Bucheon International Comics Festival: BICOF, Not BIAF

September 5, 2026Researched, not visited

Last verified: 2026-09-05. Rules and prices change — always confirm on the official site before you travel.

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BICOF — the Bucheon International Comics Festival — runs 18–20 September 2026, its 29th edition, at the Korea Manhwa Museum. A month later, the same city runs a different festival with a similar name: BIAF, the Bucheon International Animation Festival, in late October. They are not the same event, do not share a program, and googling “Bucheon festival” close to either date will hand you the wrong one about half the time.

Bronze statues of two sword-carrying characters from Yeolhyeol Gangho, a long-running Korean manhwa, standing in the courtyard of the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon — Bronze statues of two characters from Yeolhyeol Gangho, a long-running Korean manhwa, in the courtyard of the Korea Manhwa Museum — BICOF's home venue every September. Photo: 금숲, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

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BICOF, not BIAF

BICOF (comics) happens in September, is built around printed and webtoon manhwa, and centers on the Bucheon Manhwa Grand Awards. BIAF (animation) happens in late October, is a juried international animation-film festival, and shares almost nothing with BICOF beyond the city and a family resemblance in the name. If your interest is webtoons, manhwa artists or cosplay, September — this festival — is the one you want.

BICOF: Comics & manhwa · mid-September · Korea Manhwa Museum
BIAF: Animation film · late October · separate venue and program

Where it came from

BICOF started small: a side event of the very first Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, in December 1998. It went independent the following year, and picked up “International” in its name in 2004. Bucheon itself was named a UNESCO City of Literature in 2017 — a designation the festival gets cited alongside, even though it predates it by two decades.

What’s actually there

The festival runs across a handful of standing program tracks rather than one central stage: Meet the Artist sessions with award-winning manhwa creators, an exhibition hall built around the year’s Bucheon Manhwa Grand Award finalists (the 2025 winner was Asura), a “Playground” of hands-on activities, and a cosplay track that draws entrants from well outside the comics crowd. Admission in the most recent confirmed year (2025) was a flat ₩5,000 for the museum and festival grounds — cosplayers in costume, and elderly or disabled visitors, get in free.

Exterior of the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, the venue for the Bucheon International Comics Festival — The Korea Manhwa Museum complex, connected by a glass skybridge to the rest of Bucheon's cultural district — the whole area, not just one hall, fills up during BICOF. Photo: 금숲, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Getting there

This is one of the easier festival venues on this site to reach: Line 7 of the Seoul subway, Samsan World Gymnasium Station, Exit 5, about a one-minute walk. No transfer to a bus, no taxi from a KTX station — a straight subway ride from central Seoul puts you at the door. Our subway guide covers fares and how Line 7 fits into the wider system.

A Korean eSIM is still worth having for the festival’s own program app and site map — schedules for artist talks and outdoor stages shift by the day, and Naver Map handles the walk from the station exit better than Google Maps does.

Quick answers

Is BICOF the same as BIAF?

No. BICOF (Bucheon International Comics Festival) covers comics and manhwa in September at the Korea Manhwa Museum. BIAF (Bucheon International Animation Festival) is a separate juried animation-film festival in late October, run independently.

When is the Bucheon International Comics Festival in 2026?

18–20 September 2026, the 29th edition, at the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon.

How much does BICOF cost to attend?

A flat ₩5,000 covered museum and festival-grounds admission in the most recently confirmed year (2025), with free entry for costumed cosplay participants and for elderly or disabled visitors. Confirm the current year’s price before you go.

How do I get to BICOF from Seoul?

Subway Line 7 to Samsan World Gymnasium Station, Exit 5 — about a one-minute walk to the Korea Manhwa Museum. No transfer or taxi needed.

Checked 5 September 2026. BICOF’s 2026 dates (18–20 September, 29th edition) from the Korea Tourism Organization’s Cultural Tourism Festival listing and cross-checked against Korea Tourism Organization’s English-language festival database. The festival’s founding as a 1998 side event of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, its independence the following year and 2004 renaming, from Korean-language festival history sources and Korea Times coverage of the festival’s history. Bucheon’s 2017 UNESCO City of Literature designation from the city’s own UNESCO office. Venue, subway access (Line 7, Samsan World Gymnasium Station, Exit 5) and program categories from BICOF’s own official site. The 2025 ₩5,000 admission fee and cosplay/accessibility exemptions from Korean news coverage of that year’s ticket policy — confirm the current year’s price on BICOF’s site before you go. The distinction from BIAF (Bucheon International Animation Festival) is drawn from both festivals’ own separate program pages. Dates, prices and programming change — confirm on BICOF’s own site before you travel.