Seoul to host night festival on Mount Nam with picnics, autumn walks, silent disco
Summary
Seoul will host the 2026 Namsan Night Festival at Namsan Park in central Seoul from Oct. 23 to Nov. 7, offering camping, evening hikes and movie screenings. The festival will run on Fridays and Saturdays across six days, followed by a silent disco on Nov. 14. Programs are designed to support nearby commercial districts, with food deliveries, warming zones and additional trail lighting available.
Key Facts
- The Namsan Campnic program will provide 100 tent and mat spots daily at Baekbeom Square and accommodate up to 600 groups during the event.
- The Autumn Foliage Walk will offer 3.8-kilometer and 4.2-kilometer routes, with up to 700 participants per night and 2,800 participants overall.
- The Nov. 14 silent disco at Palgak Square will hold two sessions with 300 participants per session using wireless headphones.
- Registration is required for domestic and international visitors, with advance reservations available online through Naver. The city also provided the official event site, namsannightfestival.com.
A promotional poster for the 2026 Namsan Night Festival / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
Seoul will host an autumn night festival at Namsan Park in central Seoul from Oct. 23 to Nov. 7, offering outdoor camping, evening hikes and movie screenings to boost the local nighttime economy, the city government said Monday.
The 2026 Namsan Night Festival will take place every Friday and Saturday over six days, culminating in a separate silent disco event on Nov. 14.
The festival’s flagship program, Namsan Campnic — a blend of camping and picnic — will run from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Baekbeom Square, a grassy slope overlooking the city's sunset and N Seoul Tower.
The site will feature 100 designated tent and mat spots each day, accommodating up to 600 groups over the course of the event. Activities include live music performances, a live radio-style request show and open-air screenings of films including "August Rush."
For hikers, a guided evening trek dubbed the Autumn Foliage Walk will run on Oct. 23 and 24, and Nov. 6 and 7, departing from Namsan Yejang Park. Participants can choose between two routes: a 3.8-kilometer, 90-minute course, or a 4.2-kilometer path that passes N Seoul Tower before ending at Namsangol Hanok Village, a historic Korean traditional house complex. The walks will accommodate 700 participants each night, capping total attendance at 2,800.
The festivities will wrap up on Nov. 14 at Palgak Square with a silent disco, where 300 participants per session will dance to synchronized music using wireless headphones to minimize neighborhood noise. Two sessions will be held.
City officials designed the festival to direct foot traffic into nearby commercial districts. Guests at the campsite can order food from local restaurants via a designated delivery drop-off zone, while the guided walking routes end near major shopping and dining hubs like Itaewon and Euljiro.
To accommodate cooler autumn temperatures, the city will set up heated warming zones and install supplementary lighting along darker trail segments.
"We prepared the 2026 Namsan Night Festival so visitors can create lasting memories against the backdrop of Namsan’s autumn sunsets and night vistas," said Kim Young-hwan, director general of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Garden City Bureau. "We will ensure a safe and well-run event that provides a refreshing break for residents while bringing vital business to local merchants."
Registration is open to both domestic residents and international visitors. Advance reservations are required and can be booked online via Naver starting Monday. Full details are available on the official event site at namsannightfestival.com.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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