Seoul's festivals follow the seasons. Spring opens with cherry blossoms along Yeouido's Yeouiseo-ro and around Seokchon Lake from late March into April, followed by Yeon Deung Hoe, the Buddhist lantern parade. Hanwha's international fireworks light up the Han River in September or October, and the Hangang Festival has spring, summer, autumn and winter runs in the riverside parks. October brings the K-Wave Dance Festival on a weekend, silver grass on Haneul Park's hilltop and the Nowon Moonlight Walk, and the Namsan Night Festival runs into November. In winter the Seoul Winter Festa groups the Lantern Festival along Cheonggyecheon, the Gwanghwamun Market, the Seoul Plaza ice rink and the New Year bell; Seoul Light DDP projects media art onto Dongdaemun Design Plaza in the second half of December, and the ASSITEJ festival brings children's theatre to Daehak-ro. All year round, guard ceremonies are staged at Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung palaces and at Sungnyemun Gate. Most are free to watch, and all are reachable by subway.
On now, coming up and expected
The Nowon Moonlight Walk is a free public-art light festival along Danghyeoncheon stream in Nowon-gu, northern Seoul, where about 30 light sculptures by Korean artists line the stream path after dark. The 7th edition, 'New Moon', runs 16 October–8 November 2026, lit daily from 17:30 to 22:00.
The Namsan Night Festival is a free, booking-only evening festival run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in Namsan Park, in the centre of Seoul, on Fridays and Saturdays from 23 October to 14 November 2026. It has three parts: Campnic picnic pitches with live music and open-air films on the lawn of Baekbeom Square (17:00–22:00 on six evenings to 7 November), guided Autumn Foliage Walks of 3.8–4.2 km on 23–24 October and 6–7 November, and a silent-disco Palgak Club by N Seoul Tower on 14 November.
Gwanghwamun Market (광화문 마켓) is Seoul's free Christmas market: a European-style "Santa Village" of red-roofed stalls, a 15 m tree, photo zones and a carousel on Gwanghwamun Square, run every evening by the Seoul Tourism Organization since 2022. The 2026 edition is scheduled for 11 December 2026–10 January 2027; daily hours are not yet published (17:30–22:00 in 2025).
The Seoul Lantern Festival is a free winter light display along Cheonggyecheon stream in central Seoul, from Cheonggye Plaza to Samilgyo; in 2025 it was lit nightly from 18:00. The 17th edition ran 12 December 2025–18 January 2026.
The Hangang Festival (Winter) is the Seoul city government's year-end run of its Han River parks festival, built around the Romantic Hangang Christmas Market, photo and rest domes, kite flying and the Hangang sledding parks. The 2026 run is planned for 19–27 December in the city's April 2026 schedule, with a winter rest area and kite festival at Yeouido and the Christmas market at Ttukseom, but the programme was not out as of 18 October 2026.
Seoul Light DDP (서울라이트 DDP) is a free winter media-art show projected onto the 222 m curved façade of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul, run by the Seoul Design Foundation since 2019; recent winter runs end with a New Year's Eve countdown and fireworks. The 2025 winter run was 18–31 December, 18:00–21:30, with shows every 30 minutes; Seoul says the 2026 winter run opens on 17 December 2026, with the countdown on 31 December, but the closing date and hours are not yet published.
Seoul Winter Festa (서울윈터페스타) is the Seoul city government's free December–January umbrella festival in central Seoul, joining the Cheonggyecheon lanterns, the Gwanghwamun Market, the Seoul Light media-art shows at Gwanghwamun and DDP, the Seoul Plaza ice rink (about ₩1,000 an hour) and the New Year's Eve bell-ringing at Bosingak. The 2025 edition ran 12 December 2025–4 January 2026 and counted 10.98 million visits.
The ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival (서울 아시테지 겨울축제) is a winter-holiday festival of Korean theatre for children and teenagers, held every year since 2005 in the Daehak-ro theatre district of Jongno-gu, central Seoul. The 22nd edition ran 26 December 2025–4 January 2026 with seven main shows; dates for 2026–27 had not been announced by 18 October 2026, but the last two editions ran ten days from late December into early January.
The Seokchon Lake Cherry Blossom Festival is Songpa-gu's free spring festival around Seokchon Lake, beside Lotte World Tower in south-east Seoul, where about 1,000 king cherry trees line a lit lakeside path of about 2.5 km. The 2026 edition ran 3–11 April; the 2027 dates follow the bloom and are expected between late March and mid-April, announced only about ten days ahead.
