Seoul Winter Festival 2026 (Seoul Winter Festa): Dates, Venues

Seoul Winter Festival is the name the city gives to a bundle of winter events held across downtown Seoul at the end of the year: Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon, Seoul Plaza, DDP and Bosingak. It was called Seoul Winter Festa until last year. Gwanghwamun Market, the Seoul Lantern Festival, the Seoul Plaza ice rink and the New Year’s Eve bell ringing all sit under it.

In 2026 it starts on Friday, December 11 and runs until January 31, 2027, which is 52 days. Last year it was 24 days, so it’s more than twice as long.

When is Seoul Winter Festa (Seoul Winter Festival) 2026?

I opened the official site and the front page already says “2026 Seoul Winter Festival”, with dates listed for each program. The Seoul festival portal has been updated to the same dates too. In mid-October the portal still said a December 4 start was planned, so the real start is a week later than that.

The posters still say “COMING SOON” and there’s no Seoul city press release yet. This is the organizer’s official schedule, but details can still change. Last year’s press release came on November 24, so I’d expect this year’s around then. I’ll fix the tables below once hours and prices are out.

Last year’s visitor count was more than double the 5.39 million the year before. One report says 1.08 million people came in the first three weekend days alone (Herald Business).

What’s on where this year?

Every program has its own dates. The dates below are this year’s official schedule. Hours and prices, apart from the rink price, aren’t out yet, so those columns show last year’s.

A few things changed from last year. Gwanghwamun Market ended on December 31 last year and now runs past New Year to January 10. Seoul Light DDP doesn’t stop at the end of December either, and stays on until January 31. The lantern venue is listed only as Cheonggye Plaza to Samil Bridge, so Uicheon, which ran alongside it last year, is gone.

Last year’s hours are from Seoul city’s own news pages. I lined the notices up one by one and some say Gwanghwamun Market closes at 21:30 while others say 22:00 on weekends. The Lantern Festival is given as 22:00 in places too, so check this year’s notice if you plan to arrive late.

Gwanghwamun: Seoul Light and Gwanghwamun Market

Seoul Light Gwanghwamun projects media art onto the palace gate facade, and Gwanghwamun Market sits on the square in front of it. This year the market is said to be a European-style Christmas village on the south side of the square. Last year’s market had a Santa village theme, with 135 small businesses rotating through 45 booths and sales topping 1 billion won (Newsis).

The new Rudolph carousel was free, but you could only ride after finishing the market’s stamp tour, so the queue stretched across the square (per a Seoul citizen reporter).

Cheonggyecheon: Seoul Lantern Festival

The Seoul Lantern Festival floats lanterns along Cheonggyecheon from Cheonggye Plaza to Samil Bridge, and it’s free. Last year was the 17th edition, and because people liked it, the Cheonggye Plaza to Samil Bridge stretch was extended by two weeks to January 18. I reopened the extension notice, and Uicheon still ended on January 4 as first planned. This year it’s scheduled to run until January 31 from the start, and it adds media art to traditional hanji paper lanterns.

The start point, Cheonggye Plaza, is a walk from Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5 or City Hall Station on Lines 1 and 2 (Visit Seoul’s English page).

Seoul Plaza ice rink

This year it opens on Friday, December 18 and runs until February 9, 2027. It’s 1,000 won an hour with skate and helmet rental included. People aged 65 and over, people with disabilities, national merit recipients and basic livelihood recipients pay half for one hour a day if they show proof. Last year half the tickets went on sale online and half on site (Seoul city). Check this season’s notice on the Seoul Plaza operations page. The rink is right by Exit 5 of City Hall Station on Lines 1 and 2.

DDP and Bosingak

DDP runs Seoul Light DDP, which turns the whole 222 m facade into a screen. Last year’s winter projections ran December 18–31; this year’s main winter projections run December 17–31. Seoul Con is at DDP again this year, from December 29 to New Year’s Day. The Bosingak bell ringing starts at 23:00 on December 31 and the bell is struck 33 times at midnight. DDP is near Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station on Lines 2, 4 and 5, and Bosingak near Jonggak Station on Line 1. For New Year’s Eve, read the reality check below about Jonggak.

DDP’s Christmas setting starts December 11, its main projections run December 17–31, and January switches to a regular program. See the Seoul Light DDP winter dates and viewing route for the separate stages.

Opening ceremony and what’s new this year

The opening ceremony is on Friday, December 11 at a special stage on Gwanghwamun Square. A musical gala, a parade and a citizens’ choir are planned, and the start time isn’t announced yet.

Skimming the special programs page, the thing that caught my eye was the Han River Night Sauna. From December 24 to 31, under Cheongdam Bridge in Ttukseom Hangang Park, there’s a Finnish-style outdoor sauna looking out over the river. How to apply isn’t out yet. On December 20 there’s also a winter sleeping contest at DDP Art Hall 1, where they measure your heart rate to find the best sleeper. The call for applications goes up on the homepage sometime in November.

What time is least crowded?

Right after sunset is the busiest. In last year’s subway records, Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5 had more than double the usual Saturday crowd getting off around 5 pm on December 13, the festival’s first Saturday (Seoul Metro data). If you want room to wander, get there before dark.

The trip home is most crowded from 7 to 9 pm. In those hours that night, about twice as many people as on a November Saturday boarded at Gwanghwamun. Eating dinner first and going in after 8 pm, or going right when it opens and leaving before 7 pm, should mean less shoving.

On-the-ground visitor insights: Gwanghwamun and Cheonggyecheon

Real-world visitor flow patterns highlight key timing strategies across the Winter Festa venues:

At the Cheonggyecheon Lantern Festival, while weekdays are manageable, weekends draw dense waves of visitors. Handmade artisan crafts and warm snacks at Gwanghwamun Market are top highlights, but lines peak rapidly after dark. For January visits, windproof long padded coats, scarves, gloves, and thermal base layers are strictly non-negotiable.

Crowd control is active around Gwanghwamun Market: entry near Kyobo Book Centre is often metered with single-file lines during weekend peaks. A heated shelter is set up on the northern Gyeongbokgung plaza side; local pros recommend walking one full reconnaissance loop to identify desired food items before queueing on a second pass.

On peak nights, the Gwanghwamun plaza fills from early twilight, leaving minimal standing room inside the market corridor. Arriving before 5:30 p.m. or visiting after 8:00 p.m. ensures the most comfortable stroll.

Reality check

You can’t get off at Jonggak Station on New Year’s Eve. Last year’s Seoul traffic notice says trains passed Jonggak Station without stopping from 23:00 to 1:00. You had to use City Hall, Jongno 3-ga, Euljiro 1-ga or Gwanghwamun stations and walk.

The subway records say the same. Between 11 pm and midnight on December 31 last year, almost nobody boarded Line 1 at Jonggak. Between 10 and 11 pm, though, about eight times the usual number of people got off there, compared with the same hour on December 24 and 30.

The roads around Bosingak were closed from 6 pm until 7 am the next morning, and the subway ran late enough to reach the end of the line at 2 am on January 1. On 45 bus routes, the last bus was pushed back to 2 am too.

Gwanghwamun, Cheonggyecheon and Seoul Plaza are all outdoors, and a December evening will be cold. Pack gloves and a hat that covers your ears.

For the other year-end markets in Seoul see Seoul Christmas markets, and for Myeongdong and the department store lights see Seoul Christmas lights. If you’re planning around other dates, the festivals and events page lists what else is coming up.