Chuseok: Korea’s harvest festival, explained
Chuseok is a Korean harvest festival centred on family gatherings, seasonal food and, in some households, remembering ancestors. It falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, in September or October, with a three-day public holiday around the festival day.
What happens at Chuseok
Chuseok is often introduced as a harvest celebration, but the holiday people experience can be as simple as a family meal or time to rest. Some people travel to visit relatives; others stay home, work or spend the break with friends.
Songpyeon is a food strongly associated with Chuseok. These small filled rice cakes are commonly shaped into half-moons and steamed over pine needles. Fillings may include sesame, beans or other ingredients. Their chewy outside and varied fillings make a better conversation than guessing which version is the most authentic. A friend might remember shaping them with relatives, buying them ready-made or preferring another holiday dish.
Some households hold charye, a rite remembering ancestors with food offerings. Seongmyo means visiting family graves; it is a related custom, not another name for the same ceremony. Religious beliefs and family preferences affect whether and how these happen.
For more food names, explore Korean comfort food. Ask about a favourite taste or memory first, and leave your friend room to say that Chuseok is not a big occasion for them.
When is Chuseok?
The main day is the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the Korean lunar calendar. In the calendar most English speakers use, that falls in September or October, so a fixed September date will not work each year. The regular public holiday covers the day before, the main day and the day after.
Actual time off can differ because of weekends, substitute holidays and work schedules. For travel or an appointment, check an official calendar for that year rather than deriving a date from the season. A pen pal might be busy before the holiday and free afterwards; a friendly greeting does not need to arrive at an exact hour.
Chuseok and Korean Lunar New Year are separate holidays. Chuseok belongs to the autumn harvest season; Seollal opens the lunar year in January or February.
Words to know
The Korean spelling is useful when reading a greeting or food label. These romanisations help recognise the words; they do not capture every detail of Korean pronunciation.
| Term | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 추석 | Chuseok | The harvest festival in the eighth lunar month. |
| 송편 | songpyeon | Filled rice cakes associated with Chuseok. |
| 차례 | charye | A family rite remembering ancestors with food offerings. |
| 성묘 | seongmyo | A visit to family graves to pay respects. |
| 한가위 | Hangawi | Another Korean name for Chuseok. |
Ask your pen pal
Choose a question about something your friend enjoys, and share a small detail about your own autumn. Polite 요 endings suit a new friend; Korean letter phrases can help with the greeting.
- 추석에는 어떤 음식을 좋아해요? — What food do you like at Chuseok?
- 송편을 만들어 본 적 있어요? — Have you ever made songpyeon?
- 어떤 송편 소를 좋아해요? — What songpyeon filling do you like?
- 가을에 좋아하는 것이 있어요? — Is there something you like about autumn?
- 추석 인사는 어떻게 하면 좋을까요? — What would be a good Chuseok greeting?
A Chuseok postcard in Korean
Compare an autumn taste you enjoy with a food you are curious about. 풍성한 means plentiful or abundant and fits a harvest greeting. 편안한 adds a wish for rest.
안녕하세요! 추석과 송편에 대해 읽었어요. 송편은 어떤 맛인지 궁금해요. 저는 가을의 시원한 바람을 좋아해요. 풍성하고 편안한 추석 보내세요!
In Sea Pals
Send a Chuseok greeting with a little story from your own autumn; Mochi can carry it across the sea in a bottle letter. Draft a postcard and explore Korean pen pals or Korean through letters in Sea Pals.