The Yeouido Spring Flower Festival is Yeongdeungpo-gu's free cherry-blossom festival on Yeouiseo-ro (Yunjung-ro), a 1.7 km riverside road behind the National Assembly in Seoul that closes to cars for about a week and is lined with about 1,886 cherry trees, lit after dark. The 2026 edition ran 3–7 April, 11:30–21:30; the 2027 dates follow the bloom forecast and are expected in late March or the first half of April, not yet announced.
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The Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour (창덕궁 달빛기행) is a ticketed, guided night walk by lantern light through Changdeokgung Palace and its Secret Garden in central Seoul, with a daegeum flute solo, court dance, and tea with traditional sweets. It runs in spring and autumn: the autumn 2026 season ended on 17 October, and no 2027 dates had been announced as of 19 October 2026 (recent spring seasons have started in mid-April).
Yeon Deung Hoe is Seoul's Buddhist lantern festival for Buddha's Birthday (8th day of the 4th lunar month). Its centrepiece is a free Saturday-evening parade of about 100,000 lanterns from Heunginjimun along Jongno to Jogyesa Temple, with lantern exhibitions at Jogyesa, Cheonggyecheon and Bongeunsa.
The spring run of the Hangang Festival is Seoul's city-run family festival in the Han River parks, held in early to mid May. The 2026 run was on 2–10 May in Ichon, Yeouido and Banpo Hangang Parks, with a free children's theatre and a stroller parade (₩5,000 per team) at Ichon on 9–10 May, and yacht, kayak, small-boat and cruise rides (₩12,500–60,000) from Banpo and Yeouido.
The Hangang Festival (Summer) is the Seoul city government's summer run of its Han River park festival, the event that began in 2013 as Hangang Mongttang. The 2026 run was 1–16 August in nine riverside parks, with free concerts and films under the bridges, pool parties, a silent disco under Mapo Bridge, the overnight Hangang Night Walk 42K and discounted boat rides; the 2027 run is expected in late July and August but has not been announced.
The Gyeongbokgung Starlight Tour (경복궁 별빛야행) is a ticketed, guided night tour of the northern part of Gyeongbokgung Palace in central Seoul, with a modern 12-dish royal meal in the palace kitchen, live traditional music and, in 2026, a short changgeuk opera about King Gojong at Jibokjae. The 2026 season runs 2 September–24 October, Wednesday to Sunday, in two sessions (18:20–20:10 and 19:30–21:20), and foreign visitors have their own sessions on 21–24 October, sold through Creatrip.
The Seoul International Fireworks Festival is a free one-night fireworks show over the Han River at Yeouido Hangang Park, staged by Hanwha with invited teams from abroad. The 22nd edition was on Saturday 5 September 2026, with shows by teams from the UK, the US and Korea from 20:00 to about 21:10; the 2027 date has not been announced.
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The Seoul Music Festival (서울뮤직페스티벌) is a free concert festival run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Nodeul Island in the Han River; the 2026 edition is a single day, Saturday 24 October, from 12:00 to 21:00. The main concert, 17:00–21:00, is curated with the Korean Music Awards and features Paul Kim, Kwon Jin-ah, Okdal, Nerd Connection, Chudahye Chagis and the Kim Chang-wan Band.
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Hanbok Culture Week (한복문화주간) is a free nationwide week of events celebrating hanbok, Korea's traditional dress, held each October around Hanbok Day (21 October). The ninth edition runs 19–25 October 2026 at about 410 sites, with the Hanbok Day commemorative event and fashion show at the National Museum of Korea's Open Yard in Seoul on 21 October, 17:00–18:30 (Ichon Station, Exit 2).
The Hangang Festival (Autumn) is the October run of Seoul's city-run festival in the Han River parks. The 2026 autumn run is on now, 17–25 October, in seven parks: exercise classes, a cooking session and a free musical gala at Jamwon Hangang Park on 17–18 October (Line 3, Sinsa Station, Exit 5), then a street-food contest of 20 young chef teams at Ttukseom Hangang Park on 23–25 October.
The K-Wave Dance Festival (K-웨이브 댄스 페스티벌) is a free two-day dance festival in Seoul, run since 2023 by the Korea Contemporary Dance Promotion Association, that mixes ballet, contemporary and traditional dance with K-pop random play, a world dance parade and foreign volunteer performers. The 2026 edition ran on 3–4 October, 12:00–21:00, on a 480 m car-free stretch of Itaewon-ro from the Noksapyeong Station intersection to Itaewon Station Exit 1 (Line 6), and the organisers estimated about 60,000 visitors.
