Music, yoga and hands-on activities at Haebom Garden on Friday and Saturday; greenhouse night openings to run through Dec. 27
As autumn deepens, Seoul Botanic Park is being transformed into an urban sanctuary where music, nature and cultural arts come together. A special series of events will let visitors enjoy performances and hands-on activities in the garden by day and take in music and films inside the greenhouse by night.
The 2026 Seoul Botanic Park Garden Healing Festival, hosted by Seoul Botanic Park and organized by the Korea Foundation for Arts, Culture and Sports Promotion, will run Friday through Saturday at Haebom Garden. A greenhouse night-opening program will then follow on select dates from Nov. 13 through Dec. 27.
Themed "The Warmest Autumn," the festival is designed to offer citizens rest and rejuvenation through nature and the arts. Programming includes live music, yoga, craft workshops, a flea market and a nighttime plant-exploration experience.
Singers Kim Pil and Beomjin to perform as jazz and classical music fill the autumn garden
On the festival's opening day Friday, a lunchtime concert by the Lyn Harp Trio will kick off the program, followed by a garden yoga session and an intimate recital called "A Warm Little Concert." The garden yoga class, led by Im Hyeon-ji of the Seoul Metropolitan Yoga Association, is designed to help participants unwind in a natural setting.
Saturday's lineup features garden preview busking, a jazz band set and a classical music performance. Singers Kim Pil and Beomjin are set to headline the main stage, bringing live music to visitors enjoying the autumn garden.
Hands-on workshops open to the public will also be available throughout the festival.
At Haebom Garden, visitors can choose from a wide range of activities — natural dyeing, aquatic plant arrangements, mini terrarium making, hanji (traditional Korean paper) crafts, Oriental painting, flower arranging, wood carving, resin art, forest exploration and calligraphy.
A flea market with 23 booths run by small business owners and eight food trucks will round out the offerings. The mix of performances, workshops, food and rest areas is intended to encourage visitors to linger and spend a leisurely afternoon at the festival grounds.
A "Healing Garden Library & Healing Picnic" zone will provide a space for reading and relaxing outdoors. Stocked with about 200 books and furnished with parasols, camping tables and chairs, and beanbag seats, the area is designed for families, couples and friends to use freely.
A full-moon photo zone will also be set up at the venue, giving visitors a scenic backdrop to capture the autumn garden.
Seoul Botanic Park opens after dark for jazz, films and Christmas performances
Following the garden healing festival, Seoul Botanic Park will launch a greenhouse night-opening program called "Night Botanic Journey."
The night openings are scheduled across 10 evenings in total: Nov. 13–14, Nov. 27–28, Dec. 11–12 and Dec. 24–27.
The Roman Plaza inside the exhibition greenhouse will host performances tailored to each season and date, ranging from jazz and musical gala shows to acoustic sets, classical concerts and Christmas music.
The Nov. 13–14 sessions, themed "The Night Greenhouse: Where Two Sensibilities Meet," will feature a crossover program blending jazz and musical theater. Jazz Libre and other musicians are set to perform.
The Nov. 27–28 sessions, themed "Between the Stars, Music Lingers," will offer an acoustic concert. Dec. 11–12 will follow with a classical music program under the theme "A Garden Night, Dyed in Rhythm."
Over the Christmas holiday period, Dec. 24–27, a year-end special performance themed "A Winter Night, Singing Warmth" will take place. Classical guitarist Kim Seong-jin, singer Yuel and mixed-gender band Grooveus are among the acts scheduled to perform.
A cinema zone for visitors will be set up in the first-floor book lounge of the exhibition greenhouse. Using a projector and beanbag seating, the space will screen a rotating selection of films on a set schedule, including "A Midsummer Night's Jazz," "Petit Maman," "Divertimento," "Love Rides the Fallen Leaves" and "Our Summer Days."
From moonlit plant detective hunts to English docent tours, family and foreign visitor programs expanded
Interactive programs for children and families will also be on offer.
"Moonlit Plant Detectives" is a nighttime experience in which children take on the role of detectives, uncovering plants' survival strategies and tracking down hidden clues.
Participants use a detective kit — complete with a UV flashlight, a mission map and clue cards — to observe real plants up close. The roughly 50-minute program takes them through observation, deduction, clue verification and a final code-breaking challenge.
English-language docent tours and traditional Korean cultural workshops will be available for foreign tourists.
Participants can explore the exhibition greenhouse with English commentary and take part in Korean-themed activities such as dyeing fingernails with garden balsam and making pressed-flower bookmarks. Each session will accommodate 12 to 15 pre-registered foreign visitors.
The event is notable for transforming the garden from a passive viewing space into a cultural destination where citizens can actively participate and linger. The programming is structured so that daytime visitors can enjoy music, workshops, reading and picnicking, while evening visitors can experience the greenhouse's scenery, live performances, films and plant exploration.
Seoul Botanic Park said it hopes the event will give visitors a fresh way to experience a familiar space — as a garden for rest and activity during the day, and as a cultural venue filled with music and stories after dark.
Detailed schedules and registration information for each program are available on Seoul Botanic Park's official website and Instagram.
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