2026 Gumi Food Festival

The 2026 Gumi Food Festival is a two-day downtown food festival on 17–18 October along Songjeong Mat-gil in front of Gumi City Hall, around Gwangpyeongcheon public parking lots 2–5. It runs 12:00–20:00 both days. General admission is free; food and some activities cost extra. Gumi City says 76 businesses will participate across nine themed zones: a local food market, pork-grilling area, bakery and café, local restaurants, Asian food, chicken and beer, regional makgeolli, children’s food, and food-tech/activities. No official attendance forecast for 2026 was found. The city’s reported 200,000 visits refer to 2025 and are not a forecast for this year.

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Start: Oct 17, 2026, 12:00 PM KST
End: Oct 18, 2026, 8:00 PM KST
Venue: Songjeong Mat-gil in front of Gumi City Hall (Gwangpyeongcheon Public Parking)
Address: 505 Songjeong-dong, Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea (Gwangpyeongcheon Public Parking)

Why it matters now

Checked around 19:00 KST on 8 October 2026. A nationwide costume contest for individuals or teams is scheduled for 14:00 on 17 October on the main stage, with KRW 5.6 million in total prizes. Gumi City also announced performances by KCM, Ko Yu-jin and The One, a food-and-talk show hosted by Kim Shin-young, food-tech and children’s programming, and QR ordering; exact times for those items could not be verified in the text-readable official schedule, so check the official timetable or leaflet before setting an itinerary. The scale estimate is based on the city’s confirmed 76 participating businesses and nine themed zones, plus its reported attendance of 200,000 in 2025. No 2026 attendance forecast or recent search-volume figure was found. We compared three different Naver authors’ original previews posted on 20 August, 12 September and 4 October. All were advance roundups of the dates and food themes; because the festival is still upcoming, none can establish on-site atmosphere, queues or parking experience. Some previews repeat a “200-plus menu” claim found in promotional or prior-year descriptions; that is a different measure from this year’s official count of 76 businesses and was not treated as a confirmed 2026 menu total. The official transport guide warns that event-day parking is very limited and strongly recommends public transport via Gumi Station and city buses. The address is 505 Songjeong-dong, while the recruitment notice identifies public parking lots 2–5 as the event area. Although normal weekend parking is listed as free, this does not guarantee spaces in areas occupied by the event. No bus route numbers or road-closure map were verified. The Samgyeop Grill Zone has an optional limited seating reservation separate from festival admission: 40 four-person tables per day, no booking fee, arrival 12:00–14:00 and a 90-minute stay; food charges still apply. Remaining slots change live and operation may change with weather. Families may find the children’s zone useful; visitors seeking a quieter experience should treat crowd timing as uncertain and check day-of transport notices.