What is the Global Festival Attractiveness Index Ranking? - Yanolja Research Conference Review

​Hello~~ This is JIRO~^^

On the 8th, I attended the 2026 Global Festival Attractiveness Index Conference hosted by Yanolja Research.

This conference was held in the International Conference Room on the 9th floor of the Seoul Global Center, and the atmosphere was filled with enthusiasm, to the point where all the seats were completely filled.

It is said that this study conducted a survey targeting 1,436 global festivals.

Then, specifically, in what way was the survey conducted??

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The survey method was conducted by collecting and analyzing positive/negative buzz volumes by festival keywords and buzz volumes by language across various communities such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and X (Twitter).

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In the case of languages, due to access restrictions on Chinese SNS data, 14 languages with a large number of users and suitable for analysis, such as English, Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese, were selected, excluding Chinese.

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So, what were the results??

Here are the results for the 2026 Global Festival Attractiveness Index Top 20!

Rank	Festival Name	Festival Type	Country	Attraction Score	Popularity Score
1	Coachella Festival	Music Festival	United States	7.41	10.00
2	Summersonic Festival	Music Festival	Japan	9.33	6.34
3	Rock in Japan Festival	Music Festival	Japan	9.85	5.33
4	Mad Cool Festival	Music Festival	Spain	9.49	5.24
5	Awa Dance Festival	Arts Festival	Japan	9.73	4.63
6	Sziget Festival	Music Festival	Hungary	8.57	5.21
7	Carnival of Venice	Cultural Heritage Festival	Italy	8.05	5.20
8	Spanish Tomato Festival	Food & Specialty Products Festival	Spain	7.43	5.55
9	British Summer Time Festival	Music Festival	United Kingdom	7.77	5.25
10	Pinkpop Festival	Music Festival	Netherlands	9.68	4.23
11	Gion Festival	Cultural Heritage Festival	Japan	9.92	4.08
12	Oktoberfest	Food & Specialty Products Festival	Germany	6.56	5.93
13	Sapporo Snow Festival	Nature & Seasonal Festival	Japan	9.43	4.19
14	Fuji Rock Festival	Music Festival	Japan	9.76	3.91
15	Ultra Miami	Music Festival	United States	8.02	4.86
16	Waterbomb Seoul	Music Festival	South Korea	8.56	4.39
17	Defqon.1	Music Festival	Netherlands	7.01	5.51
18	Kentucky Derby Festival	Cultural Heritage Festival	United States	7.05	5.47
19	Sanja Festival	Cultural Heritage Festival	Japan	9.72	3.93
20	South by Southwest	Arts Festival	United States	6.92	5.35

Coachella in the USA, and Summer Sonic and Rock in Japan in Japan took 1st to 3rd places. Overall, it was clear that music festivals are leading global festivals.

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In the case of South Korean festivals, Waterbomb Seoul took 16th place😀😀 Congratulations!

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One disappointing point was that despite the huge popularity of K-POP, there were no top-tier music festivals in Korea other than Waterbomb.

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There seems to be a need to nurture global music festivals that can represent K-POP.

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Japan's festivals were highly represented in the top tier (7 out of the top 20 festivals). A unique aspect of Japanese festivals was that due to high positive evaluations from tourists, they ranked high even if their popularity was somewhat low.

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This seems to be influenced by the culture where residents directly participate in preparing the festival. When residents directly plan and prepare a festival, and enjoy it themselves, the satisfaction level naturally increases.

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I hope that South Korean regional festivals will also increasingly involve residents directly participating in the planning process😀

This time, let's look at the rankings by category.

First is the Cultural Heritage Festival Top 20.

Rank	Country	Festival Name	Detailed Type
1	Italy	Carnival of Venice	Carnival/Parade
2	Japan	Gion Festival	Religion/Ritual
3	United States	Kentucky Derby Festival	Carnival/Parade
4	Japan	Sanja Festival	Religion/Ritual
5	Peru	Inti Raymi	Religion/Ritual
6	Spain	Holy Week in Seville	Religion/Ritual
7	Japan	Tenjin Festival	Religion/Ritual
8	Japan	Aoi Festival	History
9	United States	Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade	Carnival/Parade
10	Japan	Hakata Dontaku Port Festival	Carnival/Parade
11	Japan	Jidai Festival	History
12	Japan	Aomori Nebuta Matsuri	Carnival/Parade
13	Brazil	Rio Carnival	Carnival/Parade
14	Spain	Festival of San Fermín	Traditional Culture
15	Norway	Oslo Pride	Collective Identity
16	Nigeria	Ojude Oba Festival	Traditional Culture
17	Switzerland	Carnival of Basel	Carnival/Parade
18	Japan	Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival	Religion/Ritual
19	Canada	Toronto Caribbean Carnival	Carnival/Parade
20	Taiwan	Taiwan LGBT Pride	Collective Identity

The Carnival of Venice in Italy, the Gion Festival in Japan, and the Kentucky Derby Festival in the USA took 1st to 3rd places.

