2026 Gwangju ACE Fair

2026 Gwangju ACE Fair at Kimdaejung Convention Center Halls A–C, September 10–13

The 2026 Gwangju ACE Fair is scheduled to take place from Thursday, September 10, 2026, through Sunday, September 13, at Kimdaejung Convention Center, 30 Sangmunuri-ro, Seo-gu, Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City. As a B2B2C cultural-content exhibition using Exhibition Halls A–C and the Multipurpose Hall, it was designed so that consultations among industry professionals and sightseeing by general visitors overlap in one space. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Gwangju Metropolitan City, and organized by the Gwangju Tourism Organization, Gwangju Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency, Korea Cable TV Association, Gwangju Design Promotion Agency, and KOTRA. Korea Exhibition Industry Promotion Association exhibition information

• Exhibition categories include broadcasting, animation and characters, AI, the metaverse, VR and AR, games, and content licensing.
• Programs for general visitors are scheduled to include an illustration fair, a cosplay competition, a board-game zone, a bubble show, the Juicy Festival, and the Semogwi Market.
• Business meetings and networking programs are also included, creating a natural transition between time spent viewing creative works and time learning about the industry.
• In 2025, 36 companies participated in the GICON joint pavilion with 51 booths, showcasing animation, webtoons, games, and metaverse content. This made me expect this year to offer more than simple sales booths, with opportunities to see actual content demonstrations and hear explanations from creative companies. GICON 2025 joint pavilion record

Photos from the 2025 event show booth lighting and character graphics continuing from the entrance, while company booths and visitor routes intertwined inside the exhibition hall. The biggest appeal of this event was the feeling of seeing K-content that is normally viewed on a screen transformed into tangible scenes, such as paper merchandise, game demonstrations, and artists’ booths.

Three minutes from Exit 5 of Kimdaejung Convention Center (Mareuk) Station to the ACE Illustration Fair

If you are going with a foreign friend, the simplest route is to use Exit 5 of Kimdaejung Convention Center (Mareuk) Station on Gwangju Metro Line 1. Walking straight from the exit takes about three minutes to Kimdaejung Convention Center, so even first-time visitors do not have to explain a long address to a taxi driver. For buses, Ilgok 38 and Sangmu 64 stop at the Kimdaejung Convention Center bus stop, while bus routes 518, Sangmu 63, and Sunhwan 01 connect at the 5·18 Freedom Park bus stop. If you are coming from Gwangju Songjeong Station, taking Line 1 to Kimdaejung Convention Center (Mareuk) Station is easy to understand. Kimdaejung Convention Center transportation information

Visiting hours are 10:00–17:00 from September 10 to 12, with admission closing at 16:00. Since the exhibition ends at 16:00 on the final day, September 13, entering in the morning is much more relaxed if you want to see both the illustration booths and the board-game zone. Admission was free with advance registration by July 31. From August 3 through 18:00 on September 9, admission was listed as KRW 5,000 for adults and KRW 3,000 for teenagers. On-site registration costs KRW 10,000 for adults and KRW 5,000 for teenagers, while children, seniors aged 65 or older, people with disabilities, and national merit recipients are eligible for free admission. 2026 visiting hours and admission fees

Regarding language access, the 2025 ACE Fair English website offered Korean, English, and Chinese menus, and provided separate phone numbers for English- and Chinese-language inquiries. However, detailed information about English signage for general visitors and the scope of on-site interpretation in 2026 has not been released. If you need language assistance, it would be best to contact the event office in advance at 062-611-2242. The payment methods for the merchandise market have also not been announced separately, so preparing both an overseas card and some small-denomination cash in addition to the admission fee information would be reassuring. ACE Fair English information page

Because the visit mainly takes place indoors in Exhibition Halls A–C and the Multipurpose Hall, it is a good idea to bring a light outer layer and comfortable shoes for extended walking. After the exhibition, taking bus 518 or Sangmu 63 toward the 5·18 Freedom Park stop naturally continues the route to exploring Gwangju’s democratic and peace-related spaces.

Admission closes at 16:00 and the Secondary Parking Lot: What to check first at the 2026 ACE Fair

The most practical variables were time and crowds. Photos of the illustration and merchandise area at the 2025 Gwangju ACE Fair show visitors packed closely as they moved between narrow booths. If you want to browse merchandise slowly at artists’ booths this year, it is best to enter around opening time, about 10:00. If you plan to watch the cosplay competition or stage events, it would be wise to combine your route around the individual program schedule as soon as it is released. 2025 Gwangju ACE Fair on-site article

Visitors arriving by car should be more cautious. A notice dated June 24 stated that the outdoor Secondary Parking Lot at Kimdaejung Convention Center has been closed since June 16, 2026, for facility improvements and safety management. Since the alternative parking areas and vehicle routes may change by the time of the September event, it is safer to prioritize public transportation, with the three-minute walk from Subway Exit 5 as the preferred option. Kimdaejung Convention Center Secondary Parking Lot notice

Operations in Exhibition Halls A–C and the Multipurpose Hall have been announced, but details about food and beverage sales and rest areas in 2026 have not yet been released separately. If you plan to spend two or three hours or more at the exhibition, bringing water and completing the admission process by 16:00 at the latest will make the visit less hectic.

Wrapping up the 2026 Gwangju ACE Fair, connecting broadcasting, webtoons, and games in one day

This event is better suited to travelers curious about how content develops into characters, games, webtoons, merchandise, and business than to friends who simply enjoy K-dramas or animation. Someone who likes drawing might focus on the Illustration Fair and Semogwi Market; friends visiting together might combine the board-game zone with the cosplay competition; and anyone interested in the content industry might explore the exhibition halls and consultation programs. In this way, each day can take on a different character.

For just four days, from September 10 to 13, this is an opportunity to follow one continuous flow from broadcasting and video to webtoons and games inside Kimdaejung Convention Center. It is an exhibition where you may smile lightly in front of a favorite character and then stop for a long while at a small creative booth, so I would cautiously recommend it to friends who want to add another layer of content interests to a trip to Gwangju.