2026 Seoul International Garden Show — everything you need to know before you go

Table of contents

1. What is the Seoul International Garden Show?
2. 2026 edition — what's new and why it's bigger than ever
3. What to see — gardens, zones and highlights
4. Practical info — dates, location, access
5. Combining it with Seoul Forest, Seongsu & the Han River
6. Tips for visiting
7. Final thoughts — a genuinely unmissable Seoul event

What is the Seoul International Garden Show?

The Seoul International Garden Show (서울국제정원박람회) is Seoul City's annual flagship garden and landscape event — and it has grown into one of the largest outdoor cultural events in Korea. Each year it transforms a major public park into a world-class garden exhibition, combining commissioned works from international landscape artists with community gardens, brand installations, cultural programming, and live events.

The show rotates between parks. 2024 was held at Ttukseom Hangang Park. 2025 moved to Boramae Park, drawing over 10 million visitors. For 2026, the venue is Seoul Forest — and with it comes the largest edition of the show yet. If you're visiting Seoul anytime between May and October this year, there's a very good chance you'll want to build a visit around this.

Ins @seoulinternationalgardenshow

2026 edition — what's new and why it's bigger than ever

The 2026 Seoul International Garden Show runs from May 1 to October 27 — 180 days, making it the longest edition in the event's history. The theme is "Seoul, Green Culture", with the Korean sub-theme "서울류(流)" — roughly translated as "the flow of Seoul," referencing the cultural currents and identity of the city expressed through landscape design.

The scale this year is genuinely unprecedented. Total garden area of 90,000㎡ — 4.5 times larger than the 2025 Boramae edition and 7.5 times the 2024 Ttukseom edition. Across the full show area, 167 gardens have been created. The main venue at Seoul Forest contains 131 of them, with the remaining 36 distributed across the Han River banks, Seongsu-dong, and the Konkuk University area — connected by a 10km linear garden route threading through the neighborhood. The idea is that the show doesn't stop at the park entrance: the surrounding district becomes part of the exhibition itself.

Key numbers: May 1 – Oct 27, 2026 · 180 days · 167 gardens · 90,000㎡ · Seoul Forest (main venue) + 10km linear route through Seongsu and Gwangjin

What to see — gardens, zones and highlights

Artist gardens — international commissions

The centerpiece of each year's show is the commissioned artist garden program. For 2026, five gardens were selected through international competition — two Korean teams and one each from Italy, India, and China — all installed within Seoul Forest. Two additional invited works complete the lineup: French landscape architect Henri Bava's "Garden Under the Flowing Forest" on the eastern side of Seoul Forest's main lawn, and Korean landscape designer Lee Nam-jin's "Garden of Waiting" at Seongsu Handmade Shoe Park.

Community and theme gardens

Beyond the artist commissions, the show includes "동행정원" (Companion Gardens) created by students, citizens, multicultural families, and local districts — a participatory layer that gives the event a warmth the purely professional commissions can't replicate. "기부정원" (Donation Gardens) from major Korean companies including construction firms and cultural institutions are installed around the central lawn. Around the park's pond, themed gardens from brands and organizations span beauty, fashion, food, and traditional culture — a K-culture dimension woven through the garden programming.

The 10km linear garden route

One of the genuinely new things about the 2026 edition is the ambition to take the show beyond the park. A 10km linear garden connects Seoul Forest through Seongsu-dong to the Konkuk University area, with street-level installations, planter gardens, and themed zones making the surrounding neighborhood part of the experience. It means you can start at Seoul Forest and walk or cycle through Seongsu — one of Seoul's most interesting neighborhoods right now — with garden installations appearing along the way.

Autumn extension — Maeheon Forest

In October, a parallel autumn festival runs at Maeheon Citizens' Forest alongside the main Seoul Forest event. Two venues, two atmospheres — the main summer program at Seoul Forest and an autumn-specific program as the season turns. Worth planning for if you're visiting in October.