These can be seen as excellent examples of preserving religion, rituals, history, and traditional culture while successfully utilizing them as tourism resources.

Next is music festivals.

Rank	Country	Festival Name
1	United States	Coachella Festival
2	Japan	Summer Sonic Festival
3	Japan	Rock in Japan Festival
4	Spain	Mad Cool Festival
5	Hungary	Sziget Festival
6	United Kingdom	British Summer Time Festival
7	Netherlands	Pinkpop Festival
8	Japan	Fuji Rock Festival
9	United States	Ultra Miami
10	South Korea	Waterbomb Seoul
11	Netherlands	Defqon.1
12	Spain	Barcelona's Spring Music Festival
13	Switzerland	Montreux Jazz Festival
14	United States	Lollapalooza Chicago
15	Morocco	Mawazine
16	Brazil	Tomorrowland Brasil
17	United States	Austin City Limits Music Festival
18	Germany	Wacken Open Air
19	Denmark	Roskilde Festival
20	Germany	Rock am Ring

Coachella in the USA, and Summer Sonic and Rock in Japan in Japan recorded 1st to 3rd places.

The competitiveness of music festivals showed a characteristic of being formed by festival branding rather than by country.

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Coachella, Summer Sonic, and Lollapalooza can be seen as examples of functioning as independent festival brands.

This time, let's look at arts festivals.

Rank	Country	Festival Name	Detailed Type
1	Japan	Awa Dance Festival	Dance
2	United States	South by Southwest	Arts
3	United States	Art Basel Miami Beach	Exhibition
4	United Kingdom	Edinburgh Festival Fringe	Performance
5	Italy	Lucca Comics and Games	Exhibition
6	Italy	Opera Festival Verona Arena	Performance
7	Switzerland	Art Basel Switzerland	Exhibition
8	Austria	Salzburg Festival	Performance
9	United Arab Emirates	Dubai Design Week	Exhibition
10	Belgium	Ghent Festival	Performance
11	Australia	Brisbane Festival	Arts
12	Hong Kong	Art Basel Hong Kong	Exhibition
13	United Kingdom	Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo	Performance
14	Germany	Berlin Festival of Lights	Arts
15	France	Avignon Festival	Performance
16	United States	Burning Man Festival	Arts
17	Canada	Just For Laughs Vancouver	Performance
18	Singapore	Singapore Art Week	Exhibition
19	Finland	World Air Guitar Championships	Performance
20	Netherlands	Eindhoven GLOW Light Festival	Arts

The Awa Dance Festival in Japan, and South by Southwest and Art Basel Miami Beach in the USA took 1st to 3rd places.

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In arts festivals, it was clear that modern and creative art content shows greater strength compared to traditional arts.

Next, let's look at food and local product festivals.

Rank	Country	Festival Name	Detailed Type
1	Spain	Spanish Tomato Festival	Food
2	Germany	Oktoberfest	Beverage
3	United Arab Emirates	Dubai Shopping Festival	Shopping
4	France	Lemon Festival	Food
5	China	Qingdao International Beer Festival	Beverage
6	France	Taste of Paris	Food
7	Hong Kong	Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival	Beverage
8	South Korea	Daegu Chimac Festival	Food
9	Japan	Sapporo Odori Beer Garden	Beverage
10	France	Bordeaux Wine Festival	Beverage
11	Greece	Olive Oil and Olive Festival	Food
12	United Arab Emirates	Dubai Food Festival	Food
13	Lithuania	Vilnius Pink Soup Fest	Food
14	United Kingdom	Taste of London	Food
15	Spain	World Paella Day	Food
16	United Arab Emirates	Dubai Summer Surprises	Shopping
17	United States	Bourbon and Beyond	Beverage
18	Italy	EuroChocolate Festival	Food
19	Chile	Colchagua Harvest Festival	Beverage
20	United Arab Emirates	Liwa Date Festival	Food

The Spanish Tomato Festival, Germany's Oktoberfest, and the United Arab Emirates' Dubai Shopping Festival recorded 1st to 3rd places.

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We can see that the Daegu Chimeek Festival made an appearance in 8th place! It's great to see it😀

Lastly, let's look at nature and ecology festivals.

