Goheung Yuja Festival 2026: a yuja bath · Hidden Festival №2

The 6th Goheung Yuja Festival runs from Thursday, November 12 to Sunday, November 15, 2026, in the yuja orchards of Handong-ri, Pungyang-myeon, in Goheung County on Korea’s south coast. Entry is free, and a few programs charge a fee. Most hands-on programs run from 10:00 to 17:00 (official site, checked 2026-10-19).

If you have had yuja tea in Korea, this is where you can see the fruit on the tree. The festival is held in the orchards themselves, in November, when the yuja are yellow.

Why Goheung

Goheung calls itself the largest yuja-growing area in Korea. The festival site credits the county’s 2,715 hours of sunshine a year for the quality of its fruit, and says yuja has three times the vitamin C of a lemon. The fruit goes into juice, tea, cosmetics and more. This year’s theme follows from the vitamin claim: “A Korea without colds.”

It is our second Hidden Festival pick in English, and most of the day is spent walking between the trees.

Walk the orchard

The orchard program is the core of the festival. The 2026 Yuja Shopping stamp tour runs all four days across five orchard zones (official site, checked 2026-10-19):

1. Fold the festival leaflet into your own yuja bag.
2. Find the yuja scent hidden in the orchard.
3. Stop under the golden yuja tree.
4. Sit down for yuja tea in the yuja garden.
5. Watch a show at the orchard theater.
6. Take a photo from the lookout over the orchard.

Each stop gives you a stamp, and a full bag gets you a souvenir: one yuja.

There is also a slow walk along the orchard paths, and a healing garden in the orchard with performances, a rest area and a small bookshop.

Make, soak and pick

The hands-on programs all run from 10:00 to 17:00, every day of the festival.

• Yuja syrup making: make your own jar of yuja syrup (yuja-cheong) in the syrup-making house on the grounds.
• Yuja Spa: a warm bath full of yuja. The saying on the festival site goes that bathing in yuja water keeps colds away for a year. It runs at the Yuja Children’s Park and at the village well in Yangni.
• Yuja tasting: booths serve yuja ramyeon, yuja rice cakes and other yuja food. Tasting times differ by booth.
• Yuja picking: pick fresh fruit straight off the tree in the orchard picking zone, for 10,000 won (official site, checked 2026-10-19).

On the theme park stage there are smaller games too, such as guessing the weight of a single yuja and a yuja syrup auction. Times follow the stage schedule.

Food and markets

The Goheung food festival runs all four days from 10:00 to 22:00, with local dishes at low prices. There is also a Goheung specialty market and a stall selling fresh yuja at a discount, both open 10:00 to 22:00.

Two extras on set days:

Day	What	Where
Fri Nov 13 and Sat Nov 14	Yuja City Goheung Festa: performances and a food market	Beside the stream next to the Goheung-eup traditional market
Sat Nov 14, 10:00 to 14:00	Yuja Farmers’ Day	In front of the former Pungyang-myeon office

After dark the orchards are lit up, so the evening is worth staying for.

Entry

The festival is free to walk into. You pay for food, for shopping, and for some programs such as yuja picking.

Getting there

The festival grounds are at 701-7 Handong-ri, Pungyang-myeon, Goheung County.

The official site lists a main festival car park (P1) and six temporary car parks (P3 to P8) around the grounds, so driving is the straightforward option. For buses and any festival shuttles, check the official site closer to the date.

The food festival runs until 22:00 and the lights come on after dark, so a night nearby lets you stay for the evening without rushing back.

Before you go

For data, an eSIM is the easy answer. Superalink is a Korean eSIM company; set it up before you travel and it works the moment you land. Superalink has a 20% discount for Every Ticket readers.

Five apps run a Korea trip: NAVER Map, Konest, Kakao T, WOWPASS and Papago. Every Ticket, the app I am building, is the sixth. Five to run the trip, one to keep it. When you reach the festival a pin drops on its own and the day’s route through the orchard is recorded. Photograph the jar of syrup you made once and it goes onto the day’s card. Recording runs in the background without draining your battery, and the card is built on your phone, not on a server.

Dates and programs can change. Check the official Goheung Yuja Festival site (goheungyuja.com) or call 061-830-5442 before you go.

FAQ

When is the Goheung Yuja Festival 2026?

November 12 to 15, 2026, Thursday to Sunday. Most hands-on programs run from 10:00 to 17:00, and the food festival runs from 10:00 to 22:00.

Is it free?

Entry is free. Some programs charge a fee; picking yuja in the orchard, for example, costs 10,000 won.

Where is it held?

In the yuja orchards around 701-7 Handong-ri, Pungyang-myeon, Goheung County, on the south coast of Korea. Goheung is the country's largest yuja-growing area.

What is a yuja bath?

The Yuja Spa is a warm bath full of yuja, based on the local saying that bathing in yuja water keeps colds away for a whole year. It runs from 10:00 to 17:00 at the Yuja Children's Park and the village well in Yangni.

Is there parking?

Yes. The official site lists a main festival car park (P1) and temporary car parks P3 to P8 around the grounds.