Of Gangneung's eight October festivals, only one has wrapped up as of Tuesday. Wellness Day on Oct. 3, the National Foundation Day holiday, kicked off the city's month-long festival relay — a warm-up, of sorts, for the ten events packed into October.
Seven more festivals are still to come, turning Gangneung's October into a full-blown festival Olympics.
At the center of it all is the ITS World Congress, a cutting-edge transportation showcase and science festival drawing some 60,000 visitors from around the world. Flanking it on either side are a bread festival, a noodle festival, a coffee festival, an arts festival, a drone festival and a live music festival.
The Gangneung Bread Festival runs Friday through Sunday at Ojukheon Hanok Village. Hanok architecture and nurungji (scorched rice) may seem like a natural pairing, but many visitors find that hanok and freshly baked bread are an even better match. The city's top bakeries gather to showcase flavors and aromas that would impress even a French connoisseur, and the humanistic atmosphere of Ojukheon adds an extra layer of charm to what amounts to a bread pilgrimage through the village. Unlike a bowl of noodles, bread sells out fast — arrive late and you may leave with nothing but the smell.
Once the bread festival wraps, the Gangneung Noodle Festival takes over Oct. 15–18 along Wolhwa Street.
On Oct. 17, the Chodang Gourmet Road Festival — "Chodang Dosirak (Nak)" — will be held at the Gangwon National University Gangneung Campus public relations center in Chodang-dong, from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The noodle festival will feature local specialties including jang kalguksu (knife-cut noodles in soy broth), jjamppong sundubu (spicy soft tofu soup) and gamja ongsimi (potato dough ball soup). Nearby Jungang Market adds its own crossover appeal, with the boldly flavored samsikitang stew and the unlikely but beloved combination of hot hotteok pancakes topped with ice cream serving as crowd-pleasing sideshows.
A noodle tasting zone and a noodle quiz competition are among the other events on offer.
Wolhwa Street, which carries the legend of a love story between a Silla hwarang warrior and a Gangneung maiden, was named one of the top recommended travel destinations for October as part of the "2026–2027 Visit Gangneung Year" campaign.
The street was developed along a former railway corridor stretching from Gangneung Station through the city center to Namdaecheon stream. After the tracks were removed, walking paths and cultural spaces took their place, transforming the area into one of the city's most beloved landmarks — a place where visitors can stroll at a leisurely pace and take in both the Wolhwa legend and the surrounding urban scenery.
Walking along the street leads naturally into Jungang Market and its surrounding alleyways, where visitors can sample popular street food alongside local specialties such as jang kalguksu and gamja ongsimi.
Gangneung city has recommended a fall gourmet route linking Chodang Sundubu Village, Wolhwa Street and Jungang Market, Ongsimi Village and Anmok Coffee Street.
The ITS World Congress has been years in the making for Gangneung. The event is expected to bring the largest number of international visitors to the city since the 2018 Winter Olympics — a gathering where locals and global guests will discuss the future of transportation technology, enjoy hands-on science activities and take in a range of cultural and artistic programming.
The congress runs Oct. 19–23 at Gangneung Olympic Park. Pre-registration is available through the official website until Friday.
The Haslla International Arts Festival, the Gangneung Coffee Festival and the K-Drone Festival have all been scheduled to coincide with the ITS World Congress.
The Haslla International Arts Festival runs Oct. 16–25 at major cultural venues across Gangneung, including Gangneung Arts Center and Myeongju Arts Yard. Haslla is an ancient name for Gangneung. The festival is a high-caliber chamber music event featuring world-class classical musicians and artists, offering a refined musical feast set against the romantic backdrop of the autumn sea.
The Gangneung K-Drone Festival runs concurrently with the ITS World Congress at the same venue. Hundreds of drones will light up the night sky in a large-scale evening spectacle, painting images of whales and elaborate artwork overhead.
Among the most anticipated events of the congress are the drone show and an ice show.
To mark the opening of the congress, more than 3,000 drones will take to the skies above Gangneung Convention Center at 8 p.m. on Oct. 19, delivering a sweeping performance that visualizes cutting-edge mobility technology alongside the beauty of Gangneung.
The ice show will feature top South Korean figure skaters including Cha Jun-hwan and Lee Hae-in, who will perform in a gala showcase and large-scale ensemble routines.
During the congress, the outdoor plaza at Olympic Park will host a science and mobility experience zone, cultural and arts activities, a local producers' market and busking performances. Highlights include hands-on booths for self-driving cars, smart city simulations, flight simulators, drones and VR trucks — making the event accessible and entertaining for the whole family. A live on-site drone delivery demonstration, in which products are delivered by drone in real time, will add a novel twist to the proceedings.
The Gangneung Coffee Festival runs Oct. 21–25 along Gangneung Coffee Street at Anmok Beach and surrounding areas across the city. Visitors can enjoy hand-drip coffee prepared by renowned baristas while gazing out at the sea, and a variety of coffee experience booths, merchandise and a stamp tour will be on offer throughout.
The origins of Anmok as a coffee destination trace back to the sight of fishermen warming themselves with cups of instant coffee from the seven or eight vending machines that once stood under the eaves of the harbor. That everyday ritual became the cultural thread from which the street grew. When first-generation specialty baristas set up shop here, the area evolved into one of the country's premier coffee destinations.
Sitting in one of Anmok's many cafes with a cup of coffee, it is easy to imagine the weariness of those fishermen slowly melting away. The street remains a place for warm conversation over a good cup — a tradition that lives on.
Gangneung, a city rich in place names and legends tied to the moon, treats October as its month of play. With festivals running for thirty days straight and music filling the air throughout, it feels as though even the two protagonists of the Wolhwa legend — Muwollang and Yeonhwa — might come back to life and join the celebration.
Providing the musical finale to October's festival relay, Gangwon Red Prize will take the stage Saturday at the central plaza of Gyeongpo Beach in Gangneung. Against a backdrop of deep blue sea and a crimson sunset, live performances spanning a range of genres will fill the evening with the romance of Gyeongpo.
Meanwhile, temple stay programs are running from September through December at Hyeondeoksa Temple in Yeongok-myeon and Bohyeonsa Temple in Seongsan-myeon. A tea ceremony and meditation program continues through October and November at a cafe in Chodang-dong. Separately from the Oct. 3 Wellness Day event, wellness activities including archery and meditation at Songjeong Pine Forest, as well as temple stays at Bohyeonsa and Hyeondeoksa, are scheduled to continue through December.
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