Is the museum open on Chuseok day itself?

No. Both the Seoul museum and the Paju site close on Friday 25 September. The festival runs on the Saturday and Sunday that follow, 26 and 27 September, and admission on those days is free.

For almost nothing. Twenty-three of the twenty-five activities are walk-in. The exceptions are both at Paju: the storage-hall talk is booked in advance with fifty places a day, and the children's wrestling takes names on site with thirty.

Does it cost anything?

No. Every activity is free and so is admission to both sites. The only thing nearby that charges is Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is a separate ticket and not part of the festival.

When can I see Cheoyongmu and Ganggangsullae?

On Sunday 27 September at noon in the Seoul front yard, as part of the traditional performance gathering. Both are on the national intangible heritage list, and the Ganggangsullae sessions elsewhere in the programme invite visitors to join the circle.

Can I get a gallery talk over the holiday?

No. Talks are suspended from 24 to 27 September at both sites and resume on 28 September. The festival activities themselves run as normal on the Saturday and Sunday.

Event·National Folk Museum of KoreaEndedFree

A free Chuseok festival at the National Folk Museum, 26 and 27 September

Kang Shin-wookPublished 22 September 2026Updated 21 September 20265 sources checkedEditorial policy 이 글을 한국어로 읽기

Festival details (museum)

The essentials

Dates: 26 – 27 September 2026, 10:00am – 5:00pm both days (Ended)
Where: National Folk Museum, 37 Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and the Paju site, 30 Heyri-ro, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju
Admission: Free — every activity, and admission to both sites
Booking: Twenty-three of the twenty-five activities are walk-in. Only the Paju storage-hall talk is pre-booked (50 a day); the Paju children's wrestling takes names on site (30 a day)
Who it is for: All ages; the wrestling has adult and children's divisions
Language: Everything is run in Korean, but most of it is physical rather than verbal — wrestling, circle dancing, games, craft making — which is why it works for visitors who speak none. The two booked activities are at the Paju site; everything in Seoul is walk-in.
Programme: Twenty-five activities — twenty in Seoul, five at Paju
Closed: Friday 25 September, Chuseok day, at both sites
No gallery talks: 24 to 27 September, at both sites
Enquiries: Seoul 02-3704-3124, Paju 031-580-5844

Written up from National Folk Museum of Korea's own announcement of 14 September 2026. Details change — check the official page before you travel.

This event has ended. The institution's visiting guide is still current. Visiting guide · What's on

The National Folk Museum runs its Chuseok festival across two sites on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, with twenty-five activities — wrestling, circle dancing, harvest games, craft making and four performances — all free and twenty-three of them walk-in. Note that Chuseok day itself, Friday 25 September, is not part of it: both sites are closed that day.

In short

It runs on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, 10:00am to 5:00pm, at both the Seoul museum and the Paju site.
Chuseok day itself, Friday 25 September, is not part of it — both sites are closed that day, which catches people out.
Everything is free, including admission, and twenty-three of the twenty-five activities need no booking at all.
The four performances are split across the two days, so which day you come changes what you see.

Children learning ssireum stances on a sand ring laid out in the forecourt of the National Folk Museum's main building. — The Hangawi ssireum class, held on a sand ring in the main building's forecourt. Both days, 1–2pm, run with the Korea Ssireum Association. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

Chuseok is the Korean harvest festival and the point in the year when most visitors discover that a great deal of the country is closed. The National Folk Museum does the opposite: it opens the weekend after the holiday with twenty-five activities laid on across its Seoul grounds and its Paju site, all free, most of them walk-in, and most of them things you do rather than watch.

The official poster for the National Folk Museum's 2026 Chuseok festival, 'Hangawi All Together'. — The official 'Hangawi All Together' poster. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

Seoul or Paju?

The two sites compared

How much is on: Seoul: twenty activities. Paju: five
Feel: Seoul is outdoors and energetic. Paju is quieter, around the open storage halls
Booking: Seoul: all walk-in. Paju: the storage-hall talk is pre-booked, the children's wrestling takes names on site
Performance: Seoul: four. Paju: one, a play
What else to see: Seoul: the permanent galleries, the relocated Ochon house, the children's museum. Paju: the open storage halls and the conservation laboratory
Best for: Seoul: families with school-age children, and anyone who wants the performances. Paju: a calmer visit with an interest in how collections are kept

What happens in the Seoul grounds

Seoul activities, the same both days

Ssireum wrestling class: Front yard, 1:00–2:00pm. A demonstration then a go yourself. Walk in
Hangawi ssireum tournament: Front yard, 3:00–5:00pm, adult and children's divisions. Walk in
Traditional games relay, last 16: Children's museum yard, 10:30am, 1:00pm and 3:30pm, an hour each. Shuttlecock kicking, stick horses, arrow throwing, spinning tops and rubber-shoe tossing, as a knockout. Every family gets a souvenir. 48 teams a day
Ganggangsullae circle dance: Children's museum yard, 11:30am, 2:00pm and 4:30pm, thirty minutes each. A demonstration, then visitors learn the steps and join the circle
Photo booth: 10:00am–5:00pm, printed on the spot, 400 groups a day

Families competing in a relay of traditional games in the forecourt of the children's museum. — The 'Whole Family Hangawi Traditional Games Relay', last 16. Each round is capped, so arriving early helps. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

Threshing rice with a traditional thresher and winnowing fan in front of the Ochondaek house. — The harvest activity in front of Ochondaek. Real farm tools, threshing the rice and sorting the grain. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

