Rose Park opera festival and Seoul Heehee Naknak Festival held on consecutive days
District expands cultural offerings beyond spring rose festival to pursue year-round programming
Jungnang-gu, a Seoul district known for its rose-filled spring, is now welcoming residents with music and performances in autumn. Opera, popular music and community-participation festivals have been held in succession along the Jungnangcheon stream, extending the district's cultural calendar well beyond its spring-heavy tradition.
Park Seung-jin, chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council's Housing and Space Committee and a Democratic Party of Korea member representing Jungnang District 3, said the autumn festivals held Saturday and Sunday in Jungnang-gu showed that a cultural environment where residents can enjoy diverse performances close to home is taking shape.
Jungnang-gu has long been recognized as a leading spring festival destination through the Seoul Rose Festival, but the district had drawn criticism for a relative lack of autumn cultural events. In response, Park has focused on expanding festivals that make use of everyday spaces — the Jungnangcheon stream, neighborhood parks and traditional markets — and has worked to secure budgets and identify new events.
This autumn's lineup drew attention for presenting two consecutive days of performances spanning entirely different genres.
On Saturday at 7 p.m., the 15th Grand Opera Festival "Rose Park" was held on the outdoor stage at Jungnang-gu's Rose Park. Selected for support under the Seoul Metropolitan Government's private festival program, the performance offered 600 outdoor seats on a first-come, first-served basis with free admission.
The event was notable for bringing opera — a genre that typically requires a trip to a dedicated concert hall — into Rose Park, a space residents use for walks and leisure. The aim was to improve cultural access by allowing people to enjoy high-quality performing arts without an admission fee.
The following day, Sunday at 5 p.m., the inaugural Seoul Heehee Naknak Festival was held at Junghwa Sports Park.
Co-organized with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the festival was themed around an autumn concert for the whole family and featured a stage designed to bring together people of all generations.
The program included performances by singers Park Hyun-bin and Yumi, a senior model walking show, a tapo nanta drumming act and a set by the winner of the Rose Gayo Festival grand prize. The event combined popular music, local cultural arts and community participation programs to offer entertainment for all age groups.
Festivals expand from spring into autumn to broaden community cultural spaces
Park views the events as more than a weekend festival — he sees them as part of an ongoing effort to address Jungnang-gu's seasonal cultural imbalance.
His vision is that just as the Seoul Rose Festival has grown into the district's defining cultural brand, autumn should now have its own recurring performances and festivals that residents look forward to each year.
Toward that goal, Park has supported a series of locally rooted cultural events since helping launch the inaugural Jungnangcheon Autumn Concert in 2024, including the Taereung Market Alley Night Festival, a street event organized together with merchants and residents of Taereung Market.
He has focused particularly on moving beyond large, centralized festival venues to spread cultural spaces into the everyday environments where residents live — streams, parks and traditional markets.
The approach lets residents attend performances near their homes without traveling to arts venues concentrated in the city center. Linking local commercial districts with cultural events is also expected to strengthen community ties and inject vitality into neighborhood economies.
"I am keeping my commitment to ensure that Jungnang-gu residents can enjoy outstanding cultural festivals close to home in autumn, just as they do during the spring rose festival," Park said. "I hope many residents were able to spend a warm and joyful autumn evening with their families and neighbors through the opera performance and the Heehee Naknak Festival."
7toy7@heraldcorp.com
