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Gilpost · Festival calendar · Hongseong-gun

FestivalAutumn 2026

Hongseong Global BBQ Festival

홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌

This edition · Data as of · Published · Compiled by

For four days, the streets around the old Hongjueupseong fortress in Hongseong, South Chungcheong, fill with enormous barbecue rigs — rotating windmill grills, tunnels of pork over wood fire — plus stalls run by Korean cooking YouTubers and chefs, and a market selling local pork and beef well under shop prices. The 2026 festival runs 29 October–1 November, 10:00–21:00. You pay only for what you eat, and this year's rules cap main dishes at ₩20,000 and sides at ₩10,000. We read Korean blog posts from people who went in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Hongseong Global BBQ Festival
2026 홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌 (1).jpg2026 홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌 (4).JPG2026 홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌 (5).JPG2026 홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌 (3).JPG2026 홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌 (8).jpg
Photos: Korea Tourism Organization (KOGL Type3). Shown uncropped, as supplied.

What’s on

From the 2026 official site and notices (checked 6 October). Stall menus and the line-up of YouTubers and chefs are not out yet; daytime shows may be added.

BBQ zone 1

Theme, Korean and global barbecueWalk-inMain dishes up to ₩20,000
29 Oct–1 Nov · 10:00–21:00
Barbecue from the giant rigs; menus and prices not yet out.

BBQ zone 2

Influencer and chicken barbecueWalk-inMain dishes up to ₩20,000
29 Oct–1 Nov · 10:00–21:00
Cooking YouTubers’ and chefs’ stalls and chicken barbecue; 2026 line-up not announced.

Around the fortress

Hongseong food zoneWalk-inMains ≤ ₩20,000 · sides ≤ ₩10,000
29 Oct–1 Nov · 10:00–21:00
Fifteen local vendors; reusable dishes; beer only.
Hanwoo beef and pork marketWalk-in
29 Oct–1 Nov
Local beef and pork to buy and taste; pork packs planned at about half shop price.

Main stage

Opening ceremony and fireworksWalk-inFree
29 Oct · 17:00 opening · 19:00 fireworks
Korean singers on stage, then seven minutes of fireworks.
Evening concert and youth festivalWalk-inFree
30 Oct · 17:00–21:00
Line-up: 호미들, DJ라라.
Evening concertWalk-inFree
31 Oct · 17:00–18:00
Line-up: 체리시, 바비핀스, 데이브레이크.
Closing concert and fireworksWalk-inFree
1 Nov · 17:00 concert · 19:00 fireworks
Line-up: 오아, 오모, 신성.

Sources: the Hongju Culture & Tourism Foundation festival pages (schedule, site plan), the 2026 food-zone notice (price caps, payment, reusable dishes), and Hongseong County press releases.

The essentials

Dates2026-10-29 – 2026-11-01
WhereAround Hongjueupseong fortress, Hongseong-eup, Hongseong, South Chungcheong
CostFree entry · main dishes up to ₩20,000, sides up to ₩10,000 (2026 rules) · card payment at kiosks
OrganisersHongseong County · Hongju Culture & Tourism Foundation (+82 41-630-1150)
Address27 Amun-gil, Hongseong-eup, Hongseong-gun, Chungcheongnam-do
충청남도 홍성군 홍성읍 아문길 20-1
Contact041-634-8705 · hongju.or.kr/home/content.do?menu_cd=000064
ProgrammeTwo barbecue zones, a local food zone, a beef and pork market, stage shows, fireworks on 29 Oct and 1 Nov — see “What’s on” below.

Official poster

2026 홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌 포스터.jpg

The organisers’ own poster, in Korean. Source: Korea Tourism Organization (KOGL Type3), shown unaltered. Tap to open full size.

What 30 visitors said

We searched Naver, the blog platform most Koreans use, for posts written around each festival (30 for 2023 and 2024, 60 for 2025), read every one to the end, kept only people who went (14, 11 and 20), and took ten per year. Sponsored, official-supporter and stallholder posts were dropped and no writer is counted twice. Every number counts the posts that mentioned something. Twenty-one of the 30 visits were on a weekday, mostly opening day, so weekend crowds may be under-represented.

