The 38th Goyang Haengju Culture Festival will be held on June 13 around Haengjusanseong Fortress in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. A historical reenactment retracing the Battle of Haengju, and hands-on and rest programs where visitors try things with their hands and sit down for a break, are held together within a single day's schedule. The festival's stage has no exhibition hall set up for it. The mountain where the battle of 1593 actually took place is the stage.
One axis of the program is reenactment. It is the form that events commemorating the victory have long held to, a segment in which people tread the scenes of that day again with their bodies. The other axis is hands-on programs and rest, an arrangement that has in mind a day of walking and then sitting, touching and then walking again. The timetable for each program will be announced later.
The walls of Haengjusanseong are closer to earth than to stone. On the ridge at the start of summer the grass has grown knee-high, and dry soil crumbles with a sound when a foot comes down. At the summit, where the river wind rises, the water of the Han River shifts between gray and green. The feel of the place where the festival unfolds is roughly like this.
A 38th edition means the same day has been kept for more than a generation. In that time the event has become hard to explain by the single name of a victory commemoration. While residents climbed the same mountain each year and repeated the same story, the memory moved little by little from the nation's to the neighborhood's.
Using a historic site as a stage always leaves something to be careful about. A fortress built of earth collapses when many people tread on it, and a ridge that has once collapsed does not return to what it was. If people are not let in, the site is preserved but becomes a hill no one remembers. The festival is weighed again each year between the two.
Deogyangsan is not high, but the way to the summit is uphill. Dirt paths and stairs are mixed together, so low-heeled shoes are comfortable, and the shade is uneven, so it is better to bring a hat and water. For fees and reservation methods, the confirmed announcement can be followed.
For one day on June 13, on an earthen fortress with its back to the river, reenactment and rest unfold at the same time. Walking up the battleground of 431 years ago, sitting on the ridge to look at the river and then coming down, is schedule enough. The oldest among the ways of keeping memory is walking there yourself.
Event Information
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2026
Venue: Around Haengjusanseong Fortress (Goyang, Gyeonggi)