The four performances, and why the day matters

Performance schedule, all in Seoul, free seating

Sat 26, noon, front yard: Suyeong Nongcheongnori, a Busan intangible heritage piece in which an ox leads a village rite for a good harvest
Sat 26, 3:00pm, auditorium: A children's gugak musical based on the Bari shamanic myth
Sun 27, noon, front yard: Traditional performance gathering — the Cheoyongmu mask dance and Ganggangsullae, both national intangible heritage, running into samulnori percussion and drum dance, with audience participation
Sun 27, 2:00pm, front yard: Maeji Nongak from Wonju, a Gangwon intangible heritage percussion troupe that pulls the audience in

A performance of Suyeong Nongcheong Nori, performers dancing in the courtyard holding farm tools. — Suyeong Nongcheong Nori, Busan's intangible heritage, in the main forecourt at noon on Saturday 26 September. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

If you can only come on one day and want the headline heritage performances, make it Sunday: Cheoyongmu and Ganggangsullae are both on the national intangible heritage list and both are participatory rather than presented at a distance.

Making things, and the daily caps

Six craft activities and three harvest activities run in the Seoul lobby across both days, all walk-in, each with a daily quota that ranges from 250 to 500 people. They include a moon lamp with a rabbit modelled on it, soap shaped as songpyeon rice cakes, a bookmark with a rabbit pendant, a keycap keyring, a hand mirror to paint, and a pinwheel. None of them requires Korean beyond following a demonstration.

Finished soaps shaped and coloured like songpyeon rice cakes. — The finished 'colourful soap songpyeon'. Main building lobby, 300 people a day. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

A finished picture frame holding an olgaesimni made from bound rice stalks. — The finished 'olgaesimni frame'. Olgaesimni was the custom of taking the year's first ripened ear and hanging it on a pillar or door to pray for a good harvest. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

A twelve-step diagram showing how to fold a paper yut board. — The folding diagram for 'Getting a Yut Board Ready for the New Year'. Finish it and you are given the yut sticks to take home. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

A shoe charm shaped like a rabbit holding a songpyeon rice cake. — The songpyeon rabbit shoe charm given out at the on-site event. There is a straw rabbit version too. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

The Paju site

Paju activities, the same both days

Storage-hall talk: In front of storage hall 4, 10:30–11:00am and 1:30–2:00pm. Pre-booked, 50 a day
Beat the dokkaebi: Outdoors, 11:00am, 1:30pm and 4:30pm, thirty minutes. Children wrestle a goblin blacksmith or carpenter, with a lucky draw. Names taken on site, 30 a day
The storyteller and the dokkaebi: Lobby, 3:00–4:00pm. A play drawing on Korean myth and folk tale. Walk in
Broom making: Education room 1, 10:10–11:00am and 2:10–3:00pm. Ramie brooms, 50 a day
Folding a yut board: Lobby, 10:00am, 1:00pm and 4:00pm, an hour each

Inside the open storage at the National Folk Museum's Paju site, objects visible on shelves through glass. — Inside the open storage at the Paju site. The storage tour starts in front of store 4. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

Actors on stage in the play 'The Storyteller and the Dokkaebi'. — 'The Storyteller and the Dokkaebi', in the Paju lobby at 3pm. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

Practical notes for the holiday weekend

Closed on Friday 25 September, Chuseok day, at both sites. The festival is Saturday and Sunday only.
No gallery talks from 24 to 27 September. Talk bookings resume on 28 September.
Seoul opens 9:00am to 6:00pm from March to October, with last admission at 5:00pm, and to 8:00pm on Wednesdays. Paju opens 10:00am to 6:00pm, Tuesday to Sunday.
Admission to both sites is free. Gyeongbokgung, next door to the Seoul museum, is ticketed separately.
General admission needs no booking. The Paju children's museum runs timed sessions that do.

The Kummattikali mask dance at India's Onam festival, performers in elaborate masks and grass costumes. — Kummattikali, the masked dance of the Indian Onam festival covered by the 'Happy Onam' exhibition, which runs to 6 December. Photo: National Folk Museum of Korea · Original

Locations differ slightly between the museum's own notices

Three activities are given different locations in the museum's news post and in the attachment to its press release — the photo booth, the games relay and the children's museum bus. All of them are within the Seoul grounds, so follow the signs on the day.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Is the museum open on Chuseok day itself?: No. Both the Seoul museum and the Paju site close on Friday 25 September. The festival runs on the Saturday and Sunday that follow, 26 and 27 September, and admission on those days is free.
Q. Do I need to book?: For almost nothing. Twenty-three of the twenty-five activities are walk-in. The exceptions are both at Paju: the storage-hall talk is booked in advance with fifty places a day, and the children's wrestling takes names on site with thirty.
Q. Does it cost anything?: No. Every activity is free and so is admission to both sites. The only thing nearby that charges is Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is a separate ticket and not part of the festival.
Q. When can I see Cheoyongmu and Ganggangsullae?: On Sunday 27 September at noon in the Seoul front yard, as part of the traditional performance gathering. Both are on the national intangible heritage list, and the Ganggangsullae sessions elsewhere in the programme invite visitors to join the circle.
Q. Can I get a gallery talk over the holiday?: No. Talks are suspended from 24 to 27 September at both sites and resume on 28 September. The festival activities themselves run as normal on the Saturday and Sunday.

Sources

Official notice (Korean)

Written in our own words from the sources above, never copied from them, and every date and price checked against at least two pages. The originals are in Korean. Spotted a mistake? Ask for a correction.