Korea Prawn Festivals Fall 2026: Namdang Port & Muchangpo Dates, Prices per Kilo, and How to Spot Real Daeha

If you've seen reels of big shrimp sizzling on a bed of salt in a foil tray, turning bright orange as they cook, you've seen daeha — Korea's fall king prawn, and the reason seaside towns on Korea's west coast throw month-long festivals every autumn. What those clips rarely tell you is which harbor it was, whether the festival is still on, what a kilo costs, and whether the prawns jumping around in the tank are actually daeha at all. So we cross-checked official tourism pages from Hongseong County and Boryeong City, local Korean news reports and guidance from Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to put together the two festivals you can still catch, prices in won and dollars, the one that already ended, and a simple way to tell real wild daeha apart.

Photo: Official promotional image from the Chungnam tourism website — Namdang Port from above, salt-grilled daeha on the left, live shrimp in a tank on the right

1. The Short Answer — West Coast Prawn Festivals, Fall 2026

A bit of context: daeha (대하) is the large fleshy prawn caught in the Yellow Sea off South Chungcheong Province (Chungnam), about 2 hours southwest of Seoul. The classic way to eat it is daeha sogeum-gui — grilled on hot coarse salt at the table. Three harbors host the big festivals, but as of September 27, 2026, only two are still running. Dollar figures use roughly ₩1,400 = $1.

Festival	Dates	Daeha price per 1 kg	Status
31st Hongseong Namdang Port Daeha Festival	Sep 4 (Fri) – Nov 8 (Sun), 66 days	Takeout ₩45,000 (~$32) / eat-in ₩60,000 (~$43), same at every shop	On now
Boryeong Muchangpo Fall Daeha & Jeoneo Festival	Sep 18 – Oct 11	No published price	On now
25th Anmyeondo Baeksajang Daeha Festival	Sep 12 – 19, 8 days	—	Already ended

In short: go to Namdang Port if you want a fixed, no-haggling price; go to Muchangpo if you want prawns and fall gizzard shad (jeoneo) on the same trip. Muchangpo closes on October 11, so if it's on your list, go there first. And if a reel of Anmyeondo inspired you, that festival is already over.

2. Hongseong Namdang Port — One Price at Every Shop

Price: ₩45,000 takeout, ₩60,000 eat-in

Three Korean outlets — Chungnam Naepo News and Chungcheong Domin Ilbo (August 20) and Gong News (September 4, opening day) — all report the same figures: ₩45,000 (~$32) per kilo to take away and ₩60,000 (~$43) per kilo to eat in a restaurant. This year every shop charges the same price, which is great news for visitors who don't speak Korean — there's nothing to compare or bargain over.

• Up from last year: According to Gong News's opening-day report, 2025 prices were ₩38,000 takeout and ₩55,000 eat-in, so they rose by ₩7,000 and ₩5,000.
• Takeout vs. eat-in: a ₩15,000 (~$11) difference per kilo. Takeout only makes sense if you have a kitchen — most travelers staying in hotels will want to eat in.
• Not confirmed: whether the ₩60,000 eat-in price includes side dishes and table charges. Reports word it differently, so ask before you sit down.

Dates and program

• Dates: September 4 (Fri) – November 8 (Sun), 2026
• Location: Namdang Port, Seobu-myeon, Hongseong County, South Chungcheong (남당항로213번길 1-1). Search 남당항 in Naver Map or KakaoMap — Google Maps directions are limited in Korea.
• Admission: free
• Program: bare-hand prawn catching (Saturdays and Sundays only), a prawn-peeling contest, talent and singing contests, and guest singer concerts
• The opening concerts (Sep 4–6) and Chuseok concerts (Sep 25–26) have already passed.

The fee and session times for bare-hand prawn catching aren't published anywhere we could verify. The festival committee's number is 010-5433-8196, but calls will be in Korean — asking your hotel front desk to call for you is the easiest route.

What else is there

Namdang Port sits right next to a waterfront fountain park, Hongseong Sky Tower and the Namdang Sunset Observatory, and it's known for sunsets over the Yellow Sea. Time your arrival for late afternoon, watch the sunset, then eat prawns for dinner. If you're planning a longer fall trip, check our Korea fall foliage 2026 peak dates forecast to line up the timing.

3. Boryeong Muchangpo — Prawns and Gizzard Shad Together

Photo: Muchangpo Fall Daeha & Jeoneo Festival promotional image (published by Newsprime, September 15, 2026, © Newsprime)

As the name says, Muchangpo's festival stars both daeha and jeoneo (gizzard shad), a small oily fish Koreans famously crave in fall — usually grilled whole or eaten raw in thin slices. According to Boryeong City's official tourism page, prawns and shad caught in nearby Cheonsu Bay are offered for tasting and sale during the festival, and there's clam and shrimp catching on the tidal flats.

