The '2026 Korea Grand Festival', a national-level consumer festival, will be held nationwide from October 29 to November 15. The official opening event is scheduled for October 31 in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.
The festival is the first to combine into one event the discount sales and consumption-promotion policies, such as gift certificates and coupons, that had until now been run separately by each ministry. It includes the industry ministry's Korea Sale Festa, the culture ministry's Accommodation Sale Festa, the SMEs ministry's Donghaeng Festival, the agriculture ministry's agricultural and livestock product discount event, the oceans ministry's seafood discount event, the science ministry's post office shopping promotion and the Korea Customs Service's Korea Duty Free Festa. Government ministries, local governments, the retail industry, traditional markets, and small and medium-sized businesses and small merchants are taking part, offering discounts as well as travel and cultural content.
The Andong opening event will run from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on October 31. The main programme features a special sale of small merchants' products, a Donghaeng product exhibition hall and a policy promotion hall, while side programmes include live commerce, consumer events and a consumer experience zone. About 2,000 people, including government officials, local institutions and organisations, small merchants, local residents and tourists, are expected to attend, and an on-site communication tour of traditional markets is also planned. On the same day, from 5:40 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., a Win-Win Concert featuring Song Ga-in, Lee Chan-won and others will be held on a special outdoor stage behind Jungangseon 1942 Andong Station. Those who show proof of a ticket purchase from Interpark can receive a concert admission ticket and a 20,000 won Andong Love Gift Certificate on site.
A Win-Win Consumption Lottery event will also run alongside the festival. Participants can enter by agreeing to provide personal information in the Digital Onnuri app, and entries are issued automatically according to the amount paid with Digital Onnuri from October 15 to November 15. There will be 5,600 winners in total, with prize money totalling 1.7 billion won. Ten 1st-prize winners will each receive 30 million won, and 40 2nd-prize winners will each receive 2 million won. The 1st prize will be drawn only from participants holding entries earned through spending outside the Seoul metropolitan area, while the 2nd to 4th prizes will be drawn from participants nationwide regardless of region. Multiple wins are not allowed. Winners will be notified individually through the app in early December, and prize money will be paid in Digital Onnuri gift certificates during December.
Local governments have also launched benefits tied to the festival. Gangbuk District in Seoul will refund 10% of the payment amount, adding 5% to the existing 5%, for payments made with the Gangbuk Love Gift Certificate from October 29 to November 15. Combined with the 5% upfront discount given at purchase, the benefit reaches up to 15%. Refunds are made through the Seoul Pay+ app without a separate application, with October payments refunded on November 20 and November payments on December 20. The district will support up to 840 million won in payments with 42 million won in national funds, and the programme may end early if the budget runs out. Inquiries can be made to the Gangbuk District Local Economy Division (02-901-6445).
Wonju City in Gangwon Province, in connection with the Gangwon Sale Festa, will hold a discount promotion on its online shopping mall 'Wonju Mall' for 21 days from October 26 to November 15. A 30% discount coupon usable on all products in the mall will be issued at 10 a.m. on October 27, November 3 and November 10. The coupon gives a discount of up to 30,000 won on purchases of 10,000 won or more and can be used for 5 days from the date of issue. Inquiries can be made to the Business Development Team of the Wonju City Enterprise Support and Jobs Division (033-737-2982). Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla Province will give 5% of payments made with the Yeonggwang Love Card back as cashback during the festival period. To prevent illegal circulation of the gift certificates, the county will carry out monitoring of abnormal transactions along with on-site inspections, and plans to take measures such as cancelling merchant registration and imposing fines if illegal circulation is detected.
The detailed schedule is available on the festival details page.