Chuseok

Chuseok (추석), also called Hangawi (한가위), is one of South Korea’s most important traditional holidays. Observed on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, it celebrates the autumn harvest and the full moon. In 2026, Chuseok falls on September 25, with the official Korean holiday period generally extending across the surrounding days. The festival is often compared with Thanksgiving because it brings families together to express gratitude for the year’s harvest and for the well-being of their ancestors and relatives.

The precise origins of Chuseok are debated, but its development is commonly associated with ancient harvest ceremonies and the Silla-era Gabae competition, recorded in the Samguk sagi, or History of the Three Kingdoms. Over centuries, agricultural rites, ancestor veneration, seasonal foods, and family reunions became integrated into the holiday. Although modern South Korea is highly urbanized, Chuseok remains a powerful expression of family identity, respect for ancestors, gratitude for nature, and continuity between rural traditions and contemporary Korean life.

A central Chuseok custom is charye, a memorial ceremony in which families prepare a table of seasonal foods and honor deceased ancestors. Many people also visit family graves for seongmyo, cleaning the burial grounds and offering respectful prayers; the related practice of beolcho involves clearing weeds and maintaining the graves before the holiday. Families commonly travel to their ancestral hometowns, making Chuseok one of the busiest travel periods of the year in Korea. In 2026, as in other years, major cities may experience heavy holiday traffic and crowded transportation hubs.

The best-known Chuseok food is songpyeon, a crescent-shaped rice cake traditionally filled with sesame, beans, chestnuts, or honey and steamed over pine needles. Other festive dishes may include jeon, japchae, bulgogi, fresh fruit, rice, and regional specialties. People share gifts, wear or display traditional hanbok on ceremonial occasions, watch performances, and enjoy family gatherings; historically, communities also held games and folk activities such as ganggangsullae, a circle dance associated with women’s harvest celebrations. A warm standard greeting is “풍성한 한가위 보내세요” (Pungseonghan Hangawi bonaeseyo), meaning “Have a plentiful and joyful Chuseok,” while “즐거운 추석 보내세요” means “Have a happy Chuseok.”