Seoul Silver Grass Festival marks 25th year at former landfill park
Summary
The 25th Seoul Silver Grass Festival will open Saturday at Haneul Park in western Seoul and run through Oct. 23. The festival marks the site’s transformation from Nanjido landfill into an ecological park and will operate daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Its program includes sensory gardens, lighting shows, performances, upcycling activities and hands-on workshops.
Key Facts
- Haneul Park reopened as part of World Cup Park in 2002 after Nanjido served as Seoul’s landfill until 1993.
- The festival covers about 192,000 square meters and features four gardens, including a nighttime photo zone illuminating a silver grass horse sculpture.
- Lighting shows combining music and light will run every 30 minutes from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
- A market featuring 16 upcycling and zero-waste sellers will operate alongside recycling workshops.
- Visitors can make silver grass bouquets and search for yago, a parasitic plant that grows on silver grass roots, from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
A promotional poster for the 25th Seoul Silver Grass Festival / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
The 25th Seoul Silver Grass Festival will open this Saturday at Haneul Park in western Seoul and run through Oct. 23 under the theme “Silver Grass, Comfort From Nature.”
Haneul Park, part of World Cup Park in Mapo District, sits on Nanjido, a former island that served as Seoul’s landfill until 1993. After ecological restoration, the site reopened as World Cup Park in 2002, the same year the festival was launched. The park’s hilltop is covered in silver grass, which turns silvery white each autumn.
The festival will run daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. across about 192,000 square meters.
Its centerpiece is a series of four gardens designed to engage the senses. Visitors can leave wishes and messages in one, read books at a camping-style rest area in another and relax among red summer cypress and silver grass in a third. At night, a fourth garden will light up an existing silver grass horse sculpture as a photo zone.
Lighting shows combining light and music will run every 30 minutes from 7 to 8:30 p.m. An opening ceremony is set for 6 p.m. Saturday.
Busking performances spanning ballad, jazz, K-pop and band music will be held on the central stage from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Photo zones include balloon art of Haechi, a mythical lion-like creature that serves as Seoul’s official mascot, and its companion characters.
A market with 16 upcycling and zero-waste sellers will run from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., alongside recycling workshops. Hands-on programs from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. include making bouquets from silver grass and searching for yago, a parasitic plant that grows on silver grass roots.
Reservations for programs are currently open on a first-come, first-served basis through the city’s Garden City Seoul website.
“We hope visitors will regain a sense of ease in their daily lives with family, friends and loved ones in the silver grass fields of Haneul Park and feel the comfort nature offers,” the head of the city’s western parks office said.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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