Covering the food & beverage industry, beauty, fashion, retail markets, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and related people and entities worldwide
Olive Young launches largest-ever beauty festival
The 2025 Olive Young Festa on Nodeul Island along the Han River bustles with visitors on its opening day, Wednesday. / Courtesy of CJ Olive Young
By Ko Dong-hwan
Over 30,000 visitors expected at 5-day event on Nodeul Island
CJ Olive Young Wednesday kicked off a five-day beauty and health festival in Seoul — the largest scale since the event’s launch in 2019. Marking the first time the Olive Young Festa is being held outdoors, the event reflects its growing popularity.
Held on a 3,500-square-meter site on Nodeul Island on the Han River, this year's edition drew large crowds on its opening day, with visitors lining up even before the 10 a.m. opening, despite the sultry weather. According to the company, prebooked tickets reserved for Olive Young members sold out within minutes.
The beauty arm of CJ Group expects the event to attract over 30,000 visitors.
Lee Eun-jung, who heads Olive Young’s Brand Creative Center and oversees the festival, said she was “elated” to witness how much the event has grown.
“The Olive Young Festa began in 2019 with just 50 brands in an indoor space of 2,975 square meters,” she said.
“Since then, we’ve continued to evolve and have become a center of attention. It’s truly exciting to see the event held outdoors as a grand festivity. Our staff have been preparing for this event for the past year, and the teams from each brand have also put in great effort to welcome visitors.”
According to Lee, the event showcases K-beauty’s present and future for Olive Young’s 16 million members worldwide. She added that the festival also serves as a frontline platform for the company’s small- and medium-sized enterprise suppliers to expand their reach to global consumers.
Booths featuring Korean beauty brands decorate the outdoor space at the 2025 Olive Young Festa, Wednesday. Courtesy of CJ Olive Young
The festival features 108 beauty and health brands — the largest number in its history — spread across an open-air, three-story facility and the surrounding area on Nodeul Island, connected by Hangang Bridge. Brands are organized into categories including skincare, makeup, personal care, healthy life and the premium cosmetics segment luxe edit, with select brands offering interactive experience zones.
Curating beauty products from domestic small and medium businesses for its shelves, Olive Young has also set up a Trend Curation booth focusing on popular themes such as slow-aging, active skincare, root (hair) beauty and inner beauty.
Besides showcasing products, the festival schedules talk shows and lectures. The Beauty & Health Deep Dive, held twice daily during the event, features brand representatives from companies such as Dr.G and Arencia, which highlight their strengths and encourage visitors to try their products.
The company said the festival has brought together brand representatives, consumers, manufacturers and overseas buyers, serving as a “platform for exchange.” During the festival, over 200 brand representatives are specially invited to attend Future Connect, a business forum designed to help participants target the global market by sharing solutions for export customs clearance, local regulations abroad and the latest K-beauty trends outside Korea.
Some 400 officials from retail platform operators in the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asian countries have also joined the festival to study rising beauty brands from Korean businesses and the local beauty industry.