The 2026 Gangnam Festival moves to Dosan-daero from Saturday through Monday, transforming the boulevard into a daylong celebration of K-pop, fashion and food — headlined by a first-ever grand parade featuring residents from all 22 of the district's neighborhoods.
Gangnam-gu will hold the 2026 Gangnam Festival along Dosan-daero and surrounding areas from Saturday through Monday.
Now in its 15th year, the festival returns with a significantly revamped format. The main venue shifts from the Yeongdong-daero area to Dosan-daero, and for the first time in the festival's history, residents from all 22 neighborhoods in Gangnam-gu will take part in a large-scale street parade. Daytime programming will feature the parade and street events, while evening headliners take the stage for major concerts — turning Dosan-daero into an all-day festival destination. The event aims to showcase Gangnam's diverse culture, from K-pop and fashion to food, while reinventing itself as a community-driven celebration built and enjoyed by residents themselves.
For the first time, all 22 Gangnam neighborhoods take to the streets for a 1-kilometer grand parade.
The highlight of this year's festival is the Grand Parade, in which residents play the starring role. Running from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, the procession will stretch roughly 1 kilometer along Dosan-daero from Cheongdam intersection to Dosanpark intersection. Residents from all 22 neighborhoods will march in costumes and with props reflecting each neighborhood's distinct character and theme, transforming the festival from a spectacle to watch into one the community creates together.
The parade is organized around seven themes drawn from the letters of "GANGNAM": Great Heritage, Animation & Family, New Wave Innovation, Global Fashion & Luxury, Navigate Future, Active Street, and a finale titled Master of Stage.
Each neighborhood will join the theme that best fits its local character and residents. Gaepo 4-dong, home to the National Traditional Music High School, will march under Great Heritage in a royal-procession segment, while Gaepo-dong and Segok-dong — neighborhoods with many young children and families — will join the Animation & Family contingent. The parade is designed to weave the distinct identity of all 22 neighborhoods into a single procession, giving resident participation real meaning.
The parade opens with a traditional military band and ceremonial procession, followed in sequence by giant character balloons, parade floats inspired by video games, robots and fashion models. The finale brings together residents from all 22 neighborhoods and the full cast, capped by a character procession featuring 32 Pikachu and a dance performance. The entire length of Dosan-daero becomes one vast stage.
Street festival by day, concerts by night — from Nam Jin to PSY.
Once the parade wraps, a major concert will keep the energy going. The Family Concert on Saturday at 7 p.m. features Nam Jin, Kim Won-jun, Rula, Space A, Lim Chang-jung, Hong Kyung-min and Hong Ji-yun in a cross-generational lineup. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis, with no advance reservation required.
The K-pop Concert on Sunday at 6 p.m. will feature LUN8, SAY MY NAME, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, ZEROBASEONE, KiiiKiii and P1Harmony. PSY, who put Gangnam on the global map with "Gangnam Style," will close the night as the finale act.
Along Dosan-daero, visitors can also take part in K-pop dance workshops, a global cover-dance challenge, fashion and beauty programs, a beer and food festa, and street performances. By combining the parade and concerts with fashion, food and other facets of Gangnam culture, the festival is designed to draw visitors into every corner of the boulevard.
Beyond Dosan-daero — traditional music, a marathon and a temple concert.
The festival extends well beyond Dosan-daero. At 6:50 p.m. on Saturday, Maru Park will host a special KBS traditional music concert marking the founding of the Gangnam Gugak Orchestra. On Monday, the Gangnam International Peace Marathon will set off at 8 a.m. from the Bongeunsa-ro area, and a mountain temple music concert will be held at Bongeunsa Temple at 6 p.m.
The KBS traditional music special will feature the Gangnam Gugak Orchestra alongside nine acts — including the National Traditional Music High School, Kim Yong-u, Park Ae-ri and other master performers and ensembles — for roughly 90 minutes of varied traditional music. Admission is free, and the concert is scheduled to air on KBS 1TV on Oct. 24 at 12:10 p.m.
