About Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)
Chuseok, often called Korean Thanksgiving, is one of the most important holidays in Korea, a three-day mid-autumn harvest festival when families travel home to give thanks for the year's crops and to honour their ancestors. Its older name, Hangawi, means the great middle of autumn. Roads and trains fill as millions journey to their hometowns, making it one of the busiest travel periods on the Korean peninsula, north and south alike.
Families mark the day with charye, a memorial rite offering freshly harvested food and rice wine to ancestors, and many visit and tidy family graves in a custom called seongmyo and beolcho. The signature food is songpyeon, half-moon rice cakes filled with sesame, beans or chestnut and steamed over pine needles. Evenings bring folk traditions such as the circle dance ganggangsullae, wrestling matches called ssireum, and gazing at the bright harvest full moon.
Chuseok falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, so its Gregorian date shifts each year, usually landing in September or early October, with public holidays on the day before and after. The live countdown above always tracks the next Chuseok for you. If you would like to keep the reunion in sight, you can add this countdown to your own page in a few clicks.
Upcoming dates
| 2026 | Friday, September 25, 2026next |
| 2027 | Wednesday, September 15, 2027 |
| 2028 | Tuesday, October 3, 2028 |
FAQ
When is Chuseok this year?
Chuseok falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, usually in September or early October, with holidays the day before and after. Because it follows the lunar calendar the exact date changes each year, so check the live countdown above.
Why is Chuseok important?
It is a harvest festival of thanksgiving and one of Korea's biggest holidays, when families reunite to honour ancestors and celebrate the year's crops. It is often described as Korean Thanksgiving.
How is Chuseok celebrated?
Families perform charye ancestral rites, visit and tend family graves, and share a feast centred on songpyeon rice cakes. Folk customs include the ganggangsullae circle dance, ssireum wrestling and viewing the harvest moon.
What food is eaten at Chuseok?
The signature dish is songpyeon, chewy half-moon rice cakes filled with sesame seeds, sweet beans or chestnut paste and steamed over pine needles. Newly harvested grains, fruit and rice wine also feature in the holiday meal.