Chuseok K-Fest 2026 at Jersey City Hall

Jersey City's second Chuseok K-Fest is Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at City Hall Plaza and the City Council Chambers, 280 Grove Street. Admission is free. An RSVP on the KCED Foundation page is optional and is not required to get in.

The City of Jersey City and the Jersey City Office of Cultural Affairs host it. The Hudson County Chamber of Commerce's Korean chapter is the co-host. KCED Foundation, a nonprofit, produces it. Chuseok is Korea's harvest thanksgiving. The 2026 theme on the organizer page is "Honoring Our Heritage, Inspiring Our Future."

Last October the same plaza and chambers held what the organizers call one of the first official Korean Chuseok festivals inside a U.S. city government building. The mayor read a proclamation, and six Korean American leaders received city certificates. This year the public card is a K-food market, a K-beauty and wellness zone, a kids culture zone, a hanbok fashion show, cultural performances, a K-pop stage, and community awards. Vendor applications on the poster closed October 5. You are going as a guest, not signing up for a booth.

The organizer page says the festival is rain or shine. The public hours cover City Hall Plaza and the Council Chambers. Four hours is a lunch-to-afternoon stop. Transit directions put the Grove Street PATH station about a 12-minute walk away. The nearest bus stop, on Montgomery Street, is a couple of minutes from the door.

JAPAN Fes is the same Saturday on Montgomery Street between Hudson and Greene, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. That free Japanese street festival overlaps this one for the whole Chuseok window. Both are downtown. If you want a full market and the ceremony, stay at Grove Street. If you want Japan, start on Montgomery and stop at City Hall only if you still have an hour. GSPC's Durga Puja is the longer Bengali weekend at Dickinson High School, up by India Square. Light Up Diwali is the same Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m., at the Montclair Art Museum, and that one needs a ticket. City Hall is the free Korean afternoon. Grove Street, Montclair, and a puja hall are three separate trips.

Our take: go if you want hanbok, a food market, and a city ceremony without a ticket. Stay for the awards if that is your room. If you only have the afternoon and you wanted Japan, Montgomery Street is the other free Jersey City date. Check that page before you promise both.

When: October 17, 2026, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Where: Jersey City Hall Plaza and Council Chambers, 280 Grove Street, Jersey City, NJ

Details on kcedfoundation.org.