SINGAPORE, 19 August 2026: Digital travel platform Agoda has identified growing accommodation interest around local festivals across Asia, highlighting how cultural and international celebrations can create new travel moments and commercial opportunities for accommodation partners beyond traditional tourism seasons and established destinations.
This reflects a broader shift towards experience-led exploration as travellers continue seeking engaging experiences that create lasting memories instead of simply ticking off destinations.
Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook Report revealed that surveyed travellers are increasingly drawn to secondary destinations for the authenticity and immersive cultural experiences they offer. Cited by 25% of surveyed Asian travellers, cultural exploration is among the top three trip motivations, making festivals a timely opportunity to connect travellers with destinations known for local culture and community celebrations.
“Travel planning is increasingly being shaped by the experience travellers want to have, and social media is further amplifying awareness of cultural moments and local festivals to a much wider audience. Nagaoka City in Niigata Prefecture is a great example showing how quickly that can translate into travel interest. Accommodation searches for the host location of the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks were 50x higher during the event period than before it, demonstrating how a local celebration can put a destination on travellers’ radar. Through initiatives like the Agoda Mega Sale campaign, we’re helping accommodation partners turn that interest into booking opportunities,” said Agoda Senior Vice President, Supply, Andrew Smith.
As travellers plan around festivals and local experiences in these destinations, Agoda’s upcoming Mega Sale campaign lets participating accommodation partners put relevant offers in front of them at key booking moments.
The campaign runs until 31 August, when travellers can access hotel offers of up to 60% off.
Here is a list of some of the upcoming festivals around Asia
25 September in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong
Celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival brings families and communities together under the full moon. Traditions vary by destination but commonly include lantern displays, mooncakes, family reunions and public performances; Hong Kong also stages its distinctive fire-dragon dances. The festival gives travellers different ways to experience a shared Asian tradition through each destination’s local customs. Destination tourism organisations actively promote public celebrations staged in visitor precincts. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a great opportunity for travellers to soak up the festivities when they visit these destinations during this period. It offers an interactive element with lanterns in a less crowded atmosphere compared to Lunar New Year earlier in the year.
Chuseok, South Korea 25 September in South Korea
Chuseok, often called Korean Thanksgiving, is one of South Korea’s most important traditional holidays. Celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, it centres on the autumn harvest, family reunions, ancestral memorial rites known as charye, and traditional foods such as songpyeon rice cakes. The festival’s popularity is reflected in the Korea Tourism Organisation’s statement that millions of people travel to their hometowns during Seollal and Chuseok to celebrate with their families. In 2026, the official Chuseok holiday runs from 24 to 26 September.
MassKara Festival, Philippines 1 to 18 October in Bacolod, Philippines
Held in Bacolod, the Philippines’ “City of Smiles”, MassKara Festival is known for elaborate smiling masks, energetic street-dance competitions, music, costumes and community celebrations. Created during a period of economic difficulty, the festival’s smiling imagery has become a powerful expression of Bacolod’s optimism and resilience. MassKara is staged as a major city-wide tourism event and documented by the Bacolod City Government, with public celebrations drawing crowds into the city and indicating existing infrastructure for travel specifically for the festival.
Vietnam Jungle Marathon, Vietnam 17 October 2026 at Pu Luong Nature Reserve in Vietnam
Vietnam Jungle Marathon takes runners deep into Pu Luong Nature Reserve, around 160km southwest of Hanoi. Its 10km, 25km, 50 km and 70km routes cross ethnic-minority villages, ancient jungle, limestone peaks, waterfalls and rice paddies, combining endurance sport with immersion in a lesser-visited part of rural Vietnam. According to the organisers, the race was created partly to bring people to an area that sees relatively few tourists. Anticipating the travel crowd for this marathon, the organisers provide transport guidance for reaching remote Pu Luong.
Jidai Matsuri, Japan, 22 October, in Kyoto, Japan
Jidai Matsuri, or the Festival of the Ages, is one of Kyoto’s three great festivals. Its two-kilometre procession recreates more than a thousand years of Japanese history in reverse chronological order, with approximately 2,000 participants, 70 horses and oxen, and some 12,000 historically researched costumes and ceremonial objects. The procession travels from Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Jingu Shrine. Kyoto’s official tourism organisation publishes multilingual visitor information, a detailed procession route, and dedicated paid viewing seats to help spectators plan. The full procession takes around two hours to pass a single location.
(Source: Agoda)
