After the Inje Yongdae-ri Autumn Flower Festival became a runaway success, organizers decided to extend it by one week.
After the Inje Yongdae-ri Autumn Flower Festival became a runaway success, organizers decided to extend it by one week.

The 2026 Inje Autumn Flower Festival has been extended by one week through Oct. 18, after originally being scheduled to close Sunday, following an overwhelming public response.

The festival, which opened Sept. 24 at the Yongdae tourist area in Inje-gun's Buk-myeon, will now run for a total of 25 days.

According to Inje-gun, cumulative visitors reached 193,306 through Monday, a substitute public holiday.

Chrysanthemums, oxeye daisies and other autumn flowers across the festival grounds have recently reached full bloom, offering increasingly vibrant scenery.

Sections that were still budding in the early days of the festival have since filled in completely, blanketing Yongdae-ri in a vivid tapestry of autumn color. Inje-gun said repeat visits have been rising, much like a blockbuster film drawing audiences back for a second viewing.

This year's festival, themed "Walk only flower-lined paths in Inje," is organized around four thematic spaces — "Path of Happiness," "Path of Love," "Path of Connection" and "Path of Healing" — along with a special garden honoring poet Park In-hwan on the centenary of his birth.

Poet Park In-hwan, author of "The Wooden Horse and the Lady," whose verse and illustrations once graced notebook covers for the generation now in their 40s and 60s, is a central theme of the Inje autumn flower festival. Younger visitors in their 20s say they came for Ateez member San, while those old enough to be their mothers credit Park's poetry — yet both generations have been turning out in force.
Poet Park In-hwan, author of "The Wooden Horse and the Lady," whose verse and illustrations once graced notebook covers for the generation now in their 40s and 60s, is a central theme of the Inje autumn flower festival. Younger visitors in their 20s say they came for Ateez member San, while those old enough to be their mothers credit Park's poetry — yet both generations have been turning out in force.

The festival blends a colorful array of autumn blooms with a literary atmosphere, waterside walking paths and pine forests, offering visitors a full immersion in the deepening season.

During the extended period, the festival will focus on garden viewing, with the agricultural specialty goods market and forest café continuing to operate.

Visitors can stroll through the fully bloomed flower paths and waterside trails, relax at the pine forest café, and browse locally grown produce and regional specialties.

Performance and hands-on programs will not be held during the extension period, which runs Monday through Oct. 18.

Some food truck operators have wrapped up, but many others have committed to staying through the end for the sake of visitors.

"The autumn flowers throughout the festival grounds are now at their peak," said Kim Jeong-su, festival team leader at the Inje-gun Cultural Foundation. "We hope those who visited in the early days will come back to enjoy the transformed flower garden and the autumn atmosphere of the inner Seoraksan area."


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