Seoul International Garden - Seoul Forest / Ins @seoulinternationalgardenshow

Practical info — dates, location, access

Dates: May 1 – October 27, 2026 (180 days)

Main venue: Seoul Forest (서울숲), Seongdong-gu, Seoul. Extended route through Seongsu-dong and Gwangjin-gu.

Getting there: Seoul Forest Station (서울숲역) on Bundang Line (Line 수인분당선) is the closest station — exit directly into the park area. Also accessible from Ttukseom Station on Line 2 with a short walk. The Seongsu area is walkable from Seongsu Station on Line 2 as well.

Admission: Check the official website for current pricing — festival.seoul.go.kr/garden. Previous editions have been free or low-cost. Confirm before visiting as this may change.

Languages: QR code guides are available in 9 languages. Docent tours are offered for visitors with mobility needs.

Facilities: 4,620 benches across the venue (2.1 times more than 2025), 5 food truck zones throughout the site.

Combining it with Seoul Forest, Seongsu & the Han River

One of the reasons the 2026 venue choice is so good for visitors is that Seoul Forest is already a wonderful destination on its own — and it sits in one of Seoul's most interesting areas for a full day out.

Seoul Forest itself is a large urban park with deer enclosures, butterfly gardens, family picnic areas, and riverside walking paths that connect to the Han River. Even outside the Garden Show, it's one of the more pleasant parks in Seoul. During the show, the park is transformed — but the underlying character of the space remains, which means children and families can enjoy it beyond just the garden installations.

Seongsu-dong is immediately adjacent and currently Seoul's most creative neighborhood — former industrial spaces converted into cafés, pop-up stores, and galleries. The Garden Show's 10km linear route literally threads through Seongsu, which means the transition from garden exhibition to neighborhood exploration is seamless. Plan time for both.

The Han River is walkable from Seoul Forest — Ttukseom Hangang Park sits right alongside. After the garden show, a riverside walk or picnic on the Han is a natural extension of the day. In the evenings, the combination of Seoul Forest, Seongsu dinner, and Han River at dusk is one of the best full-day sequences this part of Seoul offers.

Tips for visiting

Best time to go

May and October are the most beautiful months for a garden show — spring blooms in May and autumn color in October. The summer months (July–August) are hot and occasionally disrupted by monsoon rain, but the show runs regardless. Weekday mornings are significantly less crowded than weekend afternoons. If your schedule allows, a Tuesday or Wednesday visit is a different experience from a Saturday.

How long to allow

For the Seoul Forest main venue alone, allow a minimum of 2–3 hours. If you plan to walk the linear route through Seongsu-dong as well, add another 1–2 hours. A full day — garden show in the morning, Seongsu lunch and café in the afternoon, Han River in the evening — is the recommended approach if you have the time.

What to bring

Comfortable walking shoes — the venue is large and mostly outdoor. Sunscreen and a hat for summer visits — the garden paths are exposed. A compact umbrella for monsoon season (July–August). The food truck zones are well-stocked but bringing a picnic mat to use on the lawns is a good option on clear days.

For international visitors specifically

QR code guides are available in 9 languages throughout the venue — scan at any information point for garden descriptions and navigation. The show has hosted millions of international visitors over its run and the infrastructure for non-Korean speakers is solid.

 

Seoul International Garden Show Homepage

Final thoughts — a genuinely unmissable Seoul event

Seoul has a lot of seasonal events, but the International Garden Show has established itself as something different — not just a temporary installation but a genuine transformation of a major public space that rewards multiple visits across the season. The fact that the 2025 edition drew over 10 million visitors tells you something about how seriously Seoulites have taken it into their lives.

For visitors coming to Seoul between May and October 2026, this is one of the best reasons to build time into your itinerary near Seoul Forest. You get world-class garden design, a beautiful park, immediate access to Seongsu-dong's creative energy, and the Han River nearby. That combination — culture, nature, neighborhood, river — is hard to beat anywhere in the city. Have an amazing visit!

 

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