Closure expectation
HighChuseok is modeled as a public holiday in South Korea; expect office, bank, school, and service-hour changes unless a local exception applies.
Weekly digest
Pick the categories you care about: movies, AI launches, sports, eclipses, and major public dates. One email per week, and never anything you did not ask for.
Want full preferences? Customize your digest →
Holiday guide
Global holiday guide rooted in South Korea's calendar, observed nationwide.
Next occurrence
September 24, 2026
Thursday · Asia/Seoul
Next occurrence
September 24, 2026
Thursday
Observed in
1 country
Current holiday dataset
Primary context
South Korea
Public
Planning timezone
Asia/Seoul
UTC+09:00
Next: September 24, 2026 (Thursday)
Chuseok is one of South Korea's defining family and travel holidays, combining harvest themes with ancestor remembrance and large-scale domestic movement. In the current dataset this holiday is only listed for South Korea.
Last updated recently. Dates draw from the curated holiday catalog (tracked window 2025-2027); cultural context comes from the source-cited curation library when an entry exists.
Local statutory mode, country coverage, date rule, timezone spread, and related planning context for Chuseok.
Primary calendar
South Korea · Public
Cultural family
harvest or seasonal festival · East Asia
Observed scope
Nationwide observance
Coverage reach
1 country in the current holiday dataset
Timezone context
Asia/Seoul (UTC+09:00)
Next date signal
September 24, 2026 · Thursday
Forward window
2025: October 6, 2025 · 2025: October 7, 2025 · 2025: October 8, 2025 · 2026: September 24, 2026
Related planning set
Lunar New Year · Buddha's Birthday · Christmas Day
Regional spread
Asia 1
Reference posture
4 source-cited dossier references plus catalog dates
The rows below are built from this holiday's actual route, country, local-name, date, rule, timezone, observed-country, and adjacent-calendar records. They make Chuseok in South Korea distinct from holidays with similar names or the same season.
Route identity
chuseok · Chuseok · South Korea · KR
Local name and scope
추석 · Public · nationwide
Rule and family
harvest or seasonal festival · East Asia · lunar / lunisolar
Country/date clusters
September 24, 2026 (1)
Observed type mix
Public: 1
Forward date window
2026: September 24, 2026 (Thursday) · 2026: September 25, 2026 (Friday) · 2026: September 26, 2026 (Saturday) · 2027: September 14, 2027 (Tuesday) · 2027: September 15, 2027 (Wednesday)
Timezone anchor
Asia/Seoul · Asia/Seoul (UTC+09:00)
Calendar neighbors
previous: Liberation Day (40 days before) · next: National Foundation Day (9 days after)
Source depth
4 curated source citations plus catalog dates
The practical risk is not just the date. Chuseok can affect closure expectations, bridge-day leave, country-specific substitutions, cross-border date drift, and timezone reminders differently in each jurisdiction.
Closure expectation
HighChuseok is modeled as a public holiday in South Korea; expect office, bank, school, and service-hour changes unless a local exception applies.
Date confidence
Catalog onlyChuseok uses tracked catalog rows for the visible forward window. lunar / lunisolar holidays stay inside the source window when extrapolation would be risky.
Bridge-day pressure
ThursdayChuseok next falls on September 24, 2026 (Thursday). High bridge-day pressure: Friday often becomes the unofficial leave day after a Thursday holiday.
Cross-border drift
Local onlyChuseok is effectively a South Korea detail page in this dataset; local rules matter more than international comparison.
Timezone handling
Single zoneSouth Korea has a single primary timezone in this country record, so date-boundary risk is lower than in multi-zone countries.
Source posture
DossierChuseok has 4 curated source citations rendered on the page, plus catalog dates and country metadata.
This page keeps the date answer separate from statutory verification. The catalog supplies the tracked date rows; the checkpoints below show which authority, story profile, local specificity, and dossier layer should be reviewed when the holiday affects bookings, payroll, travel, or public-service hours.
