitors", described as reservations exclusive to international visitors.

The centerpiece is on the opening day. The English Royal Procession page lists four October 4 events:

• Suwon Hwaseong Parade — Suwon Sports Complex to Janganmun Gate to Haenggung Square
• Welcoming Ceremony for King Jeongjo — Nosong Area and Janganmun Gate
• King Jeongjo's Royal Parade (reenactment of the 1795 procession) — Nosong Area to Haenggung Square
• Finale performance "Jeongjo Fantasy" — Haenggung Square

The English schedule menu also starts on October 3 (Sat), one day before the official festival dates, because the Korean site lists the night program "Haenggung Yahwa" from October 3 to October 11. Suwon City's September 15 press release confirms October 4 to 11 as the festival itself.

The two paid night shows. According to the city's August 24 release, bookings opened that day on the festival site:

Show	Dates	Place	Seats	Price
Suwon Fantasy "Yajo" (night military drill show)	Oct 7 – Oct 10, 20:00	Yeonmudae	about 1,500	5,000 won
"Seonyumong"	Oct 5 – Oct 11	Yongyeon pond	100	5,000 won

Festival office: 031-5191-3647.

Naju Yeongsan River Festival (Oct 7 – Oct 11)

Naju's festival is on the list because it shows what "no English support" looks like in practice. The 2026 details — October 7 to 11 at Yeongsan River Garden, with drone and fireworks shows on the opening night — are on the Korean festival page. Naju does run an English tourism site, but its festival board has one post, "2024 Naju Yeongsan River Festival", dated November 8, 2024. If you go, plan on a translation app and the Korean page.

I read through Naju City's press releases from September 18 to 23 for anything added since. New on the program: a musical show on Oct 8 at 19:00, a water show on the main stage on Oct 9 at 19:00, the Naju magistrate's arrival procession on Oct 9, evening wish-boat floating from 16:00 each day, and a Black Eagles air show on Oct 11. Direct shuttles will run from three points — Naju City Hall, Yeongsanpo riverside sports park and the KEPCO KDN building — but the city has not yet posted times.

Two big events that are not in October

• Seoul International Fireworks Festival moved to early September this year. Hanwha's newsroom announcement set it for September 5, so it has already happened.
• Busan Fireworks Festival is on November 7, 2026 (Sat), at Gwangalli Beach, Igidae and Dongbaekseom, per the official overview. Paid seats are sold through NOL Ticket from September 4, 14:00 until November 6, 17:00.

What to do next

If you are flying in for one of these, check your entry paperwork before booking. The temporary K-ETA exemption for visa-free visitors is covered in K-ETA Temporary Exemption Extended Through 2026. For Andong, buy tickets on site or exchange advance tickets at the booth; for Suwon, use the international-visitor reservation page early, since the opening-day parade draws the largest crowd.

What this post could not confirm

• Whether the Andong prices are 2026 rates (no year is printed next to them), and whether any foreigner discount exists — neither the Korean nor the English ticket page mentions one
• What Suwon's international-visitor reservations include and cost: the festival site refused automated access on September 24, so only the city's press releases were read
• Whether the Jinju Kakao T shuttle booking charges anything, and parking fees
• Naju's shuttle times, and any English-language page for the 2026 festival

Checking the text of each official site again the week before you travel is worth the two minutes — organizers adjust shuttle times and performance slots close to opening.