Landscape Farming and Heritage Rituals Drive Tourism Surge in Gochang County

Explore Gochang County’s premier 2026 festivals, featuring 770,000 square meters of green barley fields and the historic 15th-century Moyangseong Fortress rituals.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 30, 2026, 10:58 AM EDT

Source: The Korea Times

The Green Barley Field Festival: A Masterclass in Landscape Farming

The Gochang Green Barley Field Festival, scheduled for April 18 through May 10, 2026, centers on 770,000 square meters of rolling barley fields in Gongeum-myeon. Originally popularized by professional photographers, the site was officially designated as a festival hub in 2004. Unlike traditional festivals that rely on expensive infrastructure, Gochang’s model focuses on "landscape farming," where the crop itself serves as the primary attraction. The site maintains year-round appeal by rotating crops from green barley and yellow canola in the spring to sunflowers in the summer and buckwheat in the autumn.

K-Drama Allure and Cinematic Tourism

The aesthetic appeal of Gochang’s barley fields has made it a premier filming location for major South Korean productions. Most recently, the fields served as a central backdrop for the 2025 Netflix series "When Life Gives You Tangerines," starring Park Bo-gum and IU. This follow-up to previous hits filmed on-site, such as "Goblin" (2016) and "My Dearest" (2023), has created a steady stream of "cinematic tourists." These visitors seek out specific vistas, such as the canola fields, to recreate scenes from their favorite dramas, providing a modern pop-culture layer to the county’s traditional agricultural identity.

Moyangseong Festival: Preserving the 15th-Century Fortress

In autumn, the focus shifts to the Gochang Eupseong, also known as Moyangseong, a stone fortress completed in 1453. The Moyangseong Festival, set for October 15–19, 2026, celebrates the preservation of this 1,684-meter defensive wall. A unique feature of the fortress is the presence of engraved stones naming the specific districts involved in its construction, serving as a rare historical record of collective labor. The site remains a focal point for the local community, blending historical pride with active cultural participation through traditional music and large-scale communal dances.