Rank	Country	Festival Name	Detailed Type
1	Japan	Sapporo Snow Festival	Seasonal
2	United Kingdom	Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show	Flower
3	China	Harbin Ice Festival	Seasonal
4	South Korea	Busan Fireworks Festival	Fireworks/Lanterns
5	Germany	Dresden Christmas Market	Seasonal
6	South Korea	Boryeong Mud Festival	Natural Environment
7	Germany	Nuremberg Christmas Market	Seasonal
8	United States	Times Square New Year's Eve	Fireworks/Lanterns
9	Rwanda	Gorilla Naming Ceremony	Animals
10	Taiwan	Taiwan Lantern Festival	Fireworks/Lanterns
11	South Korea	Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival	Flower
12	Russia	Scarlet Sails	Fireworks/Lanterns
13	South Korea	Seoul Lantern Festival	Fireworks/Lanterns
14	Germany	Kiel Week	Seasonal
15	Thailand	Yi Peng Lantern Festival	Fireworks/Lanterns
16	Japan	Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival	Flower
17	China	Yuyuan Lantern Festival	Fireworks/Lanterns
18	United States	Skagit Valley Tulip Festival	Flower
19	Tunisia	International Festival of the Sahara	Natural Environment
20	Netherlands	Amsterdam Light Festival	Fireworks/Lanterns

The Sapporo Snow Festival took 1st place, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in the UK took 2nd, and the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in China took 3rd.

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In this category, many Korean festivals could be found.

With the Busan Fireworks Festival (4th), Boryeong Mud Festival (6th), Jinhae Gunhangje Festival (11th), and Seoul Lantern Festival (13th), as many as four were included in the Top 20. It can be said that South Korea is utilizing nature and ecology resources well as festival content.

Now, let's expand the scope to the Top 100.

The following trends appeared among the Top 100 festivals.

1) Music festivals hold an advantage in terms of popularity.

2) Food and local product festivals show relatively low attractiveness compared to their high awareness.

3) Japanese festivals tend to show high attractiveness and low popularity.

Several measures were proposed at this conference for Korean festivals to become competitive, and the most impressive details were as follows.

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Several measures were proposed at this conference for Korean festivals to become competitive, and the most impressive details were as follows.

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1) From the planning stage, we must consider where tourists enter, what they enjoy, and where they exit to encourage them to stay in the region.

This meant that instead of just dropping by for the festival and leaving, we must calculate and guide their routes so that they can pass through certain areas to get to the festival, and look around the region after visiting the festival, which will bring vitality to the local area.

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2) First of all, accessibility must be secured.

Even famous international festivals establish funds to attract flights during the festival period to expand accessibility. This meant that Korean festivals should also strive to secure flights at local airports.

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In addition, arguments were made to provide city transportation at affordable prices in the form of 1-day or 3-day passes, establishing a foundation for tourists to travel around, feel, and spend in the region.

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An example related to this is Kumamoto's Wakuwaku 1-Day Pass, which you can check in the post below.

https://blog.en.localnow.kr/2026/02/kumamoto-mice-regional-revitalization-interview.html

3) We must enable them to have a good experience at the festival,

and to 'anticipate and wait for' the next one.

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Basically, it meant that basic infrastructure such as restrooms should be well-built so that visitors do not experience discomfort at the festival, allowing them to return home with good experiences and memories.

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No matter how good a festival is, if the basic infrastructure is lacking, it becomes inconvenient, and intention to revisit will inevitably decrease. We must ensure that visitors take away positive experiences and memories through well-designed routes and infrastructure.

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There was also an argument that festivals should not be abolished and recreated every time a local government changes. This meant that only when a festival has sustainability can tourists who left with positive experiences revisit, making it possible for them to wait with anticipation.

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It is said that even the central government and the tourism organization of South Korea are moving toward a policy of not providing budget support to festivals that do not have a separate festival organizing committee (festivals whose sustainability is not guaranteed), so this aspect will likely improve gradually!

Meanwhile, a discussion on the limitations of the study was also raised during the panel discussion.

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The main limitations mentioned were:

The difficulty of clearly distinguishing whether the positive/negative evaluations on social media used as data were evaluations of the festival itself or of the respective region.

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The ambiguity surrounding platform differences by language and appropriate weightings.

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The fact that Chinese social media data was not utilized.

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Although there were clearly these limitations,

this evaluation is expected to serve as a good opportunity to establish strategies for enhancing the attractiveness of domestic festivals.

How did you find the insights from the 2026 Global Festival Attractiveness Index Conference?? JIRO felt very proud to see our country's festivals making it into the top tier.

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Have a great day, and I will be back with another post~