Psy returns to the Seoul district next month to headline the 2026 Gangnam Festival
Psy, whose global hit “Gangnam Style” put the Seoul district on the world stage, will return to Gangnam next month.
The 2026 Gangnam Festival will transform Dosan-daero, one of the district’s busiest thoroughfares, into a two-day celebration of parades, live music and cultural performances.
The festival, hosted by the Gangnam-gu Office in southern Seoul, runs Oct. 3-4 and includes a grand parade, a K-pop concert, a family concert and events centered on fashion, beauty and food.
Keep an eye out for 32 Pikachus in the parade, which is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. on Oct. 3. That evening at 7 p.m., trot legend Nam Jin will lead a lineup of singers spanning multiple generations at a family concert. Admission is free and on a first-come, first-served basis. No reservation is required.
The festival will close with a K-pop concert at 6 p.m. Oct. 4, featuring Psy and popular idol groups including KiiiKiii, ZeroBaseOne and Lun8. Free tickets will be available starting at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Ticketlink.
To accommodate the event, the district will phase in traffic restrictions around the venue, closing a stretch of Dosan-daero for 53 hours.
The first section to close will be the stretch between Hakdong Intersection and Dosan Park Intersection, where the main festival stage will be set up. All lanes in both directions will be closed from midnight Oct. 3 for venue installation and will remain closed throughout the festival. Normal traffic is expected to resume at 5 a.m. Oct. 5, after facilities are dismantled.
To minimize inconvenience for visitors to nearby shops and restaurants, side streets on both the north and south sides of Dosan-daero will remain open.
Additional restrictions will apply Oct. 3 between the southern end of Yeongdong Bridge, Cheongdam Intersection and Hakdong Intersection for the grand parade. The section will not be fully closed. The six lanes on the north side of Dosan-daero will be blocked, while the six lanes on the south side will carry traffic in both directions.
The parade will run an approximately 1-kilometer stretch between Cheongdam Intersection and Dosan Park Intersection.
Some bus routes near the venue will be adjusted during the closures.
yoohong@heraldcorp.com
