Event runs through Thursday at Haneul Park; lighting shows, busking and dance performances planned

Silver reeds blanket the grounds of Haneul Park at World Cup Park in Seoul. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]
Silver reeds blanket the grounds of Haneul Park at World Cup Park in Seoul. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Western Park and Leisure Center will hold the 25th Seoul Silver Reed Festival at Haneul Park in World Cup Park starting Saturday.

Running for seven days through Thursday, this year's festival carries the theme "Silver Reeds: Comfort from Nature." The city said it designed the event to offer visitors rest and solace amid the scenery of silver-hued reeds.

At the Five Senses Garden, visitors can take in and unwind among the natural surroundings of Haneul Park — the reeds, autumn plants, light and ambient sounds.

Additional garden spaces include a Wish Garden where visitors can leave messages and wishes, a Rest Garden for reading and relaxation, a Comfort Garden featuring an atmospheric setting created by crimson kochia plants, and a Hope Garden illuminated by nighttime lighting.

An opening ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, the first day of the festival. Starting at 7 p.m. daily, a lighting show combining illuminations and music in the reed fields will run every 30 minutes. The central stage will host busking performances — ballads, jazz and K-pop — daily from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. On Sunday morning, K-pop cover dance performances and a random-play dance event are also scheduled.

Twelve hands-on programs — including making silver reed bouquets and assembling bottle gardens — will run daily from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. In keeping with Haneul Park's history as a former landfill transformed into a green space, a resource-recycling market called the Re-born Market will also operate during the festival. Full details are available on the Garden City Seoul website.

"We hope visitors will come to Haneul Park's silver reed fields this autumn with family, friends and loved ones to rediscover the ease of everyday life and feel the comfort that nature offers," said Park Mi-seong, director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Western Park and Leisure Center.


ken@heraldcorp.com