Gwangju Chungjang Festival of Memories

The food-stall information below is from the previous (2025) festival; details for the 2026 festival are being updated.

The Gwangju Chungjang Festival of Memories began on Chungjang-ro in Dong-gu, the finest shopping district of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, and is the city's largest flagship festival. As 'Korea's first nostalgia-themed festival,' built on the universal theme of 'memories,' it carries special meaning across generations and walks of life. It creates a space of memory-making, where people share the precious memories everyone holds and produce new memories together, bringing people of all ages and backgrounds into one. In particular, the festival unfolds around Geumnam-ro and the May 18 Democratic Square, spaces of profound meaning in the history of world democracy, which gives it historical and cultural value beyond an ordinary regional festival. As a festival held on the holy ground of democratization, it carries symbolic weight, showing citizens' will to rise above the pain of the past and move toward a hopeful future. Recognized externally for its excellence, the Chungjang Festival was first designated an Honorary Cultural Tourism Festival by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2024 and was re-designated for 2026-2027, keeping its honorary status for four consecutive years (2024-2027). It also won the Grand Prize in the Global Premium sector at the 2026 Korea Festival Content Awards — the festival's tenth consecutive grand prize — proving once again its standing as a global premium festival representing Korea. With ambitions, in cooperation with the National Asian Culture Center, to grow into an international festival embracing the culture and memories of all of Asia beyond the region, it plays a precious role in raising Gwangju's standing as Asia's cultural capital while providing a venue for communication and harmony through culture.