What people liked

Fair prices, no rip-offs10 of 30 posts

Most dishes ₩10,000–20,000, fixed prices 23-16 23-25 23-28 24-20 24-21 24-23 24-27 25-35 25-41 25-60

Cheap pork and beef to take home11 of 30 posts

A 2kg pack of Korean pork for around ₩15,000 23-16 23-22 23-25 23-28 23-29 23-30 24-19 24-20 25-38 25-41 25-46

The YouTuber and chef stalls are the highlight8 of 30 posts

Pork ribs, platters, boiling crab 23-16 23-20 23-26 24-28 24-30 25-35 25-39 25-42

Giant grills worth seeing7 of 30 posts

Rotating windmill grills, meat tunnels, barbecue from around the world 23-17 23-27 24-19 24-28 25-35 25-38 25-60

Clean and well run9 of 30 posts

Reusable dishes, sorted bins, clean toilets 23-20 23-25 24-20 24-22 24-30 25-28 25-41 25-42 25-60

Fireworks, drones and lit chrysanthemums at night4 of 30 posts

Opening/closing-night fireworks; a drone show in 2025 23-16 23-30 25-38 25-45

What people struggled with

Hour-long queues for the popular grills13 of 30 posts

Queues for kiosks, YouTuber stalls and whole pig 23-16 23-17 23-20 23-22 23-25 23-27 23-28 23-29 24-18 24-23 24-29 24-30 25-38

Sold out by evening9 of 30 posts

Whole pig, chicken and YouTuber stalls finish early 23-16 23-22 23-27 23-30 24-20 24-28 25-38 25-41 25-42

Parking is hard7 of 30 posts

Near car parks reserved or full; park far and walk 23-17 23-25 24-18 25-28 25-39 25-40 25-41

Zones are spread out6 of 30 posts

Each zone orders differently; easy to go the wrong way 23-25 23-30 24-18 24-21 24-27 25-40

You will smell of smoke3 of 30 posts

Thick smoke round the grills 24-19 24-21 24-30

These are raw counts, not percentages. Someone who did not mention something is not someone who disagreed.

Who goes, and when

Couples, friends and families, many driving one to two hours from Sejong, Jeonju, Cheongju or Cheonan. Eighteen of the 30 posts call it crowded. The queues are the story — several waited over an hour for the popular grills and YouTuber stalls, while those who came at opening time or on the first weekday walked straight up.

Who they went with

With friends3 of 30 posts
With children3 of 30 posts
With parents or adult family2 of 30 posts
As a couple5 of 30 posts
In a group (incl. volunteer teams)1 of 30 posts

16 of the 30 posts did not say.

Time of day

Evening4 of 30 posts
Day into night5 of 30 posts
Afternoon9 of 30 posts
Morning7 of 30 posts

5 of the 30 posts did not say.

Visiting from abroad

Few of the 30 posts we counted mention foreign visitors, but other blog posts noticed plenty (2024), and Hongseong County says 133 delegates from seven countries visited in 2025. One 2023 post saw foreign visitors stuck at the ordering kiosks, which wanted a KakaoTalk account or Korean phone number; the official site is Korean only. Card payment at kiosks is the rule this year, so bring a card that works in Korea, and go with a friend so one of you can queue while the other finds a table. The food needs no Korean to enjoy — point at the grills — but plan to be there by late morning, before popular items sell out.

Weather and crowds

Late October outdoors: a hoodie by day, but evenings get cold. It rained during the 2023 and 2024 festivals and people queued under umbrellas. Expect to smell of smoke.

Getting there and access

Parking was the biggest struggle. The car parks next to the site were reserved for staff or full early, so people used outer lots (Hongseong Elementary, the riverside car park) and walked or took a shuttle; roads round the site close during the festival. By train, visitors took the free shuttle from Hongseong station (2024); one came by intercity bus from Incheon Airport to Hongseong terminal, then a city bus. The 2026 shuttle and parking guide was not out yet when we checked on 6 October (the official site still shows 2025's).

No post mentions wheelchairs. In 2025 one family found the artificial turf and floor mats hard going with a pushchair. Toilets are in every zone and were mostly clean, though busy at peak times; the Hongju Millennium Culture Centre toilets were quiet and had a rest room for pregnant visitors. Seating was plentiful by day but scarce in the evening.

Year by year

Autumn 2023

3–5 November, then called “Global Barbecue Festival in Hongseong”, prepared with celebrity chef Paik Jong-won's company. Main-zone barbecue could only be ordered at central kiosks, with waits of up to two hours.

Autumn 2024

1–3 November. Rain on day one; the fortress car park was closed, so shuttles did the work. Tunnel and windmill barbecue and new dishes went down well — one regular called it a big improvement — and reusable dishes were used.

Autumn 2025

30 October–2 November. Celebrity chefs and cooking YouTubers had stalls, with a chrysanthemum festival and organic fair alongside and a drone show at night. Some found the meat served hot this time; others got it lukewarm.

