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Seoul Silver Grass Festival 2026: free, Oct 17–23 at Haneul Park

Reported 2026-10-14 / Posted 2026-10-14 · Compiled from Korean media reports citing Seoul city and Seoul Metro · By

Seoul's Silver Grass Festival (서울억새축제) returns for seven days, from Saturday, October 17 to Friday, October 23, 2026, at Haneul Park (하늘공원) in Mapo-gu. Entry is free, and the festival runs 10:00–21:00 every day. For visitors, it is a low-cost autumn outing: a subway ride, then a hilltop covered in silver grass.

Field of white silver grass under a blue sky with clouds, a tall white tower and autumn trees behind it
File photo: silver grass fields at Haneul Park in Mapo-gu, Seoul.Photo: Korea Tourism Organization (한국관광공사) via TourAPI · KOGL Type 1

The essentials

  • What: the 25th Seoul Silver Grass Festival (서울억새축제)
  • When: October 17–23, 2026, Saturday to Friday
  • Hours: 10:00–21:00 daily; light show 19:00–20:30
  • Opening: ceremony and celebration performance at 18:00 on Saturday, October 17
  • Where: Haneul Park (하늘공원), Mapo-gu, Seoul
  • Admission: free
  • Status: dates, hours, free entry and the programme come from three Korean news reports, one of them citing Seoul city; we did not open an official festival page. None of the reports gives the electric cart's hours during the festival or booking details for the workshops.

What it is

This is the festival's 25th edition, and Shinailbo's October 13 report cites Seoul city for that count and for the daily hours. The name comes from silver grass (억새, eoksae), a tall wild grass whose feathery plumes go pale silver in autumn. The festival is built around Haneul Park's fields of it.

What's on

  • Light show: an evening programme of music and lighting from 19:00 to 20:30 during the festival week, according to Shinailbo.
  • Workshops: make a silver-grass bouquet or a seed bomb (a small ball of soil with seeds inside), or join one of the resource-recycling activities.
  • Re-born market: FT Sports lists a recycling-themed market, the Re-born market (리본 마켓).
  • Booking: FT Sports says some activities may need booking ahead or signing up on the spot, so check before you build a day around one.

Getting up the hill, and avoiding the crowds

Haneul Park sits on a hilltop, with two ways up: the stairs and trails, or the paid Maengkkongi electric cart (맹꽁이 전기차). FT Sports gives its regular return fares as 3,000 won for adults and 2,200 won for children. The same report warns that the last cart may not match the festival's closing time, so evening visitors should check that one is still going down.

FT Sports expects busy paths into the park during the festival. World Cup Stadium Station (월드컵경기장역) on Line 6, the park's subway stop, averaged 43.8% more daily boardings and exits in October 2025 than over that whole year. Seoul Metro figures reported by Newsis rank that rise first among its stations. The festival has only one weekend, October 17–18, so with flexible dates, we would pick a weekday.

How to get there

  • By subway: take Line 6 to World Cup Stadium Station, then head toward Haneul Park.
  • Find the route: plan the walk from the station in Naver Map or KakaoMap; Google Maps lacks walking and transit routing here (see our apps guide).
  • Pay the fare: tap in with T-money, or with the Climate Card Tourist Pass, which covers Seoul Metro Lines 1–8.

Our verdict

Go for a cheap outdoor afternoon or evening in Seoul: for anyone arriving by subway, the cart is the only other cost the reports mention. Families can add the bouquet and seed-bomb workshops. Evening visitors get the light show, but the way down means the stairs or a cart whose festival timetable we have not seen. If stairs after dark are hard for anyone with you, go in daylight.

For the fullest single evening, choose opening night, when the ceremony and celebration performance begin at 18:00 on Saturday, October 17.

Quick links

Sources
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