Jeju Yellowtail Festival 2026 (Nov 19-22): Catch a Fish Bare-Handed for $14 at Moseulpo — Dates, Schedule & Bus Guide

Every November the same clips come back: people in waders splashing into a shallow pool and hugging a giant fish with their bare hands while a crowd cheers. That's Jeju's yellowtail festival, and the reels almost never tell you the actual dates, what it costs to jump in, or which day the big fish-carving show happens. So we cross-checked the festival's official website with Korean news reports to give you the 2026 dates, the day-by-day schedule, hands-on activity prices, the bus from Jeju Airport, plus how Koreans grade yellowtail and why it got so expensive last winter — everything you need before your Jeju trip.

Photo: Official Choenamdan Bangeo Festival website (bare-hand yellowtail catching)

1. The quick answer: Moseulpo Yellowtail Festival 2026 at a glance

Some context first. Bangeo (방어) is Japanese amberjack, usually called yellowtail in English. In Korea it's the winter sashimi, and Moseulpo, a fishing port on Jeju's southwest coast, is its most famous home. The festival is officially named the "Choenamdan (Southernmost) Bangeo Festival." Here's the summary as of October 22, 2026:

What	Details
Edition	26th (the festival started in 2001)
Dates	Thursday, November 19 – Sunday, November 22, 2026 (4 days)
Where	Moseulpo Port, Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo (southwest Jeju)
Opening · closing	Opening ceremony Nov 19, 5 p.m.; closing Nov 22 in the evening (7 or 8 p.m., sources differ)
Bare-hand catching · cage fishing	₩20,000 (about $14) each, sign up on site the same day
Kids' bare-hand catching	Free, Nov 20–22, 12:00–15:00, first come first served
Carving show · eating contest	Saturday, Nov 21 only — 11:00 carving show, 12:00 eating contest
Contact	Festival committee, +82-64-794-8032 (Korean)

If the scene you want is a whole giant yellowtail being carved up in front of a crowd, there's only one slot: Saturday morning, November 21.

2. Day-by-day schedule: which day to go

Here's the official stage schedule (marked for the 26th edition), grouped by day. The official page itself notes that it "may change depending on circumstances," so double-check before you set out.

Thursday, Nov 19 — opening day

• 15:00 opening street parade
• 17:00 opening ceremony
• 18:00 guest singers (line-up not announced yet)

Friday, Nov 20

• 10:00–14:00 seniors' games
• 16:30 Bangeo song contest preliminaries

Saturday, Nov 21 — the highlight

• 11:00 giant yellowtail carving show
• 12:00 yellowtail eating contest (sign up on site)
• 13:00 conch-grab game and a workshop making the taewak float that Jeju's haenyeo (female free divers) use
• 14:00 haenyeo singing contest
• 18:30 guest singers

Sunday, Nov 22 — final day

• 16:30 song contest final
• 19:20 awards and prize draw
• 20:00 closing ceremony and fireworks (per the stage schedule)

One heads-up: the official sources disagree on the closing time. The notice board says 7 p.m. on November 22, while the stage schedule lists "20:00–20:30 closing ceremony and fireworks." If fireworks matter to you, plan to stay past 8 p.m.

3. Catch a yellowtail with your bare hands: prices and tips

The sea activities are what the reels show. According to the official sea-activity page, none of them need a reservation — you sign up on site the same day.

Activity	Price	Days
Bare-hand yellowtail catching	₩20,000 (~$14)	Nov 19–22
Sea-cage yellowtail fishing	₩20,000 (~$14)	Nov 19–22
Kids' bare-hand catching	Free (limited spots)	Nov 20–22, 12:00–15:00
Fish auction experience	Free to join (you pay if you win a bid)	Nov 20–22

The ₩20,000 figure comes from the official website. A couple of travel outlets describe it as "the same as last year, pending this year's final notice," so it could still change on the day.

Photo: Official Choenamdan Bangeo Festival website (sea-cage yellowtail fishing)

Good to know before you jump in

• Sunday closes early — per the stage schedule, activities on the last day (Nov 22) end at 14:30. Do them in the morning.
• Hours vary by page — the sea-activity page says 11:00–17:00, the stage schedule says 10:00–16:30. Arrive early rather than aiming for late afternoon.
• Kids' free slot: be there before noon — spots are limited.
• Set a budget for the auction — joining is free, but a winning bid comes out of your wallet.
• Sign-up is in Korean — staff may not speak English, so have a translation app ready. Payment methods at the booths haven't been announced, so carry some cash just in case.

4. Yellowtail grades, season and last year's prices

Grades go by weight

Based on on-the-ground reporting from Moseulpo (Seoul Shinmun, December 2025; The Fact, November 2022), the port uses roughly these terms. They're local market conventions, not an official legal standard.

Korean term	Weight
Teukdae-bangeo (extra large)	8kg (17.6 lb) and up
Dae-bangeo (large)	4–8kg (8.8–17.6 lb)
Jung-bangeo (medium)	under 4kg
So-bangeo (small)	2.5kg (5.5 lb) or less

So if a restaurant menu just says dae-bangeo (대방어), it's fair to ask how many kilos the fish was. Moseulpo yellowtail is caught using damselfish (jari-dom) as bait, which is why locals also call it "jari bangeo."