Seoul Design Week (서울디자인위크) is the Seoul city government's yearly design festival, run by the Seoul Design Foundation at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) and at about 150 design spots across the city. The 13th edition runs 14–25 October 2026: the free exhibitions at DDP are open 10:00–20:00 (until 18:00 on 25 October) and the outdoor DDP Design Market returns on 23–25 October, while the paid DDP Design Fair (₩15,000 on site) ended on 18 October.
The Seoul Silver Grass Festival is a free week-long festival in Haneul Park, a hilltop park in World Cup Park in western Seoul planted with about 94,000 m² of silver grass. The 25th edition runs 17–23 October 2026, 10:00–21:00 daily, with light shows every 30 minutes from 19:00 to 20:30.
The Yeongdeungpo Seonyudo Garden Festival is a free autumn festival of nature and the arts in Seonyudo Park, an island park in the Han River in western Seoul built on a former water treatment plant. The third edition runs 24–25 October 2026, 12:00–20:00, according to the Korea Tourism Organization, with a guided bird walk, outdoor yoga, street-arts performances and a resident-run flea market that spills onto the walking street by Seonyudo Station.
Seoul Petlympic is a two-day dog-sports festival run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Peace Plaza in World Cup Park, Mapo-gu, where owners and their dogs try beginner events such as a sit-stay, a recall sprint, a cone slalom and a 15 m team sprint, or walk a 4 km Dog Trail through Peace Park. The second edition runs 24–25 October 2026, 10:00–17:00.
All year in Seoul
DDP 365 Light (DDP 365라이트) is a free outdoor laser, light and sound show of about 5 minutes at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul, played every evening since September 2026 beside the exhibition of excavated remains on Eoullim Plaza. Shows start every 30 minutes, on the hour and the half-hour, until the last at 22:00; the first is at 18:00 from November to February, 19:00 in March–April and September–October, and 20:00 from May to August.
The Deoksugung Royal Guard Changing Ceremony (서울 왕궁수문장 교대의식) is a free re-enactment of the Joseon-era changing of the palace gate guard, staged by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in front of Daehanmun, the main gate of Deoksugung Palace in central Seoul. It runs all year, Tuesday to Sunday at 11:00 and 14:00, with no ceremony on Mondays; each run lasts roughly 20 minutes and can be cancelled or cut short in heavy rain or snow and in extreme heat or cold.
The Gyeongbokgung Royal Guard Changing Ceremony (경복궁 수문장 교대의식) is a free re-enactment of Joseon-era palace guards changing shifts, staged at Gwanghwamun Gate and in the Heungnyemun forecourt of Gyeongbokgung Palace in central Seoul. It runs all year, every day except Tuesday, at 10:00 and 14:00 (about 20 minutes each), with a 10-minute gate-guard ceremony at 11:00 and 13:00 and a public drill at 09:35 and 13:35.
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The Namsan Beacon Fire Lighting Ceremony is a free re-enactment, run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, of the Joseon-era smoke signal on the restored Mongmyeoksan beacon mound beside N Seoul Tower, on the summit of Namsan. It is held Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 12:10, with the beacon lit at noon, and a samulnori and traditional martial-arts show follows on Palgakjeong Plaza from 15:00 to 15:40; there is no ceremony on Mondays or on Seollal and Chuseok days.
The Seoul Plaza Ice Skating Rink (서울광장 스케이트장) is the outdoor rink Seoul city builds every winter on Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall, open daily for about 52 days from the week before Christmas into February (19 December 2025–8 February 2026); the city has said the next season opens on 18 December 2026. Skating runs in one-hour sessions from 10:00, the last ending at 21:30 Sunday to Friday and 23:00 on Saturdays and public holidays.
The Sungnyemun Gate Guard Ceremony (숭례문 파수의식) is a free re-enactment of the Joseon-era watch over Seoul's city gates, staged by the Seoul Metropolitan Government at Sungnyemun (Namdaemun), a few minutes' walk from Seoul Station. It runs Tuesday to Sunday all year: the gate is ceremonially opened at 10:00 and closed at 15:30–15:40, guards keep watch and change shifts in between (with a break from 12:00 to 13:00), and a patrol leaves for Namdaemun Market at 11:20.
The Uijeongbuji Traditional Culture Programme (의정부지 상설 전통문화행사) is Seoul city's free Saturday show on the Uijeongbu-ji Historic Site Plaza, the excavated site of the Joseon State Council just east of Gwanghwamun Gate. It runs twice each Saturday, 11:00–12:00 and 14:00–15:00, from April to October with a break in the June–August heat; the 2026 season ends on 31 October.
These come straight from the Korea Tourism Organization’s public festival database. We have not checked them against the organizer, so dates and details can be wrong or out of date. Confirm on the official page before you book.