Anyang 1st Street (안양1번가, Anyang-ilbeonga) is the busy old commercial core around Anyang Station, with shops, cafes and an underground shopping arcade connected to the station. On 16 and 17 October 2026 the city of Anyang turns it into a two-day street festival. The city’s own stated purpose is to bring life to the old-town shopping district by drawing young people who already pass through it, with a fashion-and-beauty angle that the page calls the “fashion 1st Street” image.
This is a modest local event rather than a regional attraction. The city’s press release bills it as the fourth edition; it started in 2023 under the idea that anyone can become “No. 1” in whatever they pursue. The 2026 theme is “ONE-DER LAND, where everyone’s dreams gather”. Organisers are Anyang City, four local universities (Daelim, Sungkyul, Anyang and Yeonsung) and the Anyang 1st Street merchants’ association. Mayor Choi Dae-ho described the aim in the press release as a stepping stone for young people’s dreams and fresh ideas, while the city’s page frames it as a way to revive local commerce. The press describes the site only as the 1st Street area; no map of stages or booths was released. The photographs on this page show the street on an ordinary day in 2023, not the festival itself.
What you actually do here
Mostly you walk the street and stop where something catches your eye. According to the city’s announcement, university clubs and departments put on street performances, and there are experience booths for personal-colour analysis, make-up, hair styling and nail art, plus caricature drawing, keyring making, an AI photo zone and tarot readings.
Two items are built for audience participation. One is a random play dance segment, and the other is a game the city’s page calls Unppal Number One Golden Bell (운빨넘버원골든벨); press reports describe it as a luck-based game. The city’s page also lists a social-media follow event. Nothing found gives prize details, entry rules or times for these.
Programme and timetable
The published timetable is short:
- Friday 16 October, 8 p.m.: magic show
- Saturday 17 October, 8 p.m.: celebration concert by the ballad duo Kyungseo Yeji (named on the city’s page as “Dream for NO.1”)
Everything else, including when booths open and close, when buskers perform and when the street programme ends, was not published in the city page or any of the eight or more news reports checked. This guide will not guess. If your plan depends on a particular booth or student act, call the organiser before you go.
For scale, last year’s hours. The third edition (17-18 October 2025) did publish a timetable: side events and the food zone ran 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Friday and 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Saturday, with the main stage from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the Friday and from 2:30 p.m. on the Saturday. That is last year’s schedule, not this year’s, and the 2026 edition has so far announced only its two 8 p.m. shows. It is a reasonable hint that the street will be active in the afternoon and evening rather than only at 8 p.m., but treat it as a hint and not a promise.
The published 2026 items fit a pattern the organisers have used before: a daytime layer of booths and student performances along the street, and one headline slot each evening. The city page also lists a random play dance, the Golden Bell luck game and a social-media follow event without giving times.
Tickets, fees and booking
No ticket, wristband or reservation is mentioned anywhere. The festival sits on a public shopping street and no source describes a fenced or gated area, so general walking access appears to be open, but that is an inference from silence. Do expect to pay for food and drink. The food zone is run by the merchants’ association and by culinary-department students from the local universities, who the press describes as selling unusual menu items they developed. No menu or price list was published, and whether the experience booths are free or charged is unknown.
For questions, the contact on the city page is the Culture and Tourism Division, 031-8045-5461 or 031-8045-5122. Expect Korean-language service; no English-language timetable was found beyond the short press summary.
Getting there without a car
Take Seoul Subway Line 1 to Anyang Station. Wikipedia lists the ride from Seoul Station at about 40 minutes, and Wikivoyage describes express trains reaching Seoul Station in about 30, so a range of 30 to 40 minutes is a fair planning figure; check the actual train in a route app. The 1st Street shopping district is the commercial area around the station, and the station connects to an underground shopping arcade. Anyang’s intercity bus terminal is also across from the station, according to Wikivoyage.
Search for “안양1번가” in Naver Map or KakaoMap rather than “Anyang” alone, since the city is large. I have not verified last-train times, which matter on a night with an 8 p.m. show. Check your return before you commit to staying for the end.
Parking, shuttles and traffic control
None of this was announced in any source found. Press reports and the city page are silent on temporary road closures, pedestrian-only hours, parking or a shuttle. The central streets here are shop-lined and pedestrian-oriented, so driving is a poor choice in any case. Treat the subway as the plan and read the on-site notices when you arrive.
Day trip or overnight
This is a day trip from Seoul on the published facts: the ride is roughly 30 to 40 minutes, and both headline shows start at 8 p.m. The open question is the return. I could not confirm the last Line 1 train from Anyang Station, nor when the street programme ends, so this guide does not label the festival day-trip or overnight. Check the last train in a route app before you commit to the late show.
If you would rather stay in the area, Wikivoyage lists budget hotels near Anyang Station and in nearby Pyeongchon. That is a single source and room rates change, so look up current prices yourself. Staying in Seoul and riding out for the evening is the simpler option for most visitors.
Food on site and nearby
The festival food zone is run by the merchants’ association together with culinary and hospitality students from the local universities, according to the city’s announcement and the press. No menu or price list was published for 2026. Last year’s edition ran its food zone alongside the side events, from 3 p.m. on the Friday and 1 p.m. on the Saturday until 9 p.m., so expect it to be open in the afternoon and early evening, though 2026 hours are unconfirmed.
Beyond the festival, 1st Street is a normal commercial district with restaurants, cafes and bars, so you will not struggle to eat. Wikivoyage points to the adjacent Anyang Central Market, which it describes as popular with locals for a lane of sundae (blood sausage) and gopchang (grilled pork intestines) restaurants. That is one source, I did not check opening hours or prices, and this is a hearty, offal-heavy meal that not every visitor wants. Treat it as a lead, not a recommendation.
Anyang’s best-documented regional product is its grapes. Two independent news reports (Gyeongin Ilbo, 2006, and Seoul Shinmun, 2017) describe a once-famous grape-growing district that shrank under urban development and was partly revived from 1995. The grapes are a late-summer fruit and have nothing to do with the festival itself, so treat this as background rather than a thing to look for on the street in October.
Honest assessment
The festival’s strength is that it is real local life: students performing, small shops joining in, and a city trying to give its old centre a reason to be busy on a weekend night. If you are already in Seoul and want a low-effort evening out in a Gyeonggi commuter city, with no published entry fee, a magic show or a ballad duo, it is easy to reach.
Its weakness is that there is little here for a first-time visitor to Korea who wants culture, scenery or an English-friendly programme. Most of what is published is aimed at young Korean residents, the schedule is thin, hours are unknown, and the headline acts are two 8 p.m. shows on separate nights. I found no sign of a rain policy, so check the weather and the city’s page the day you go. If you only have one evening in Korea, there are stronger choices; if you are curious about an everyday Korean shopping-street festival, this is a convenient and low-cost one.