Photo: Seoul Shinmun, December 15, 2025 (crew releasing yellowtail into a temporary sea cage at Unjin Port)

Season: November to February

Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, in its "Seafood of the Month" picks, called yellowtail season November through February, peaking in December and January. It's rich in fat, omega-3s (DHA and EPA) and vitamins D and E, and the bigger the fish, the better it tastes. A late-November festival lands right at the start of the season. The ministry also suggests alternating between the leaner body meat and the fattier cuts when eating a large yellowtail.

Why was it so expensive last winter (2025)?

Prices spiked. According to Herald Economy, wholesale wild East Sea yellowtail hit ₩35,100 per kg (about $25) in mid-December 2025, up 156% from ₩13,700 (about $10) a year earlier. Reasons cited: warmer-than-usual winter seas (yellowtail like 10–18°C / 50–64°F), frequent rough weather, a red tide that killed 2.81 million farmed fish along the south coast, and Japanese farmed yellowtail roughly doubling in price.

Moseulpo followed suit. Seoul Shinmun reported that in December 2025 extra-large yellowtail sold for ₩170,000–180,000 per fish (about $120–130) at the Moseulpo fish auction, with a top bid of ₩250,000 (about $180) on December 13 (auctions run at 10 a.m.). Keep in mind these are wholesale auction prices, not restaurant prices, and 2026 prices haven't formed yet. Prices for sashimi sold at the festival haven't been announced either.

5. Getting there, what to pair it with, and traveler tips

From Jeju Airport to Moseulpo Port

• Rental car: about 40km (25 miles), around 1 hour 10 minutes. Set your navigation to "모슬포항 주차장" (Moseulpo Port parking lot).
• Bus option 1: Express bus 151 or 152 (toward Unjin Port) → get off at Hamo Sports Park (하모체육공원) → walk 300m (about 1 hour 15–17 minutes in total)
• Bus option 2: Express bus 182 → transfer at Jeonjon Village to trunk bus 255 → Moseulpo Port stop (about 1 hour 30 minutes)

Easy mistake: Unjin Port, where ferries leave for Marado and Gapado islands, is not the festival site. Even if the bus says "Unjin Port," get off at Hamo Sports Park. No temporary parking or shuttle buses had been announced as of early October.

Photo: Official Choenamdan Bangeo Festival website (yellowtail dish tasting)

More to do besides the sea activities

• Free yellowtail giveaway: Nov 20–22, 11:00–16:00, a "lucky key" event where you can win a fish for free
• Free yellowtail dish tastings, a discounted sashimi corner and a yellowtail photo zone
• Police, fire and public-health experience booths (handy if you have kids)

Pair it with the Jeju Citrus Expo

The same week, November 19–23, the 2026 Jeju Citrus Expo runs at the Jeju Agricultural Ecology Park area in Seogwipo (per Financial News). It overlaps the yellowtail festival by four days and both are in Seogwipo, so a one-night trip can cover both. For tangerine-picking prices and season, see our Jeju tangerine picking 2026 guide.

Pack and plan

1. A change of clothes, a towel and a plastic bag — bare-hand catching means getting wet.
2. A windbreaker — Moseulpo Port gets strong sea winds in November.
3. Arrive Saturday morning — the carving show (11:00) and eating contest (12:00) happen only that day.
4. Check prices on site — they more than doubled in a year last winter, and this year's festival prices aren't out yet.
5. Call ahead — schedules differ between pages; the committee line (+82-64-794-8032) is Korean-speaking, so a Korean-speaking friend or your hotel desk can help.

Hunting for more seasonal seafood festivals? Our Korea daeha prawn festival guide covers the west-coast version.

Wrap-up: carving show on Saturday, activities in the morning

In short: the 2026 Moseulpo Yellowtail Festival runs Thursday, November 19 to Sunday, November 22; bare-hand catching and cage fishing are ₩20,000 (~$14) each, sign up on site; and the giant carving show is Saturday at 11:00 only. The fish will be in early-season form, but prices can swing like last year, so check on the day.

Save this for your Jeju trip, and if you go and spot the festival sashimi prices or a schedule change, drop a comment so we can update this guide.

Sources: Official Choenamdan Bangeo Festival website (home, notices, stage events, sea activities, special and side events, directions) / jeju.com (Oct 2, 2026) / travelmapjourney (Aug 29, 2026) / Seoul Shinmun (Dec 15, 2025, Moseulpo report) / The Fact (Nov 2022) / Herald Economy (Dec 16, 2025) / Wikitree / Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries "Seafood of the Month" (reposted by Incheon Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Jan 2021 and Dec 2023) / Financial News (Aug 13, 2026, Jeju Citrus Expo). Photos from the official festival website and Seoul Shinmun. Information as of October 22, 2026; dollar amounts are rough estimates at about ₩1,400 per dollar. Schedules and prices may change, so check official notices before you go.