Pay with Pajupay and get 10% back — up to 30,000 won per person
Paju will host the 2026 Pajupay Festa, an autumn festival centered on the city's local currency Pajupay, at Unjeong Central Park on Saturday.
The Pajupay Festa brings together residents and small business owners through the Paju local currency. Launched last year, the inaugural edition drew more than 7,300 visitors. This year's festival runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is larger in scale than last year, with a significantly expanded lineup of hands-on programs for visitors to enjoy throughout the day.
The venue will feature more than 70 exhibition booths organized into eight themed zones — a bakery zone, an animal friends zone, a kids zone, a farm produce zone, a social enterprise zone, a small business zone, a food zone and a book village zone — bringing together distinctive Paju products and local food in one place.
A main stage will host family-friendly performances including a bubble show, a mime show and a magic show. Starting at 6 p.m., singers Gyeongseo and Lim Chang-jung will take the stage for a special concert to cap the autumn evening.
Visitors who pay with Pajupay at the festival will receive 10 percent of their spending back as a consumer subsidy. The refund is capped at 30,000 won per person and will end early if the budget runs out.
Paju Mayor Son Bae-chan said the festival is "a place where residents can meet local merchants in person and feel the value of local currency together," adding that he hopes a large turnout will bring vitality to the neighborhood's commercial district.
The city noted that parking near the venue is limited and asked visitors arriving by vehicle to use the GTX Unjeong Central Station parking lot nearby. It particularly urged the public to use public transportation, warning that traffic congestion is expected around the venue before and after the 6 p.m. concert.
Paju currently offers Pajupay users a standing 10 percent discount. As of October, the service had accumulated about 460,000 registered members. The city said it plans to continue developing Pajupay as a pillar connecting residents' daily lives with the local economy.
pjh@heraldcorp.com