Country authority checkpoint
Korean national-holiday calendar; Lunar-calendar holiday announcements
Story and rule checkpoint
lunar holiday profile: Chuseok is one of South Korea's defining family and travel holidays, combining harvest themes with ancestor remembrance and large-scale domestic movement.
Local specificity checkpoint
Local specificity comes from the selected country calendar row, local name, observance type, timezone record, nearby holidays, and observed cross-country date spread.
Dossier checkpoint
Chuseok and Seollal (Lunar New Year) are the two great Korean lunar holidays, mirror-imaged on the calendar: Seollal opens the lunar year in late January / February with spring rites and family reunion; Chuseok closes the agricultural year in September/October with harvest thanks and ancestral grave visits. Both trigger nationwide three-day public-holiday blocks and the world's most intense seasonal domestic-travel surges, but Chuseok centres on the autumn full moon and the new rice harvest while Seollal centres on the new lunar year and tteokguk rice-cake soup. Source citations are rendered in the holiday-specific dossier.
Reference stack
This block separates the local South Korea holiday answer from two common sources of programmatic-calendar confusion: countries that use the same holiday name on different dates, and future rows that are projected from a rule rather than directly tracked.
Cross-border date spread
Chuseok is currently anchored to South Korea in the observed-country dataset, so cross-border date drift is not a major concern on this page.
Projection reliability
Chuseok stays inside the tracked catalog window for forward dates because its lunar / lunisolar rule is not safely extrapolated here. Source posture: 4 curated source citations attached.
Observed next-date clusters
September 24, 2026
1 country · South Korea
Observed type mix across countries
Name in South Korea
추석
The local catalog name for South Korea is 추석; the English display name is Chuseok.
Country calendar role
Chuseok is recorded in South Korea as a public holiday with nationwide scope.
Reference fields include Chuseok's country, date behavior, timezone context, related holidays, and observed-country coverage.
The festival developed from harvest traditions and became deeply tied to reunion travel, gift-giving, and ritual visits that shape the entire holiday period.
Its influence on transport, logistics, and time off is so strong that the date works as both a cultural marker and a major planning signal.
Chuseok is marked as a nationwide observance in the current South Korea holiday data.
Chuseok follows a lunar or lunisolar calendar tradition, so the Gregorian date changes from year to year. In the tracked data window, the dates land on 2025: October 6, 2025: October 7, 2025: October 8, 2026: September 24, 2026: September 25, 2026: September 26, 2027: September 14, 2027: September 15, 2027: September 16.
Because Chuseok follows a lunar or lunisolar calendar, the Gregorian date moves significantly each year and statutory recognition often spans several days, so reading the official block is more useful than the headline date.
The current static build keeps the tracked 2025-2027 date window online for curated holiday detail pages.
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | October 6, 2025 | Monday |
| 2025 | October 7, 2025 | Tuesday |
| 2025 | October 8, 2025 | Wednesday |
| 2026 | September 24, 2026 | Thursday |
| 2026 | September 25, 2026 | Friday |
| 2026 | September 26, 2026 | Saturday |
| 2027 | September 14, 2027 | Tuesday |
| 2027 | September 15, 2027 | Wednesday |
| 2027 | September 16, 2027 | Thursday |
Rows below come straight from the tracked catalog window (2025-2027). The weekday distribution controls long-weekend math each year.
| Year | Date | Weekday | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | September 24, 2026 | Thursday | Catalog |
| 2026 | September 25, 2026 | Friday | Catalog |
| 2026 | September 26, 2026 | Saturday | Catalog |
| 2027 | September 14, 2027 | Tuesday | Catalog |
| 2027 | September 15, 2027 | Wednesday | Catalog |
Seasonal placement
Chuseok next lands in the autumn planning band for South Korea. That matters for school terms, travel season, and whether the holiday sits near year-end, spring religious calendars, summer travel, or autumn civic cycles.
Weekday distribution in this window
Chuseok is anchored to the seasonal cycle — harvest, solstice, or equivalent — which is why food, gathering, and time outdoors carry more meaning than state-led ceremony.
Searches for Chuseok want the year's date, the long-weekend math, and travel-versus-stay patterns common in South Korea during the season.
