From traditional music and performing arts to a hanbok showcase and special exhibition

A scene from the 2025 Jongno Hanbok Festival. [Jongno-gu]
A scene from the 2025 Jongno Hanbok Festival. [Jongno-gu]

Jongno-gu will host the 2026 Jongno Hanbok Festival at Gwanghwamun Square over two days — Sept. 11 and 12 — the district announced Monday.

Since its launch in 2016, the Jongno Hanbok Festival has drawn residents and tourists alike and established itself as one of Seoul's signature autumn traditional-culture events.

This year's festival takes "Hanbok x Korean Traditional Music" as its theme, under the concept of "Wearing Our Dress, Our Music." The district has planned a range of performances, exhibitions and hands-on activities that blend the distinctive lines and colors of hanbok with the spirited rhythms and resonant melodies of traditional Korean music.

The opening ceremony on Friday evening at 7 p.m. will bring together a traditional Korean orchestra, choral performances and folk performing arts on a single stage. Saturday will feature the festival's highlight — a hanbok showcase competition, an awards ceremony and a celebratory performance. The showcase is a participatory event in which residents and visitors from home and abroad dress in hanbok and take the stage. New this year is a pet category, in which owners can bring their animals dressed in hanbok.

Throughout both days, a special exhibition — "Hanbok NEXT, Hanbok Fluttering, Forest of Jongno" — will greet visitors at the center of the square and at Yukjo Madang. A hanbok playground, hanbok rental shops, traditional culture experience booths and a market will also offer visitors a wealth of activities to enjoy.

"It is deeply meaningful to hold a hanbok festival that weaves together the beauty of our traditional dress and music at Gwanghwamun Square, the heart of Seoul and a symbol of Korea," Jongno-gu District Mayor Yu Chan-jong said. "We have prepared with great care a place to see, hear and enjoy our traditional culture, and we hope many people will come and take part."


ikson@heraldcorp.com