Nonsan Strawberry Festival Characters Win Top Prize at Public Character Festival

The winners of the 2026 South Korea Local Government and Public Character Festival were decided in October 2026. The award ceremony was scheduled for October 16 at the Daejeon Content Fair. A total of 74 characters reached the finals and received votes from the public until August 21.

The top prize in the festival category went to Berry Friends, the characters of the Nonsan Strawberry Festival. Their lead character is Sweetbell, a strawberry fairy. The 2026 Nonsan Strawberry Festival drew 670,000 visitors, and media reported that character merchandise sold out at the festival site.

The popularity award in the public category went to Yongyongi and Ppiyagi of the Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS, operator of Work24 and Ontong Youth), which received 14,160 votes in the public vote. The agency announced the award on October 12 through a press release and a pop-up on its website. Pyu, the agency's Ontong Youth character, also reached the finals in the festival category and received 26,125 votes in the public vote.

The Korea Medical Volunteers Association won an award in the festival's grand prize contest with Uibomi, the official mascot of Korea Medical Professionals Day. News of the association's award was reported on November 2.