Cultural family
harvest or seasonal festival
Origin region: East Asia
Statutory mode
Chuseok is listed as a public holiday in South Korea (nationwide), which usually means government offices, banks, and most schools close.
Differentiates from neighbors
Chuseok and Seollal (Lunar New Year) are the two great Korean lunar holidays, mirror-imaged on the calendar: Seollal opens the lunar year in late January / February with spring rites and family reunion; Chuseok closes the agricultural year in September/October with harvest thanks and ancestral grave visits. Both trigger nationwide three-day public-holiday blocks and the world's most intense seasonal domestic-travel surges, but Chuseok centres on the autumn full moon and the new rice harvest while Seollal centres on the new lunar year and tteokguk rice-cake soup.
Religious / civic / cultural context
Chuseok is a Confucian-rooted harvest thanksgiving and ancestor-veneration festival, dating to the Silla Kingdom (57 BC-935 AD) and traditionally explained through the legend of the weaving contest of Princess Gabae. Its modern observance blends Confucian ancestral rites (charye, jesa), agricultural thanksgiving for the new rice harvest, and family reunion under the harvest full moon — making it Korea's most important domestic holiday alongside Seollal (Lunar New Year). Unlike Western harvest festivals it retains an explicit ritual obligation to deceased ancestors at the household level.
Date rule
Falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Korean lunisolar calendar (the harvest full moon), with the public holiday spanning the three days from the 14th to the 16th lunar days. In Gregorian terms it floats between mid-September and early October; in 2026 the core day is Saturday 26 September, with the official holiday block running through Tuesday 29 September including a substitute holiday under South Korea's 'alternative holiday' (대체공휴일) rule when the period coincides with a weekend.
Planning impact
The largest annual internal-travel event in South Korea: 32.18 million Koreans (over 60% of the population) travelled between 2-12 October 2025 per Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport data, with 6.67 million vehicles on the road on Chuseok day itself. Seoul-to-Busan KTX trains sell out weeks ahead; the Seoul-Busan drive expands from a normal 4-5 hours to 7-10+ hours. Banks, government offices, courts, and most small businesses close for the full three-day block; large department stores typically close for at least one day. Seoul empties dramatically as residents return to ancestral hometowns.
Observance mode by jurisdiction
Country-specific behavior
Only countries whose pattern departs from the headline observance rule are listed.
South Korea
Three-day statutory holiday with active substitute-holiday rules; the 2026 window combined with weekends and National Foundation Day (3 October) creates an unusually long 'Golden Chuseok' break. Major hospitals operate emergency-only services; convenience stores remain open.
Sources
As a harvest or seasonal festival sitting in the South Korea calendar, Chuseok matters for planning because office, bank, and school closures stack on the same day. The next tracked occurrence is September 24, 2026 (Thursday), which controls long-weekend math for that year.
Chuseok also appears in other country calendars such as South Korea. Recorded next dates include South Korea on September 24, 2026 — slight differences across borders are common because each country can apply weekend-substitution or regional-only rules to the same nominal holiday.
South Korea plans this holiday primarily around Asia/Seoul. Because Chuseok follows a lunar or lunisolar calendar, the Gregorian date moves significantly each year and statutory recognition often spans several days, so reading the official block is more useful than the headline date. Teams often line Chuseok up with Lunar New Year, Buddha's Birthday, and Christmas Day when blocking off the broader holiday window.
Holiday planning depth
The closest observed holidays before and after Chuseok in the South Koreacalendar show the local scheduling neighborhood for 2026.
Previous holiday
Liberation Day
August 15, 2026 · Public
40 days before Chuseok; local label: 광복절.
Next holiday
National Foundation Day
October 3, 2026 · Public
9 days after Chuseok; local label: 개천절.
These are the closest holidays around Chuseok in the South Koreacalendar for 2026. They help separate this guide from holidays in the same season or religious/civic family.
National Foundation Day
October 3, 2026 · Public
9 days after Chuseok. Local label: 개천절.
Hangul Day
October 9, 2026 · Public
15 days after Chuseok. Local label: 한글날.
