LA Philharmonic string quartet to perform Saturday

Crying Nut, Jaurim headline Sunday's K-pop night

About 1,300 safety personnel to be deployed across venue

Festival has drawn 1.34 million visitors since 2015 launch

The Seocho Symphony Orchestra performs during the Classical Night segment of the 2025 Seoripul Music Festival. [Seocho-gu]
The Seocho Symphony Orchestra performs during the Classical Night segment of the 2025 Seoripul Music Festival. [Seocho-gu]

A 10-lane stretch of Banpo-daero will be transformed into a sprawling outdoor music venue this weekend as Seoul's Seocho-gu hosts the 2026 Seoripul Music Festival. The district announced Monday that the festival will run Saturday and Sunday along an approximately 900-meter section of Banpo-daero between Seocho Station and the Seocho 3-dong intersection.

Organized by Seocho-gu and run by the Seocho Cultural Foundation, the Seoripul Music Festival is an annual urban music festival held each September. Since its debut in 2015, it has drawn a cumulative 1.34 million visitors through 2025. Festival General Director Song Seung-eun said last year's edition attracted 260,000 visitors, with a satisfaction rating of 90.7 percent. "We also achieved about 1.55 million SNS impressions and collaborated with 69 nearby businesses," Song said.

Now in its 11th year, the festival is themed "Seocho is the Music" and spans genres from classical and jazz to K-pop, with performances, hands-on activities and participatory programs throughout the two days.

A pre-festival event will kick things off Friday evening at the Seoul Arts Center's Music Plaza, where Seocho-gu, the Seoul Arts Center and modeling agency Esteem will co-host a special opening night. The plaza will serve as an outdoor runway, combining a fashion performance by Esteem with a live concert by the Seocho Symphony Orchestra under conductor Bae Jong-hun.

On Saturday, the main festival opens at 1 p.m. with an opening parade along Banpo-daero. At 1:30 p.m., one of the festival's most popular recurring programs — "The World's Biggest Sketchbook" — takes over the road. The full width of the 10-lane boulevard, spanning about 2,610 square meters, becomes a giant canvas where children and adults alike draw freely using more than 100,000 colored chalk sticks.

The highlight of Saturday evening is "Classical Night," beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Seocho Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Bae, will share the stage with singer Son Tae-jin, soprano Hwang Su-mi, mezzo-soprano Bang Sin-je, tenor Kim Yo-han, baritone Kim Ji-hun and the Yang Seung-hee Gayageum Ensemble. This year's edition features a special appearance by a string quartet drawn from members of the LA Philharmonic, one of the world's leading orchestras.

On Sunday, the children's program "Flying Symphony" — designed to introduce classical music to young audiences in an accessible and entertaining way — opens at 11 a.m. From noon, "Seoripul Local Live" fills Banpo-daero with performances by Seocho-based musicians and arts institutions, including Baekseok Arts University, the Shinjung Orchestra, the Hyundai Motor Group Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Gugak Center's Creative Music Orchestra and the Korea National University of Arts. The lineup spans classical, traditional Korean music and popular genres.

At 7 p.m., "K-Pop Night" closes out the festival with performances by Crying Nut, Jaurim and Lee Seung-yoon.

After all performances conclude, a group of residents recruited through a public application process will join district environmental workers to clean up the festival grounds and take part in a closing parade, serving as what organizers call "ending fairies" to wrap up the event.

Organizers have also expanded visitor conveniences this year. Advance online reservations for the three main programs — Classical Night, K-Pop Night and Flying Symphony — open Tuesday. Food trucks will adopt QR-code ordering and payment with pickup notification alerts, allowing festivalgoers to order from their phones while watching performances and collect their food when it is ready.

With large crowds expected, the district has put extensive crowd, traffic and safety management measures in place. Seocho-gu worked with police, fire and other agencies ahead of the festival to establish a safety management framework, and about 1,300 safety personnel — drawn from the district office, police, fire department, civic groups and volunteers — will be stationed throughout the venue each day.

Seocho-gu District Mayor Jeon Seong-su encouraged residents to attend. "This is a festival created together by Seocho's musicians and residents," he said. "I hope everyone comes out to Banpo-daero with family, friends and neighbors to enjoy music and art to the fullest and make special autumn memories."


ikson@heraldcorp.com