If you’re planning an autumn trip to Gongju, it’s worth timing it with the Baekje Cultural Festival. This isn’t just a festival where you sit and watch shows — Gongsanseong Fortress, the Geumgang River and the old royal town become the actual stage, so you get to experience Baekje history and culture first-hand.
With kids, the real draw is how many hands-on programs there are. Here’s my rundown of the 72nd Baekje Cultural Festival in 2026: dates, admission, parking, the best activities for children, and the headline programs you won’t want to miss.
1. Baekje Cultural Festival 2026 Dates and Basics
- Event: 72nd Baekje Cultural Festival
- Dates: October 3–11, 2026 (9 days)
- Venues: Geumgang Singwan Park, Gongsanseong Fortress and the old royal town area
- Theme: “The Bronze Mirror: Reflecting 1,500 Years of Baekje Light”
This year also marks the 11th anniversary of the Baekje Historic Areas being inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the programs are centered on places tied to that history — Gongsanseong, Mireuseom Island and Geumgang Singwan Park.
That’s really the best reason to go. Visiting Gongsanseong on an ordinary day feels completely different from visiting during the festival. With hands-on activities, parades, night performances and media art set against real historic sites, explaining Baekje history to your kids becomes much easier.
If you’re doing it as a day trip, give yourself from the afternoon into the evening. Hands-on activities during the day and media art and night programs after dark is the most efficient way to see it.
2. Start With These Programs If You Have Kids
The Baekje Cultural Festival has a lot of programs, but you don’t need to chase all of them with children.
If I had to prioritize, these three are the best picks.
Let’s Play, Baekje!
Held at Gongsanseong Fortress every day from October 3 to 11, 10:00–18:00.
Kids can try traditional Korean games such as ssang-yut (double yut), tuho (arrow throwing), biseokchigi (stone tossing) and jegichagi (shuttlecock kicking). It suits children who would rather move around than sit through a performance.
It’s also a nice way to turn a walk along the fortress walls into something more than sightseeing.
Find the Future in the Bronze Mirror!
This is the program most closely tied to this year’s theme.
It’s a stamp tour that starts at Gongsanseong and moves toward Sanseong Market, with location-based missions completed on a mobile device. The story is built around the three bronze mirrors excavated from the Tomb of King Muryeong. It runs daily during the festival, 10:00–18:00.
If you’re traveling with an elementary schooler like I am, programs like this are the way to go. Solving missions as you move makes a history trip far less boring than simply following adults around ruins.
Baekje Village Gomachon
On Mireuseom Island you’ll find Baekje Village Gomachon, a great spot to spend time with kids.
It’s an interactive area with Baekje cultural experiences, historical performances, participatory role-play, traditional games and mini-games. There are also workshops where children make replicas of Baekje artifacts and everyday items.
Personally, I’d build the day around these three and fit the other performances in between.
3. Headline Programs Worth Seeing This Year
If you spent the day on activities, the festival’s second act begins after sunset.
Ungjin Fantasia “Bronze Mirror”
October 4–10, 2026, nightly 21:00–21:30 on the main stage at Geumgang Singwan Park.
This is the Baekje Cultural Festival’s signature night show, built around this year’s bronze mirror theme. Rather than heading home after the daytime programs, it’s worth staying to end your day with this performance.
2026 Gongsanseong Media Art
Media art runs around Gongsanseong from October 2 to 11, 19:30–22:00.
What sets it apart from a typical light festival is that it uses an actual Baekje heritage site as its canvas. If you walked the fortress during the day, come back at night to compare the atmosphere.
Ungjin Baekje Starlight Garden & Lantern Festival
During the festival, the Starlight Garden and Lantern Festival light up Geumgang Singwan Park, Mireuseom Island and the Geumganggyo Bridge area.
Once the sun goes down, the whole riverside takes on a different mood. For the best photos, start strolling around sunset rather than waiting until it’s fully dark.
4. Check the Mireuseom Admission Fee
At the 2026 Baekje Cultural Festival, the Mireuseom Island and floating bridge (baedari) section has a separate admission fee.
- Adults (19–64): 7,000 KRW
- Middle and high school students (13–18): 6,000 KRW
- Onnuri Gongju citizens: 5,000 KRW
Elementary schoolers, seniors 65+, Gongju residents and visitors wearing Baekje costume are among those who get in free (proof may be required depending on the category).
Paying visitors receive a 3,000 KRW Mireuseom coupon.
Good to remember: elementary school kids get in free.
5. Don’t Insist on Parking at the Main Venue
The main parking lots listed in this year’s official guide are:
- Geumgang Singwan Park venue parking lot
- Kongju National University temporary parking
- Singwan-dong temporary parking
- Art Center Goma parking lot
- Baekje Culture Center parking lot
There’s also a free shuttle bus between the Baekje Culture Center and Gongsanseong.
It runs October 3–11 except October 6–8, from 13:00 to 23:00 roughly every 5 minutes, nonstop from the Baekje Culture Center to Gongsanseong.
On weekends and during the main evening shows, using an outer parking lot plus the shuttle is a much smoother plan than trying to park right next to the venue.
6. Nearby Sights to Pair With the Festival
Tomb of King Muryeong and the Royal Tombs
This is the first place I’d pair with the Baekje Cultural Festival if you have kids.
This year’s theme is the bronze mirror, and the festival programs feature the mirrors found in King Muryeong’s tomb. Seeing the tomb before doing the missions makes it much easier to explain the story to children.
In October it’s open 09:00–18:00 (last entry 30 minutes before closing). Admission is 3,000 KRW for adults, 2,000 KRW for teens and 1,000 KRW for children.
Gongju National Museum
It pairs perfectly with King Muryeong’s tomb.
The museum’s Ungjin Baekje Gallery lets you see real artifacts tied to the history you encounter at the festival, and there’s a children’s activity space too — a very satisfying combination for a family history trip.
According to the official guide, it’s open 09:00–18:00 and closed on Mondays, January 1, and Seollal and Chuseok holidays.
Gongsanseong Fortress
Honestly, Gongsanseong isn’t a side trip — it’s the Baekje Cultural Festival’s main stage.
It served as the royal fortress while Baekje’s capital was at Ungjin from 475 to 538, and together with King Muryeong’s tomb it is part of the UNESCO-listed Baekje Historic Areas.
You can do festival activities, walk the walls and catch the media art in the evening, so treat it as one course rather than something separate from the festival.
A One-Day Route With Kids
Tomb of King Muryeong and the Royal Tombs → Gongju National Museum → Gongsanseong activities → Sanseong Market → Mireuseom and Geumgang Singwan Park → Evening show and Gongsanseong media art
This order flows most naturally.
Get a grounding in Baekje history in the morning, then dive into the festival activities in the afternoon. Finish with the Starlight Garden, the night show and the media art after dark, and you’ll have made the most of the day.
The Baekje Cultural Festival is less a “go learn some history” trip and more a festival where kids meet Baekje by playing, walking and trying things themselves.
If you’re planning a history trip with an elementary schooler, it’s well worth adding to an October 2026 visit to Gongju. Performance and activity schedules vary by day, so check the official 72nd Baekje Cultural Festival website on the day of your visit.
More Family Trips on Yans World
- Traveling Together: The Beautiful Hyeonchungsa in All Four Seasons, Perfect for Visiting with Kids
- Cheonan Museum & Samgeori Park: The Perfect Family Day Out in Chungnam
Schedules and prices can change, so check the Gongju City official website before you go.