Seoul to host first pet culture festival at Oil Tank Culture Park
Summary
Seoul will hold its first companion-animal culture festival Saturday at Oil Tank Culture Park in western Seoul. The 2026 Seoul Daengnyang Days is open to pet owners and non-pet owners, with performances, exhibitions, talks, an outdoor film screening and an adoption event. Rescued dogs in foster care will meet potential adoptive families, and the city says it will introduce pet culture policies addressing adoption and saying goodbye to companion animals.
Key Facts
- The festival’s subtitle is A Day with Companions, and Daengnyang is Korean slang combining words for dogs and cats.
- The program includes a dog dance, a fashion show featuring owners and pets, and short films from the Seoul Animal Love 60-Second Film Festival.
- Entertainer HaHa and Kim Na-young will join singer-songwriters for a concert, while popera group Victoria is scheduled to perform at 5 p.m.
- The 2023 Korean film My Heart Puppy will be screened outdoors from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., preceded by an interview with its star Yoo Yeon-seok about adopting a former abandoned dog named Rita.
- Six emerging artists will exhibit animal-focused work, and talks will address living with pets and coping with pet loss; veterinarian Seol Chae-hyun is among the speakers.
A promotional poster for the "2026 Seoul Daengnyang Days" / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
Seoul will hold its first festival celebrating life with companion animals on Saturday at Oil Tank Culture Park, a former oil depot in western Seoul converted into a cultural space, the city government said Monday.
The festival, 2026 Seoul Daengnyang Days, is subtitled “A Day with Companions.” It is open to both pet owners and non-pet owners. “Daengnyang” is Korean slang combining words for dogs and cats.
The main stage will open with a “dog dance” performance, in which people and dogs move together to music. It will be followed by a fashion show in which owners and their pets, selected through an open call, walk the runway as a team.
Short videos from the Seoul Animal Love 60-Second Film Festival, a citizen contest of one-minute clips about life with animals, will be shown on a large screen. Entertainer HaHa and Kim Na-young will join other singer-songwriters for a concert. At 5 p.m., popera group Victoria will present a concert combining music and film.
From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the 2023 Korean film “My Heart Puppy” will be screened outdoors. Beforehand, organizers will show an interview with actor Yoo Yeon-seok, who stars in the film. In it, he talks about adopting Rita, a former abandoned dog.
Indoors, six emerging artists who focus on animals will exhibit their work. Talk sessions will cover living with pets and coping with pet loss. Speakers include veterinarian Seol Chae-hyun.
From 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., dogs rescued from abandonment and now in foster care will walk a red carpet to meet potential adoptive families.
Free shuttle buses will run from nearby public parking lots.
“Seoul will introduce a range of pet culture policies that carefully address everything from the adoption of abandoned animals to saying goodbye to companion animals,” said Kim Young-hwan, head of the city’s Garden City Bureau.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Explore More
- Q.
- Q.
- Q.