37 Cultural Cities Gather in Miryang for the "2026 National Cultural City Expo"

Cultural cities from across the country will gather in one place to share business achievements and cases utilizing regional cultural resources. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it will host the "2026 National Cultural City Expo" from the 10th to the 13th in the vicinity of Yeongnamnu and the Miryang River in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do, together with Gyeongsangnam-do and the National Cultural City Council.
 

The theme of this year's expo is 'One Local, Creating the City's Future Together.' A cultural city is a policy where residents, local governments, and planners develop the cultural characteristics of a region based on its cultural resources; since the first designation in 2019, 37 cities have been designated as cultural cities to date.

At the expo, visitors can examine the implementation process of cultural city policies and the projects carried out in each region. In the policy promotion hall located at the entrance of the venue, major cases in seven fields, such as resident participation, utilization of cultural spaces, and solving regional problems, will be introduced along with the current status of cultural city designations.

Experiences such as coloring the exterior of the policy promotion hall directly and photo zones will also be operated for visitors. In the subsequent city-specific promotion halls, officials from each region will directly introduce representative cultural resources and major projects. The 12 locations designated as the 1st and 2nd waves of cultural cities will prepare a separate special pavilion to showcase the business achievements accumulated so far.

Spaces where artists and young entrepreneurs active in the region can be met will also be operated. Along the Miryang River, an art market introducing works of local artists and regional content booths will be prepared, and 10 teams that started businesses through the Miryang Cultural City project's regional planner training course will participate in the youth food booths.

The participating teams will showcase food using local ingredients and upcycled crafts. This is organized so that citizens can encounter the local manpower and content that have grown through the cultural city project on-site.

An opening ceremony will be held at 5:20 PM today (the 11th). The Miryang Arirang Arts Group's gifted group will perform 'Arirang Dongdong,' which combines the Jige Jangdan (traditional rhythm) and farming movements with Miryang Arirang. Following this, the water firework musical drama 'Mirimidongguk,' based on the old name of Miryang, and the 'Miryang River Eohwa Flower Fireworks,' inspired by the lights of fishing boats on the Miryang River, will be held at the special floating stage on the Miryang River.

At the opening ceremony, commendations from the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism will be presented to 10 civil servants and officials who contributed to the creation of cultural cities. Certificates and plaques will also be delivered to five cities that achieved excellent results in the 2025 cultural city performance evaluation.

Yeongwol and Chungju were selected as 'Cultural City of the Year,' while Miryang, Busan Suyeong-gu, and Sokcho were respectively selected as 'Best Cultural Cities.' The 'Cultural City of the Year' is a system that selects a city that can represent the achievements of the corresponding year among the cities that received the best grade in the performance evaluation.

Kim Young-soo, Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "Culture is the core foundation that makes a region a 'place where people want to live.' Through this expo, we hope that the achievements created by cultural cities nationwide will be shared, and citizens can directly feel the changes that culture has brought to the regions."