Travel
Seollal 2026: Festivals, performances, exhibitions and park events across Seoul
haps Magazine Korea
February 12, 2026
Seollal performance (Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Government/courtesy of haps Magazine Korea)
Seollal returns from February 14 to 18, and Seoul is once again turning the holiday into a city-wide cultural festival.
Palaces, museums, parks and performance halls will host everything from traditional games and rice cake sharing to classical concerts and contemporary art exhibitions.
Here’s a complete guide to what’s happening around the capital.
Namsangol Hanok Village — “Fortune-Filled Horse” Festival
February 16–18, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
A classic Seollal setting inside traditional houses. Expect folk performances, taekwondo demonstrations, rolling hoops, craft workshops and complimentary tteokguk.
Unhyeongung Palace — Happy Seollal Festival
February 16–18, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Archery, yutnori and traditional crafts alongside gugak performances and rice cake sharing.
Seoul History Museum — Seollal Cultural Fair
February 18, 12 p.m.–4 p.m.
Pansori busking, global folk games, costume experiences, rice-cake pounding and lucky pouch crafts.
Seoul Museum of Korean Folk Music — Greeting the New Year with Sound
February 14–18, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Fortune telling with yut sticks, traditional games, calligraphy blessings and a special gugak concert on February 16.
Hanseong Baekje Museum — Seollal Grand Festival
February 18, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Family-friendly crafts, kite making, lanterns, tteok grilling and percussion performances.
Major performances during the holiday
At the Seoul Arts Center (February 12–13, 7:30 p.m.), the Seoul Philharmonic performs Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Nikolai Lugansky, alongside Berlioz and Schumann.
Sejong Center hosts a packed schedule:
Death Song and The Turing Machine plays (February 13–19)
Valentine concert Composer’s Love Letters (February 14, 5 p.m.)
Piano recitals February 16–19
Renaissance to Impressionism — Sejong Museum (until Feb 22)
Masterpieces from the San Diego Museum of Art, including works by Monet, Goya and Degas.
Seoul Craft Museum — Dancing, Dreaming, Enlightening (until Mar 22)
Fashion-art exhibition spanning 40 years of artistic creation.
Seoul History Museum exhibitions (until Mar 2)
Includes Korean letter culture, Edward Burtynsky retrospective and Seoul–Washington diplomatic history.
Cheonggyecheon Museum — People of the Stream (until Mar 29)
Urban life across centuries through everyday memories.
Dilkusha — Independence-era life exhibition (until Jun 28)
Parks & outdoor Seollal activities
World Cup Park — Seollal Playground
February 14–18, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Nine traditional games including tuho and hoop rolling.
Also features a silver-grass horse sculpture exhibition and a wish mailbox.
Seoul Forest
February 14–15 traditional games all day
February 14 wish mobile craft workshops
February 15 ecology monitoring & insect specimen class
Namsan Park — Horse-Year storytelling program
February 14–18 (reservation required)
Boramae Park — Traditional games day
February 14, 2 p.m.–4 p.m.
Seoul Botanic Park
February 16–18 exhibitions and folk games
Special exhibition Our Nature, Planetary Coexistence plus postcard participation activities.
Museums & cultural venues open during Seollal
Many major institutions remain open throughout the holiday including the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Seoul History Museum, Hanseong Baekje Museum, Namsangol Hanok Village and Samcheonggak. Nodeul Island operates daily except Seollal day, while Seoul Botanic Park closes the day after the holiday.