Busan Gat Experience Reservations: Free Booking Guide for LIVING HERITAGE×ICH

Reservations for the Busan gat experience open on July 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. through Naver Reservation, with free participation offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The program is part of the 2026 National Intangible Heritage Joint Public Event, held at BEXCO in Busan from July 20 to 29 to mark the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee.¹

For readers searching for a Busan UNESCO Gat experience, the key event name to know is ‘LIVING HERITAGE×ICH.’ It brings together exhibitions, demonstrations, and hands-on programs connected to Korea’s national intangible heritage, including gat-making traditions in the first week of the event.²

Busan Gat Experience Reservation Basics

The experience program is designed for visitors who want more than a display-only exhibition. CPN Cultural Heritage CulturejaeTV reported that the event includes 9 heritage categories and 10 hands-on programs, such as making a small gat, a hanbok key ring, and a lacquered mother-of-pearl tumbler. Each program is free, operates four times a day, and runs for 90 minutes per session.³

The National Heritage Promotion Agency’s event listing identifies the reservation period as July 13 to 29, 2026, with reservations opening at 2:00 p.m. and closing once slots are filled. The listed application method is Naver Reservation, and the participation fee is free.¹

Because advance reservations and on-site registration are included in the total capacity of 485 participants, booking early is the safest option if a specific session or program matters to you.³ The official reservation notice also states that booking closes on a first-come, first-served basis, so availability may end before July 29 if sessions fill.¹

What the Busan UNESCO Gat Program Includes

The gat-related portion is part of a wider program presenting 11 categories in the craft field of national intangible heritage and 14 holders through exhibitions, demonstrations, and experiences. During the first week, from July 20 to 22, the participating holders include Gu Hye-ja for needlework, Kim Young-yi for embroidery, Park Chang-young for gat-making in the ipja category, and Kang Soon-ja for gat-making in the chongmoja category.²

This makes the first week especially relevant for visitors whose main interest is gat culture. The source material confirms gat-related holders and a small gat-making experience, but it does not provide a session-by-session timetable for each individual program. For that reason, visitors should treat the July 13 reservation opening as the point when exact bookable sessions should be checked through the reservation route.

The event is not limited to gat. The second and third weeks continue with holders in other fields, including small wood furniture making, lacquered mother-of-pearl craft, manggeon headband making, tanggeon headgear making, woodblock carving, sculpture, bow-and-arrow making, and wood carving.² This broader structure matters if gat sessions are full, because other free craft experiences may still offer a practical way to engage with Korean intangible heritage at the same venue.

The program sits within a larger heritage setting in Busan during the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee period. The government policy briefing said the Korea Pavilion at BEXCO would involve 35 institutions and 45 exhibition and experience booths, introducing 17 World Heritage sites, tentative-list heritage, national heritage media art, and a special exhibition on Memory of the World heritage.⁴

A short statement from the National Heritage Administration framed the event as a way to share “the excellence of Korean traditional techniques” and the value of intangible heritage with domestic and international audiences.³ For visitors, the practical takeaway is simple: this is a free, reservation-based cultural experience connected to a major international heritage gathering, not a regular walk-in craft class.

How to Book and Plan Your Visit

Start with the official reservation path listed for the experience: Naver Reservation. The National Heritage Promotion Agency listing gives July 13-29 as the booking period and specifies a 2:00 p.m. reservation start time, while CPN reports that advance reservations are available from July 13 at 2:00 p.m. through Naver Reservation or the National Heritage Promotion Agency website.¹³

Before booking, decide whether the gat program is your priority or whether any heritage experience will work. If the small gat-making session is listed separately from other activities, choose it directly. If the booking page groups multiple experiences by date, focus first on July 20-22, when the gat-making holders are named in the first-week lineup.²

After reserving, keep the venue details clear: the event is held at BEXCO in Busan, and CPN identifies the site as BEXCO Exhibition Center 1.³ The source material does not provide a refund policy, late-arrival rule, age limit, language-support details, or a complete hourly schedule, so those points should be checked on the live reservation page before finalizing plans.

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Cloi Lee

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