Tips from people who went

  • Get there early — popular items run out by late afternoon
  • In a group, split up to queue and send one person to grab a table
  • Pick up a site map first; each zone orders differently
  • Buy the pork packs in the morning; a cool bag helps
  • Park on the edge and shuttle in, or come by train
  • Wear clothes you don't mind smelling of smoke; a jacket for the evening
  • A rain poncho if it's wet

The 30 posts we read

  1. 23-16 · 2023-11-03 백종원 홍성 바베큐 페스티벌 후기 웨이팅시간 먹고 즐기기 너무 좋....
  2. 23-17 · 2023-11-03 2023 홍성 글로벌 바베큐 페스티벌 방문후기_솔직리뷰(백종원 글로벌....
  3. 23-20 · 2023-11-03 [충남/홍성] 입장하는 순간부터 바베큐 냄새와 연기를 느끼며! 먹고 ....
  4. 23-22 · 2023-11-04 동에 번쩍 서에 번쩍 / [2023 글로벌바베큐페스티벌in 홍성]
  5. 23-25 · 2023-11-04 백종원 홍성 바베큐축제 다녀온 후기(글로벌바베큐페스티벌 in 홍성....
  6. 23-26 · 2023-11-04 홍성 바베큐축제 일정 주차장 무료 셔틀 정보 글로벌 페스티벌
  7. 23-27 · 2023-11-04 홍성 바베큐축제 글로벌 바베큐 페스티벌 주차장, 일정 및 꿀팁 정....
  8. 23-28 · 2023-11-05 글로벌바베큐페스티벌 in 홍성 지역축제 비와도 가볼만한 곳
  9. 23-29 · 2023-11-05 2023 홍성 바베큐 축제 다녀온 후기 및 주차팁 - (글로벌 바베큐 페스....
  10. 23-30 · 2023-11-06 글로벌 바베큐 페스티벌 in 홍성 2일간 둘러보기
  11. 24-18 · 2024-11-01 기차타고 다녀온 2024년 홍성바베큐 축제 생생후기<셔틀버스/현장스....
  12. 24-19 · 2024-11-01 2024년 홍성 글로벌 바비큐 페스티벌 방문 후기
  13. 24-20 · 2024-11-01 2024 홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌 :: 홍성 바베큐축제 3일째
  14. 24-21 · 2024-11-01 [홍성] 글로벌 바베큐 페스티벌 - 비오는 날의 장작
  15. 24-22 · 2024-11-01 2024 제2회 홍성글로벌바비큐페스티벌 주차장및 셔틀버스, 행사장 안....
  16. 24-23 · 2024-11-02 2024 홍성 바베큐축제 방문 후기 홍성 글로벌 바비큐 페스티벌
  17. 24-27 · 2024-11-02 2024 홍성 글로벌 바비큐 페스티벌 문츠 폭립
  18. 24-28 · 2024-11-03 11월 홍성 여행(1) - 모녀여행, 2024홍성글로벌바베큐페스티벌(홍바페)....
  19. 24-29 · 2024-11-03 2024 홍성 바베큐 축제 후기
  20. 24-30 · 2024-11-03 충남 홍성 글로벌 바비큐 페스티벌 후기
  21. 25-28 · 2025-10-31 홍성 바베큐 축제 2025 페스티벌 먹거리 체험활동 주차장 솔직후기
  22. 25-35 · 2025-10-30 2025 홍성 글로벌 바베큐 축제후기 위치 음식가격과 공연 라인업정보....
  23. 25-38 · 2025-10-30 홍성 바베큐 축제 시작 ! 홍성 바베큐 축제기간 2025년 10월 30일~ 11월 ....
  24. 25-39 · 2025-10-30 홍성 2025 글로벌 바비큐 페스티벌 기본정보 일정 방문후기
  25. 25-40 · 2025-10-30 홍성 바베큐축제 2025 위치 가수 홍성가볼만한곳 글로벌바베큐축제 ....
  26. 25-41 · 2025-10-30 홍성바베큐축제 2025 * 주차장 먹거리 가격 쇼핑템 (feat.취요남)
  27. 25-42 · 2025-10-30 2025 홍성군 글로벌바베큐페스티벌
  28. 25-45 · 2025-10-30 [홍성 바비큐 축제] 홍주읍성 불빛과 고기 굽는 소리 속에서
  29. 25-46 · 2025-10-30 홍성 글로벌바비큐 페스티벌에 가면 3개 축제를 한번에 즐길수있다.
  30. 25-60 · 2025-10-31 2025 충남 홍성 바베큐 축제 글로벌 바베큐 페스티벌 후기

All posts are in Korean. We summarise them in our own words rather than quoting.