Han River to host Seoul’s annual traditional music festival for 1st time

A promotional poster for the 2026 Seoul Gugak Festival / Courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government

Traditional Korean music will trade palace courtyards and concert halls for the banks of the Han River this year as Seoul moves its annual “gugak,” Korean traditional music, festival to one of the city’s busiest public spaces in a bid to reach a broader audience.

The eighth Seoul Gugak Festival will be held Friday at Moonlight Square in Banpo Hangang Park, marking the first time the event has taken place along the river.

Organizers said the festival, themed “Gugak Awakens Seoul,” will showcase a wide spectrum of Korean traditional music, from performances by master musicians to genre-blending acts that combine gugak with rock, dance and contemporary performance art.

The event will run from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. and feature a main concert stage, community performances and a range of hands-on cultural programs.

The evening’s headline performances include a collaboration between Lastreet Crew and a geomungo sextet, a multimedia production by Twohands that blends traditional shamanic music with media art and appearances by master performers Cho Young-sook and Lee Tae-baek.

The lineup also includes the crossover band KARDI, Kim Duk-soo SamulNori and musical theater stars Kim So-hyun and Son Jun-ho.

Earlier in the day, emerging musicians, amateur performers, community groups, children and people with disabilities will take part in the festival’s Open Stage program.

Ahead of the main event, four emerging gugak groups — Silk Ensemble, Mongru Band, RYU and Gugaknori — are scheduled to perform busking concerts Saturday at Yeouido, Jamsil, Mangwon and Jamwon Hangang parks.

Visitors will also be able to participate in traditional culture workshops featuring hanbok, folk games and craft activities.

Among the festival’s newer attractions is an artificial intelligence-powered music workshop that allows participants to reinterpret familiar gugak melodies in genres such as jazz, pop and hip-hop.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.