Lights & nightSeoul

Gwanghwamun Market 2023 in Seoul, South Korea

광화문 마켓 2023

Dec – Jan2023
15 –21
Fri–Sun 18:00–22:00
Past edition

15 December 2023 to 21 January 2024 · 18:00–22:00

This edition has ended. It is kept as a record of what the 2023 festival offered. The current information is on the Gwanghwamun Market page (11 Dec – 10 Jan 2027).

Venue this year. Gwanghwamun Square and Sejongno Park

Dates15 Dec – 21 Jan 2024
Hours18:00–22:00
WeatherDecember average 4/−3 °C (40/26 °F), 23 mm of rain
January average 2/−5 °C (36/22 °F), 17 mm of rainMonthly averages, not a forecast: Korea Meteorological Administration climate normals, 1991–2020, Seoul station.
VenueGwanghwamun Square서울특별시 종로구 세종대로 172
AdmissionFree. You pay only for goods and food at the stalls; in 2025 the carousel ride and Santa photos were free too.
Next edition2024: 13 Dec – 5 Jan 2025

Program

  • Held as 광화문광장 마켓 together with the Seoul Lantern Festival and Seoul Light Gwanghwamun (theme "White Night in Seoul")
  • 83 booths and about 160 small businesses selling crafts, accessories, natural cosmetics and Christmas goods (another city report says about 80 businesses)
  • 8 m "Gwanghwa Tree" media tree with a wish-ornament event; Twinkle Time light-ups at 19:00, 20:00 and 21:00
  • Food trucks and food booths in Sejongno Park, a giant teddy-bear sculpture and the first Seoul My Soul goods shop
  • Two seasons, 15–31 December and 1–21 January; a branch of the market also ran at DDP on 21–30 December

Prices

ItemPriceNote
Entry—Not stated in the 2023 sources opened; later editions were free

Notes on the 2023 edition

Second edition and the first regular one, twice the size of the 2022 pilot (19 December 2022–24 January 2023 after an extension; 48 booths, more than 80 businesses, ₩630 million in sales). The lanterns and market drew more than 350,000 visitors in their first six days.

About the festival

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). Take Line 5 to Gwanghwamun Station, Exit 9 or 7.

Transport, booking, crowd and accessibility details are on the main Gwanghwamun Market page, which covers every edition.

Source

Facts checked
21 October 2026, against the sources listed below.

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