Jinju's three signature autumn festivals set to light up October

As autumn deepens, the entire city of Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, will transform into a grand festival stage in October.

Jinju City announced Monday that it will simultaneously host three of its signature autumn festivals — the Namgang Yudeung Festival, the Gaecheon Arts Festival and the Korea Drama Festival (KDF) — over 16 days from Oct. 3 to 18 around Jinjuseong Fortress and the Nam River.

About 1.7 million visitors are expected to attend this year's festivals, which mark the inaugural year of the Namgang Yudeung Festival's designation as a "global festival" by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The city will receive 2.4 billion won ($1.76 million) in national funding over three years — 800 million won annually — to pursue its ambitions as a global tourism destination. Targeting 10,000 foreign visitors, the city has separately recruited 23 professional interpreters to be stationed on-site. Multilingual signage and promotional materials in English, Japanese and Chinese will also be significantly expanded to assist international guests.

The Namgang Yudeung Festival, which opens the season, will be held under the theme "River of History, Carrying Peace." The festival reinterprets the historical significance of the yudeung — floating lanterns used during the Imjin War as military signals and as a means of sending word to families outside the castle walls — through a contemporary lens. During the festival, lanterns will illuminate the Nam River nightly from 6 p.m. to midnight.

This year, the city is partnering with the Jinju Culture and Arts Foundation to pilot AI-powered lanterns. Jinju's mascot characters Hamo and Ayo will recognize multilingual voice input and hold real-time conversations with visitors. On the opening day, Saturday, a nighttime parade will feature residents from all 30 towns and neighborhoods carrying symbolic lanterns they crafted themselves, building excitement for the launch.

A large-scale drone light show featuring 1,300 drones will be staged three times — on Oct. 3, Oct. 10 and Oct. 17 — while fireworks will light up the night sky over the Nam River on Oct. 3, Oct. 9 and Oct. 17. To prevent accidents such as falling drones, access to the area around Jinjuseong Fortress and the adjacent museum will be completely restricted starting one hour before each show. Four dedicated safety personnel will be assigned per zone on the pontoon bridges along the Nam River used for lantern viewing.

The 75th Gaecheon Arts Festival — South Korea's first comprehensive arts festival — will run from Oct. 9 to 18. This year, the city has significantly expanded the national preliminary rounds. Artists who have competed in regional preliminaries — the National Calligraphy Competition in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province; the Namgaram Song Festival in Namwon, North Jeolla Province; and the National Poetry Recitation Competition in Busan — will converge on Jinju for the main event. The National Costume Parade Competition, now in its 19th year, will draw 30 teams totaling about 1,700 participants, including six teams from outside the city and 10 newly participating teams. A parade of characters representing 22 local governments will add to the spectacle.

The festival's main food market, featuring 111 vendor booths, has had pricing, food quantities and portion weights agreed upon in advance at the contract stage. A "one-strike-out" policy will be enforced, under which any vendor caught overcharging will be immediately removed, and the responsible city department will maintain a permanent inspection team on-site.

The 2026 Korea Drama Festival will follow, running from Oct. 9 at the South Gyeongsang Province Culture and Arts Center and along the Nam River in Jangdae-dong. The Korea Drama Awards ceremony, set for 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 10, will recognize dramas broadcast over the past year across terrestrial, cable and OTT platforms in 13 categories. KDF concerts and music festivals will be held nightly at 8:30 p.m. along the Nam River, and an exhibition space themed around recent dramas will also be open to visitors.

"It will be a special stage where the light of the yudeung, 75 years of cultural and artistic tradition, and K-dramas all come together," Jinju Mayor Jo Gyu-il said. "I hope everyone will visit Jinju with family and loved ones to fully enjoy the spirit of autumn."