Popular singers including Kim Yong-bin headline the Minam Trot Celebration Show and Romance Concert, lighting up autumn nights with dazzling performances.
A display of 28,000 colorful chrysanthemums and a wide range of hands-on activities promise a feast for all five senses at this year's autumn festival.
The Haenam Minam Festival is taking on the colors of autumn.
The 2026 Haenam Minam Festival, running in Haenam-gun from Friday through Sunday, is set to offer an abundance of food, sights and entertainment.
On the opening day, Friday, a Minam Trot Celebration Show kicks off at 6 p.m., with popular trot singers Kim Yong-bin, Hong Ji-yun and Choi Yu-na set to take the stage.
The last night of October will feature a Romance Concert with singers Seong-ri and Jadu, whose performances are expected to deepen the autumnal mood of Duryunsan Mountain.
On Saturday afternoon, the Haenam Youth Federation will host a youth festival, while a regional artists' showcase, a youth performance, a lifelong learning festa and the finals of the Oh Gi-taek Song Contest will take place at various points around the festival grounds throughout the three days.
The festival grounds will be adorned with a chrysanthemum display in full autumn fragrance. Chrysanthemum sculptures, bonsai varieties, flower-bed arrangements and garden mums — totaling about 28,000 plants — will be on display to give visitors a rich visual spectacle.
This year, a new flower-tree landscape using chrysanthemums and LED lighting has been installed at the festival entrance, making the nighttime scenery especially striking. Four themed zones — including a dinosaur zone and a flower tunnel — along with seasonal plantings of poinsettias and silver grass round out the grounds. Three dinosaur-shaped rides for children have also been set up, creating a space the whole family can enjoy.
A wide range of hands-on activities and entertainment has been prepared. A Haenam Rice pavilion will integrate exhibitions, hands-on experiences, sales and live online broadcasts centered on local rice, while a food hall and snack pavilion will let visitors sample Haenam's eight signature dishes and other local fare. Agricultural and marine specialty product sales booths will also be available.
The main pavilion will feature an exhibition space covering the history of Haenam rice, its cultivation process and processed food products. Visitors will be able to purchase quality rice at affordable prices through direct sales at the Haenam-gun local food store and the Haenam-gun online shopping mall "Haenam Miso," as well as through delivery orders. A live commerce broadcast will also stream the sales online.
During the festival, cooking experiences using Haenam produce — including making sammi monaka, Haenam ssuk-gulle and rice balls — will be offered to families. A kimchi-mixing event, in which up to 300 tourists and visitors make kimchi with Haenam cabbage, will be held twice, on Saturday and Sunday.
A sweet potato digging experience will also run near the festival grounds on Saturday and Sunday, open to 150 teams per day on a first-come, first-served basis. The participation fee is 3,000 won, with harvest bags and tools provided on-site.
The Haenam Minam Festival runs Friday through Sunday at Duryunsan Provincial Park in Samsan-myeon. The festival showcases the region's rich agricultural and marine specialties and local cuisine under the banner of "Tasty Haenam, Beautiful Haenam." This year's edition centers on a Haenam Rice pavilion alongside exhibitions, experiences, performances and events highlighting the area's signature products.
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