Seoul Events

Seoul events are held throughout the year and celebrate a wide variety of occasions. As the largest city in the country, Seoul hosts some of the most widely celebrated and popular events throughout the year. There are wide scale Seoul festivals dedicated to music that feature multiple stages and a host of bands and internationally known DJs. There are also many more traditional events in Seoul that celebrate the various religious and spiritual traditions that are significant in South Korea.

The Hi Seoul Festival is one of the most popular Seoul events. This five-day event takes place every year at the beginning of October and is held at the Cheonggye Plaza. There is a whole host of performances from drama to opera, as well arts and crafts displays. The biggest pop performers in South Korea also take the stage at the Hi Seoul Festival. This is a great time to be in South Korea, not only because the changing of the leaves transforms the already gorgeous landscape into an even more beautiful scene, but also because the Hi Seoul provides some real insight to authentic South Korean culture. There are traditional ceremonies and parades that honor age old religious and spiritual rites.

Among traditional Seoul events, the Daeboreum Festival is one of the best known in the entire country. It is celebrated exactly on the fifteenth day during the first lunar moon according to the South Korean calendar. The Daeboreum Festival is held in the Namsangol Hanok Village, a tourist attraction in and of itself as a true folk village in the city of Seoul. At the Daeboreum Festival, you can take part in dances, sing traditional South Korean folk songs, and watch as colorful and dramatic ceremonies take place to ward off evil spirits. This is one of the most intriguing Seoul festivals on the event calendar.

Two other Seoul festivals that take place in October are worth noting because of how popular they are in South Korea. People travel from all over the country to see and take part in the Seoul Performing Arts Festival and the Seoul Drum Festival. Each of these two widely popular events draws not only the interest of domestic tourists, but also performers and tourists from around the world. The Performing Arts Festivals sees talented musicians from places such as Russia, Germany, and the United States.

The Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival is a family-friendly event in South Korea where you can see awesome exhibits of cartoonists and animators creating their works of art. It takes place at the COEX Centre in the middle of downtown Seoul, nearby a wide variety of restaurants, bars, clubs, and other popular attractions.

South Korea celebrates the Lotus Lantern Festival every year in the middle of March. It is a celebration of the birth of the Buddha. The opening ceremony is held at Dongdaemun Stadium. Parades commence as thousands of people carry ornate and elaborate, lighted lanterns through the streets. If you are lucky enough to be in South Korea during this time of year, this will be an experience you will not soon forget. The elaborate dragon lanterns are a sight to be seen. The Lotus Lantern Festival is one of the most visually stunning of all the Seoul events.