• Dates: September 18 – October 11, 2026
• Location: Muchangpo Port and Muchangpo Beach, Boryeong, South Chungcheong (search 무창포해수욕장 in Naver Map)
• Opening ceremony: Sep 18 (Fri), 6:30 pm at the Muchangpo Plaza stage (already held)
• Organizers: Muchangpo Fishing Village Cooperative, supported by Boryeong City and the Muchangpo Tourism Council
• Contact: 041-936-3510 (cooperative), 041-936-3561 (tourism council) — Korean only

We couldn't confirm Muchangpo's price per kilo. Boryeong City's page only says "discounted prices" without a figure, and news reports don't list one either. Use Namdang Port's ₩45,000 takeout price as a rough benchmark.

4. Those Jumping Shrimp in the Tank May Not Be Daeha

The most-filmed scene in these reels is prawns leaping around in a tank. But according to Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, wild daeha die within minutes of being caught, so you rarely see them alive in a tank. Lively shrimp in a tank are most likely farmed whiteleg shrimp. Nothing wrong with whiteleg shrimp — but if you're paying daeha prices, it helps to know the difference.

Check	Wild daeha	Farmed whiteleg shrimp
Tail color	Greenish	Reddish
Antennae	2–3 times body length	Very short
Legs	Red	Translucent white
Head spike (rostrum)	Extends past the tip of the head	Short

One catch: both turn red when cooked, so leg color stops working, and antennae and spikes can snap off in handling. Check the tail color before cooking — that's the most practical test. This guidance comes from the ministry's October 2021 announcement, but it's basic biology, so it still applies. No source says what the festival shops actually sell, so treat this as a way to choose, not as an accusation.

5. Traveler Tips Before You Go

1. Anmyeondo's festival ended on September 19. Only Namdang Port (until Nov 8) and Muchangpo (until Oct 11) are still on.
2. Peak season is mid-September to mid-October, when daeha are at their meatiest. Namdang runs until November 8, but a November visit may catch the tail end of the season.
3. Weekends for the catching activity. Namdang's bare-hand prawn catching runs Saturdays and Sundays only.
4. Getting to Namdang Port without a car: take a Janghang Line train to Hongseong Station or Gwangcheon Station, then a local bus (Hongju Yeogaek No. 271 or 276), or go via Hongseong or Gwangcheon bus terminals.
5. Getting to Muchangpo: intercity buses leave from Seoul Nambu Bus Terminal and take about 2 hours 10 minutes.
6. Payment: we couldn't confirm whether individual harbor shops accept foreign cards, so bring some Korean won in cash just in case.
7. Save these numbers (Korean-language lines): festival committee 010-5433-8196, Hongseong County cultural heritage office 041-630-1237, Namdang model restaurant info 041-635-2000.

Parking capacity and weekend traffic weren't covered in any official notice. If you're heading back to Seoul with a free afternoon, the Seoul Silver Grass Festival at Haneul Park is another easy fall outing.

6. Quick Recap

Hongseong Namdang Port runs until November 8 with a fixed price of ₩45,000 (~$32) takeout or ₩60,000 (~$43) eat-in per kilo, and Boryeong Muchangpo, open until October 11, is the pick for prawns plus fall gizzard shad. Anmyeondo has already wrapped up — and check the tail before you buy.

Save this for your trip so you can pull up the tail-color table at the tank. Been to either festival? Drop a comment with what you paid at Muchangpo or how the crowds were — it helps the next traveler. If anything has changed, let us know and we'll update it.

Sources: Hongseong County official tourism page; Chungnam official tourism website (Hongseong Namdang Port Daeha Festival); Chungnam Naepo News and Chungcheong Domin Ilbo (Aug 20, 2026); Gong News (Sep 4, 2026, opening-day report); Boryeong City official tourism page (Muchangpo); Newsprime (Sep 15, 2026); Good Morning Chungcheong, Jeonmae and Mega Chungcheong News (Anmyeondo festival); The Trip Pick (Aug 30, 2026); Asia Economy, Food Today and Sikpum Journal (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety guidance on daeha vs. whiteleg shrimp, Oct 2021). Images: Chungnam tourism website official promotional image and the festival promotional image published by Newsprime. Information as of September 27, 2026; prices, dates and activities may change, so please confirm before visiting.