Chuncheon City to Raise the Curtain on the "Korea Reading Festival"... "City of Books" Proclamation Ceremony on March 23

Operation of 33 Annual Programs Including Lectures, Exhibitions, and Hands-on Experiences
Main Events in September at Gongjicheon Amusement Park and Kim Youjeong Literary Village
Strengths in Educational Environment and Literary Infrastructure

Chuncheon City in Gangwon Province (Mayor Yuk Dong-han) has been selected as the host city for the 2026 Korea Reading Festival and will hold a proclamation ceremony in March to declare itself a "City of Books," officially opening the curtain on the full-scale festival.

View of Chuncheon City Hall.

The city will host the "2026 Korea Reading Festival City of Books Proclamation Ceremony" at 2:00 p.m. on March 23 at the Sound Hall in Chuncheon Sangsangmadang. This proclamation ceremony is more than a simple commemorative event; it is significant as the official starting point for Chuncheon to begin its role as the "City of Books" representing Korea for one year.

The event will be attended by officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, as well as local publishing, bookstore, and library representatives. During the ceremony, Chuncheon City will receive the "City of Books" symbolic flag from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, followed by a reading of the City of Books proclamation and a City of Books performance. A simple celebratory program, including a mime performance, will also be presented.

Starting with the proclamation ceremony, the city plans to operate a variety of programs throughout the year, centered on libraries, including lectures, exhibitions, hands-on experiences, and discussions, in order to spread a citizen-participatory reading culture.

The Korea Reading Festival is the largest reading culture festival in the country, held every September, the "Month of Reading." It is Korea's representative book festival in which publishers, bookstores, libraries, and citizens all participate together. Since 2014, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has selected one local government each year that takes the lead in promoting reading as a "City that Reads" and has hosted the Korea Reading Festival there. Chuncheon City has been selected as the 13th host city nationwide, and within Gangwon Province it is the third, following Gangneung in 2016 and Wonju in 2022.

During last year's screening process, Chuncheon City underwent a comprehensive review of candidate venues including Gongjicheon Amusement Park, "Chuncheon Sairo 248," Uiam Park, the Kim Youjeong Rail Bike and Literary Village, and the city library. At the time, the screening committee evaluated that "the excellent educational environment, the 15-minute reading living zone, and the rich literary human infrastructure including figures such as Kim Youjeong and Jeon Sang-guk played a decisive role." With this selection, the city secured 300 million won in national funding. The main event will take place over three days from September 18 to 20 at Gongjicheon Amusement Park and Kim Youjeong Literary Village.

Chuncheon's Korea Reading Festival will be organized under the theme "Waves of Books, Chuncheon Walk (冊)," and will be designed to highlight Chuncheon’s unique character, where nature, literature, and performing arts come together. Gongjicheon Amusement Park will be developed as a nature-friendly reading experience space where family visitors and people of all ages can participate together, while Kim Youjeong Literary Village will be used as a venue for professional programs focusing on lectures and writing that emphasize literary depth.

Kim Seon-ae, director of the city library, said, "Through this Korea Reading Festival, we will do our utmost in preparations so that citizens can feel closer to books in their daily lives and so that the city can firmly establish itself as a City of Books where books and the city grow together."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.