Culture ministry opens 2026 Culture Month in Yeosu

The culture ministry will open its 2026 Culture Month celebrations in Yeosu on Friday, drawing a four-day programme of performances, street art and island readings around its night sea.

Choi Hwi-young, the minister of culture, sports and tourism, will attend the opening ceremony at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the main venue of the 2026 Yeosu World Island Expo, where he and invited guests will light a "culture lighthouse" and turn a ship's wheel to mark the start of the month. The theme performance that follows, "Yeosu, Beyond Time Into Light," weaves together the sounds of the sea, the city, its residents and its artists. Celebratory sets by Seodo Band, Solar and Zion.T and a fireworks display close the evening over the harbour.

Performances and hands-on events run at the expo venue, Yeosu Marine Park, Ungcheon Waterfront Park and Jangdo, an "island of art," from Friday through Monday. At Yeosu Marine Park, a marine street arts festival will feature busking by local artists and professional troupes, a light-themed promenade and an exhibition of invited international graffiti artists. Ungcheon Waterfront Park hosts a gathering of community culture clubs from across the country for performances, exhibitions and exchanges, while Jangdo offers classical music and an outdoor reading programme, "Library by the Sea," set against the sunset. A travelling "culture delivery" service will visit islands and traditional markets, and the programme closes on Monday at the main venue with a traditional music and dance event and a farewell performance.

On Sunday at 3 p.m., the YK Dance Festa will bring teenagers and ordinary residents together for a dance competition split into student and general divisions, with a culture ministry award going to the single best team in each.

"Culture and the arts must be something people meet not only on special days and in concert halls, but in daily life, in alleys, along the shore and across the islands," Choi said. "When that happens, a region becomes a place where travellers stay one more day and residents want to live longer."

The ministry will work to help each region's own culture grow into attractive tourism content, Choi added, so that the vitality it generates carries through to residents' daily lives.