Seoul has 4 festivals in January: Gwanghwamun Market (11 Dec – 10 Jan 2027), Seoul Lantern Festival (11 Dec – 31 Jan 2027), Seoul Winter Festa (expected Dec/Jan 2026–27), and ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival (expected Dec/Jan 2026–27). 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.
Typical January weather in Seoul: average high 2 °C (36 °F), low −5 °C (22 °F), 17 mm of rain (Seoul station, KMA 1991–2020 normals).
| Festival | Dates | Admission | Nearest station | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gwanghwamun Market광화문 마켓 | 11 Dec – 10 Jan 2027 | Free entry | Gwanghwamun Station, Exit 9 or 7 | Upcoming |
| Seoul Lantern Festival서울빛초롱축제 | 11 Dec – 31 Jan 2027 | Free entry | Gwanghwamun Station, Exit 5 | Upcoming |
| Seoul Winter Festa서울윈터페스타 | Expected Dec/Jan 2026–27 | Free entry | Gwanghwamun Station, Exit 9 or 7 | Expected |
| ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival서울 아시테지 겨울축제 | Expected Dec/Jan 2026–27 | Paid admission | Hyehwa Station | Expected |
Dates marked “expected” follow the organizer's usual pattern and are replaced when the official announcement comes. Each festival page lists the sources.
| Festival town | Average high | Average low | Rain | Measured at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seoul | 2 °C 36 °F | −5 °C 22 °F | 17 mm | Seoul |
What to wear. Well below freezing at night: a down coat, hat, gloves and thermal layers.
Monthly averages, not a forecast. Source: Korea Meteorological Administration climate normals, 1991–2020, via the KMA-sourced climate tables for Seoul. Where a festival town has no station with published normals, the nearest one is used and its distance shown.
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.
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.
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.
January is ice season. It opens with sunrise festivals on the east coast, at Jeongdongjin in Gangneung and Homigot in Pohang, where crowds stay up on New Year's Eve for the year's first sunrise. Then the rivers freeze: Hwacheon cuts thousands of holes in its frozen stream for the mountain-trout festival, Hongcheon holds an ice-fishing festival on the frozen Hongcheon River, and Pyeongchang runs a trout festival beside the KTX line to Gangneung. Up in the Daegwallyeong highlands of the same county, the snow festival of sculptures and sled runs is planned to open on 30 January in 2027, and Taebaek builds snow sculptures in Taebaeksan National Park in late January or early February. In Cheongyang, the Chilgapsan Ice Fountain Festival runs through the month. Seoul's lanterns along Cheonggyecheon usually stay lit into mid-January, Busan's Haeundae Light Festival and Gwangbok-ro light trees into January or February, and the Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong until March; the ASSITEJ children's theatre festival in Daehak-ro runs into the first weekend.
Tip. Daytime temperatures in Hwacheon sit around −5 °C; ice-fishing slots sell out on weekends, so book the weekday session.
Seoul has 4 festivals in January: Gwanghwamun Market (11 Dec – 10 Jan 2027), Seoul Lantern Festival (11 Dec – 31 Jan 2027), Seoul Winter Festa (expected Dec/Jan 2026–27), and ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival (expected Dec/Jan 2026–27). 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.
11 Dec – 10 Jan 2027. Upcoming. Free entry. Nearest station: Gwanghwamun Station, Exit 9 or 7. Dates are taken from the organizer's own notice.
11 Dec – 31 Jan 2027. Upcoming. Free entry. Nearest station: Gwanghwamun Station, Exit 5. Dates are taken from the organizer's own notice.
Expected Dec/Jan 2026–27. Expected. Free entry. Nearest station: Gwanghwamun Station, Exit 9 or 7. The organizer has not yet confirmed the dates; this page updates when they do.
Average high 2 °C (36 °F), low −5 °C (22 °F), 17 mm of rain (Seoul station, KMA 1991–2020 normals). Well below freezing at night: a down coat, hat, gloves and thermal layers.
Incheon Airport to central Seoul by AREX express train: 43–51 minutes to Seoul Station.
17 festivals across Korea fall in January, including Chilgapsan Ice Fountain Festival, Daegwallyeong Snow Festival, Lighting Festival at the Garden of Morning Calm. Daytime temperatures in Hwacheon sit around −5 °C; ice-fishing slots sell out on weekends, so book the weekday session.