Characters, games and cosplay gather at Daejeon DCC from Friday through Sunday, with subculture programs rounding out the lineup
Daejeon is set to host a festival bringing together characters, games and cosplay, complete with an awards ceremony and a parade.
The city will hold the 2026 Daejeon Contents Fair at Exhibition Hall 2 of the Daejeon Convention Center from Friday through Sunday.
Organized by the city and co-hosted by the Daejeon Tourism Organization and the Daejeon Institute for Creative Content Industry, the event will feature exhibitions, hands-on experiences, performances and business programs centered on public characters, serious games and subculture.
This year, 149 companies and organizations will participate across 298 booths — a significant expansion from last year's 96 companies and 200 booths. The city expects about 12,000 visitors over the three-day run.
The opening ceremony on Friday drew about 65 people, including Daejeon Vice Mayor for Political Affairs and Science Ji Young-han and other guests and content industry representatives, who celebrated the launch and toured the main exhibition and experience booths.
The flagship program, the Korea Local Government and Public Character Festival, featured 92 public characters from across the country. Online public voting drew 958,942 votes — 2.5 times more than last year.
On Saturday, the event will hold an awards ceremony for 20 winning characters and the Korea Serious Game Fair, followed by subculture programs and a public character parade stretching to the venue of the Daejeon Bread Festival.
Debuting this year, the Korea Serious Game Fair will let visitors try 27 serious games spanning education, school-violence prevention, senior care and accessibility. The second Adaptive Esports Summit, featuring domestic and international experts, will also be held alongside character IP consulting and business-matching programs.
The subculture lineup is equally strong, with a costume parade, fan-signing sessions with popular cosplayers and a cosplay runway featuring 24 teams from across the country.
On Sunday, an anime song festival and DJ performances will follow, while itasha vehicle displays and a range of family activity programs will run throughout the event.
Daejeon plans to link the fair's visitor flow with the 2026 Daejeon Bread Festival, running Saturday and Sunday at Mulbit Square near the DCC, and to create synergy with the PUBG Mobile Pro Series finals being held at the Daejeon Esports Arena over the same weekend.
A shuttle bus will run between Daejeon Station's east plaza and the DCC for visitor convenience. On Saturday and Sunday, buses will operate every 30 minutes at a fare of 1,000 won.
"I hope this Daejeon Contents Fair brings joy and new experiences to citizens, and opportunities for exchange and collaboration to companies and creators," Vice Mayor Ji said. "We will continue to actively support local content companies and creators so they can sharpen their competitiveness and take on new markets."
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
