Sunchang's 2026 Jang Festival: A Closer Look at Fermented Pastes

The published programme

The 21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival was scheduled for October 15–18, 2026, around Sunchang Gochujang Village and the fermentation theme park. Korea's tourism organization and culture ministry described a programme that approached jang—Korean fermented sauces and pastes—through making, tasting and cultural interpretation. Those scheduled dates have passed.

Begin with the ingredient

Gochujang and doenjang are not interchangeable: one is a chili paste, the other a soybean paste. The tourism listing identified both with Sunchang and named a group gochujang-making activity among the programme highlights. The culture ministry separately described workshops on foods including meju, the fermented soybean blocks used in Korean jang-making.

SEOULIAN's suggestion is to treat a hands-on session as an introduction to a process, not a promise that every family's recipe is the same. Ask about ingredients, fermentation time and whether the product contains allergens before trying or buying it.

A procession is an interpretation

The published programme also included a reenacted royal gochujang tribute procession. A reenactment tells visitors how organizers chose to present history; it is not itself an original historical record. The ministry and tourism listing both describe this as a reconstruction of a Joseon-era tribute practice.

For a future visit

The tourism listing described free general entry with fees for some activities. Do not apply those conditions automatically to another year. Consult the festival committee's current announcement for the next dates, programme, fees, booking and access.

Coverage date: October 18, 2026. This is a retrospective researched and published afterward; actual fact-check and publication dates are recorded separately. SEOULIAN did not attend and cannot verify every announced activity occurred.