Liberation Day
August 15, 2026 · Public
40 days before Chuseok. Local label: 광복절.
Christmas Day
December 25, 2026 · Public
92 days after Chuseok. Local label: 크리스마스.
Memorial Day
June 6, 2026 · Public
110 days before Chuseok. Local label: 현충일.
Buddha's Birthday
May 24, 2026 · Public
123 days before Chuseok. Local label: 부처님 오신 날.
Chuseok is only listed for South Korea in the current dataset.
Asia
1 country
Chuseok is currently a single-country entry, so the next-date row below is the operational anchor for South Korea.
| Country | Next date | Type |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea | September 24, 2026 | Public |
Related links are selected from the same country calendar first, with family matches such as Easter-cycle or lunisolar festivals preferred before nearby-date filler.
Lunar New Year
February 16, 2026 · Public
Curated country planning companion
Open curated guide
Buddha's Birthday
May 24, 2026 · Public
Curated country planning companion
Open curated guide
Christmas Day
December 25, 2026 · Public
Curated country planning companion
See 2026 calendar
New Year's Day
January 1, 2026 · Public
Nearby in the country calendar
See 2026 calendar
Independence Movement Day
March 1, 2026 · Public
Nearby in the country calendar
See 2026 calendar
Yes — Chuseok is listed as a public holiday in South Korea on a nationwide basis.
In 2026, Chuseok in South Korea falls on September 24, 2026 (Thursday). Subsequent dates: 2026 September 25, 2026, 2026 September 26, 2026, 2027 September 14, 2027.
Chuseok follows a lunar or lunisolar calendar tradition, so the Gregorian date changes from year to year. In the tracked data window, the dates land on 2025: October 6, 2025: October 7, 2025: October 8, 2026: September 24, 2026: September 25, 2026: September 26, 2027: September 14, 2027: September 15, 2027: September 16. Because Chuseok follows a lunar or lunisolar calendar, the Gregorian date moves significantly each year and statutory recognition often spans several days, so reading the official block is more useful than the headline date.
Chuseok is listed as a public holiday in South Korea (nationwide), which usually means government offices, banks, and most schools close. It reads as a harvest or seasonal festival with origins tied to East Asia.
The local catalog name for South Korea is 추석; the English display name is Chuseok.
Chuseok is only listed for South Korea in the current dataset.
South Korea uses Asia/Seoul (UTC+09:00) for local planning.
Chuseok is a Confucian-rooted harvest thanksgiving and ancestor-veneration festival, dating to the Silla Kingdom (57 BC-935 AD) and traditionally explained through the legend of the weaving contest of Princess Gabae. Its modern observance blends Confucian ancestral rites (charye, jesa), agricultural thanksgiving for the new rice harvest, and family reunion under the harvest full moon — making it Korea's most important domestic holiday alongside Seollal (Lunar New Year). Unlike Western harvest festivals it retains an explicit ritual obligation to deceased ancestors at the household level. The largest annual internal-travel event in South Korea: 32.18 million Koreans (over 60% of the population) travelled between 2-12 October 2025 per Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport data, with 6.67 million vehicles on the road on Chuseok day itself. Seoul-to-Busan KTX trains sell out weeks ahead; the Seoul-Busan drive expands from a normal 4-5 hours to 7-10+ hours. Banks, government offices, courts, and most small businesses close for the full three-day block; large department stores typically close for at least one day. Seoul empties dramatically as residents return to ancestral hometowns.
Chuseok and Seollal (Lunar New Year) are the two great Korean lunar holidays, mirror-imaged on the calendar: Seollal opens the lunar year in late January / February with spring rites and family reunion; Chuseok closes the agricultural year in September/October with harvest thanks and ancestral grave visits. Both trigger nationwide three-day public-holiday blocks and the world's most intense seasonal domestic-travel surges, but Chuseok centres on the autumn full moon and the new rice harvest while Seollal centres on the new lunar year and tteokguk rice-cake soup.
Chuseok is often compared with Lunar New Year, Buddha's Birthday, Christmas Day on the South Korea calendar.