10th anniversary edition themed 'Tomorrow Ganggamchan — Opening the Future'

Features historian Seol Min-seok talk show, quiz show and aerial fireworks performance

Gwanak-gu District Mayor Park Jun-hee, third from left in the front row, participates in a wish-hanging event with children at the 2025 Gwanak Ganggamchan Festival held last October. [Gwanak-gu]
Gwanak-gu District Mayor Park Jun-hee, third from left in the front row, participates in a wish-hanging event with children at the 2025 Gwanak Ganggamchan Festival held last October. [Gwanak-gu]

Seoul's Gwanak-gu announced Monday it will hold the 2026 Gwanak Ganggamchan Festival, its signature history and culture festival, at Nakseongdae Park from Friday to Sunday.

Marking its 10th anniversary, the festival is themed "Tomorrow Ganggamchan — Opening the Future," connecting the vision of the young General Gang Gam-chan a thousand years ago with the future that today's youth and citizens will build together, the district said.

Last year's festival drew more than 208,000 visitors and recorded a visitor satisfaction score of 85.4 out of 100. According to a big data analysis report on the 2025 Culture and Tourism Festival, the event generated around 10 billion won ($7.47 million) in regional economic and social ripple effects.

To mark the 10th anniversary, the Gwanak Cultural Foundation ran a pre-festival outreach program called "Ganggamchan Everywhere" earlier this month, bringing promotional activities to everyday spaces around the district.

On the opening day Friday, the festival kicks off at Anguksa Temple with a memorial rite honoring General Gang Gam-chan and a calligraphy competition, followed by youth-focused programs at the main plaza. A nighttime program called "Nakseongdae Night Star Gathering" will link the Nakseongdae area — steeped in the general's legend — with Seoul National University's astronomical observatory, exploring the "star" in the general's birth myth through historical commentary and stargazing.

On Saturday, historian Seol Min-seok will host a talk show titled "The Man Who Saved the Nation with a Brush: Gang Gam-chan" at the main plaza at 1 p.m., followed by a quiz show in which participants answer questions about the general's story.

Later that evening at 7 p.m. at the main plaza, the festival's centerpiece 10th-anniversary special performance — "Gang Gam-chan, Born of a Star & Aerial Fireworks Performance" — will take the stage. The show reimagines the legend of a star that fell on Nakseongdae a thousand years ago against the backdrop of a futuristic space station, blending traditional performing arts, contemporary dance, live music, video and aerial fireworks to convey the general's spirit of courage, solidarity and community.

The final day Sunday will feature a "Citizens' Pungnyu Festival" to round out the celebration. A lifestyle arts festival showcasing performances, exhibitions and hands-on activities by Gwanak-gu community arts clubs and local residents will also take place throughout the festival grounds, adding to the spirit of a celebration made and enjoyed by the community itself.

"Over the past 10 years, the Gwanak Ganggamchan Festival has carried forward the historical values of General Gang Gam-chan through civic participation and cultural arts, establishing itself as Gwanak-gu's signature festival," Gwanak-gu District Mayor Park Jun-hee said. "We will use this year's festival — which adds youth arts and future technology to history — as the starting point for a new decade, and grow it into a history and culture festival that represents all of South Korea."


ikson@heraldcorp.com