The 23rd Gangnam International Peace Marathon, co-hosted by Gangnam-gu and the Eighth Army and organized by the Gangnam-gu Sports Council, will draw 10,000 participants. Runners can choose from four distances — a full marathon, a half marathon, 10 kilometers and 5 kilometers. A donation ceremony presenting 177.32 million won ($131,000) raised through this year's race will also be held, along with awards by category and a prize draw. From 10 a.m., a Gangnam Global Master Chef Food Festival will offer food and entertainment for participants and their families.
A mountain temple music concert at Bongeunsa Temple will close out the Gangnam Festival. Following a pre-show performance by the Bongeunsa Gugak Ensemble, Bicycle Scenery, Jang Ha-eun, Kim Min-jong, Yang Su-kyung and Jeon Young-rok will take the stage for roughly 120 minutes. Admission is free, and the concert will be livestreamed on the Gangnam-gu Office and Bongeunsa YouTube channels.
Five domestic sister cities join the celebration, deepening inter-city ties.
As it did last year, Gangnam-gu is using the festival as a platform for exchange with its domestic sister cities. From Sunday through Monday, delegations of about 20 representatives from five sister cities — Cheongyang-gun, Naju, Jeungpyeong-gun, Wonju and Chilgok-gun — will be invited to participate. The delegations will attend a friendship and cooperation forum and take part in wellness programs at the Gangnam Healing Center's Sinsa branch. In the evening, they will watch the K-pop concert on Dosan-daero together, experiencing Gangnam's festival culture and strengthening inter-city bonds.
Traffic restrictions on Dosan-daero — public transit strongly encouraged.
Traffic management measures will be in place to minimize inconvenience and prevent safety incidents during the large-scale event. The section of Dosan-daero between Hakdong intersection and Dosanpark intersection — where the main venue is located — will begin restrictions at midnight on Friday, with all lanes in both directions closed to vehicles through Sunday. Normal traffic is expected to resume from 5 a.m. on Monday.
Alternate routes will be secured to reduce inconvenience for visitors to businesses near the main venue. Side streets will serve as the primary routes on both the north and south sides of Dosan-daero, and a dedicated fire-department access road will be maintained on the south side for emergencies and access to nearby facilities. However, as traffic may also back up on detour roads, visitors heading to nearby wedding halls and restaurants are advised to use public transit.
During the Grand Parade on Saturday, six northbound lanes on the section from the south end of Yeongdong Bridge through Cheongdam intersection to Hakdong intersection will be closed, with the six southbound lanes used for two-way traffic. The parade route was also shortened — from the original Apgujeong Galleria department store-to-Dosanpark intersection stretch to the Cheongdam intersection-to-Dosanpark intersection segment — in response to feedback from nearby businesses and residents concerned about traffic disruption. Buses serving the area will be rerouted via Apgujeong-ro and Hakdong-ro.
To minimize the impact on nearby wedding businesses and merchants, Gangnam-gu conducted advance on-site inspections and gathered input from stakeholders to map out detour routes and secure emergency vehicle access lanes. More than 2,600 personnel will be deployed at the festival site throughout the event, including 1,492 professional staff, 423 district office civil servants and 694 model drivers. Traffic restriction information will be communicated in advance through banners, traffic radio, navigation apps and other online and offline channels.
"This year's Gangnam Festival will offer a different experience from previous editions, starting with the Grand Parade on the new stage of Dosan-daero," said Park Sang-won, co-chairman of the Gangnam Festival organizing committee. "We hope residents of Gangnam-gu and Seoul, as well as visitors from around the world, will come to the streets of Gangnam and enjoy the full range of culture and festival excitement together."
"A festival is only complete when residents are part of it," said Gangnam-gu District Mayor Kim Hyun-ki. "We will make this a festival where residents from all 22 neighborhoods participate directly and share Gangnam's diverse culture — K-pop, fashion, food and more — with people from around the world." He added, "Above all, we will put safety first and make thorough preparations so that both residents and visitors can enjoy the festival with complete peace of mind."
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