Confirmed So Far: The Dates You Can Plan Around

Walk past a department store in Seoul at the end of October and you can already catch a crew on a lift, wiring garlands across the facade. The city's Christmas has been creeping earlier every year, and this season the first markets open before Halloween is over. This guide lists what has actually been announced and keeps everything else clearly marked as last year's schedule. It is updated at the same address as new dates come out. Last update: October 29, 2026.

These are the dates confirmed by the organizers or by several reports so far:

• Seoul Land Christmas 365 Town market (Gwacheon): already open since October 17, with a playful Halloween-meets-Christmas setup for now.
• Shinsegae Gangnam Christmas market: opens on the basement level on October 30, about a week earlier than last year.
• The Hyundai Seoul Christmas Village (Yeouido): opens November 10. The first round of advance booking opens November 5 in the store's app, The Hyundai Hi.
• Lotte Town Christmas Market (Jamsil): returns in November. The exact dates have not been released yet.
• Lotte Town Light (Myeongdong): Lotte's new media facade on its Young Plaza building, 77 meters wide and 21 meters tall, shows a teaser film in November and starts its full program in December.
• Seoul Winter Festival (Gwanghwamun, Cheonggyecheon and more): the city's winter festival runs for 52 days, from December 11, 2026 to January 31, 2027. Gwanghwamun Market and the Seoul Light Gwanghwamun media facade run from December 11 to January 10, the Seoul Lantern Festival on Cheonggyecheon from December 11 to January 31, and the Seoul Plaza ice rink opens on December 18. Daily hours are still to come.
• Christmas Day: Friday, December 25, a public holiday in Korea, which makes this year's Christmas a long weekend.

Lotte has also started the season online. On October 27 it released its Christmas film for this year, "DREAM LIGHT GARDEN: Christmas in LOTTE TOWN," a snowy garden of glasshouses, lanterns and a heart-covered tree that sets the theme for its stores in Myeongdong and Jamsil.

Still to Be Announced: Last Year's Dates as a Guide

Most of Seoul's big Christmas sights have not published this year's schedule yet. Until they do, last year's dates are the best guide, because these events tend to return to the same slot each winter. Treat every date below as a 2025 reference, not a promise. Each one will be replaced here when this year's dates are announced.

• Shinsegae Square (Shinsegae main store, Myeongdong): November 7, 2025 to January 31, 2026, from 5 p.m. to midnight.
• Lotte Town Christmas Market (Jamsil): November 20, 2025 to January 4, 2026, from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Starfield Library tree (COEX, Samseong): November 13, 2025 to January 31, 2026.
• Seoul Plaza Christmas tree (City Hall): November 17, 2025 to January 1, 2026.
• Lotte World winter festival: November 22, 2025 to March 2, 2026.
• Everland Christmas Fantasy: November 28 to December 31, 2025.
• Gwangbok-ro Winter Light Tree Festival (Busan): December 5, 2025 to February 22, 2026.

The pattern is easy to read. Department store facades and indoor trees go up in the first half of November, the Jamsil market follows around the third week, and the city's own programs around Gwanghwamun and Cheonggyecheon start in December, on December 11 this year. If your trip falls in late November, you will catch the stores and malls. If it falls after mid-December, you can see almost everything in one trip, including the lanterns covered in our Seoul Lantern Festival guide.

As for Christmas pop-ups in Seongsu and Hongdae, none had been officially announced as of late October. Brands usually reveal them closer to the season, and this list will add them once they are confirmed.

Myeongdong After Dark: Two Facades, One Evening

Myeongdong is where Seoul's Christmas feels biggest, because two department stores face each other across a few blocks and both treat their buildings as screens. Shinsegae's main store wraps its historic building in Shinsegae Square, a giant curved media facade that becomes one of the most photographed Christmas scenes in the city each winter. Last year's film ran on a loop every evening from early November, and the crowd on the opposite pavement is part of the show: phones up, waiting for the next cycle.

This year, Lotte answers from across the street. Its new Lotte Town Light covers the outside of the Young Plaza building with a high-resolution LED screen, and Lotte plans to link it with Christmas decorations on its main building and Avenuel next door. The teaser is due in November and the full Christmas program in December, so by mid-December you should be able to see both facades in one short walk.

A simple route works well. Start at Hoehyeon Station, Exit 7, and watch Shinsegae Square from across the road. Walk ten minutes toward Euljiro to the Lotte buildings, then continue to Myeongdong Cathedral, where the courtyard trees glow after dark. Come back the same way, or walk about 15 minutes north to Cheonggyecheon. From December 11, when the lantern festival opens, that stream walk is the best way to end the night.

Go on a weekday if you can, and arrive just after dark, around 5:30 p.m. in December. The first hour of the evening is the calmest, and the facades look sharper against a deep blue sky than a fully black one.

The Department Store Markets: Gangnam, Yeouido and Jamsil

Three markets shape the season, and each has a different feel.

Shinsegae Gangnam is the indoor, easy one. The market runs through the basement level that links the store's food hall and dessert floor, close to the Express Bus Terminal station. Last year it turned the corridor into a "tree road" of decorations and ornament shops, and it ran until December 30. With an October 30 opening this year, it is the first place in Seoul where you can buy ornaments and walk among trees, and you don't have to worry about the weather.

The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido builds a full Christmas village on its fifth floor, and entry is by reservation. It opens November 10, and the first booking round on November 5 is the one to watch, because last year's first round sold out in about 30 minutes. Our guide to The Hyundai Seoul's Christmas Village covers the village in detail, including how booking works.

Lotte Town Christmas Market in Jamsil is the outdoor, European-style one. Last year it filled the lawn plaza beside Lotte World Tower with about 50 wooden stalls, a 13-meter tree, a two-story carousel and a big dining tent, and staged artificial snow showers several times a day. Entry was free until 4 p.m., and evening entry was ticketed. It returns in November this year. Check Lotte's notice for the dates and the evening ticket rules before you go.

Theme Parks, Hotel Cakes and a Night in Busan

Theme parks. Lotte World and Everland both switch to Christmas after their autumn events. Lotte World's autumn festival runs until November 15 this year, and last year its winter season began on November 22 with a daily Christmas parade. Everland's Christmas Fantasy ran from November 28 to December 31 last year. Neither park has announced this year's dates yet, so check their official sites before you buy tickets. Seoul Land in Gwacheon is already in the mood: its Christmas 365 Town market opened on October 17.

Hotel Christmas cakes. In Seoul, booking a hotel Christmas cake is a small seasonal tradition of its own. The big hotels' bakeries reveal their festive cakes from late October into November, and some have already opened pre-orders for this year. Prices for the showpiece cakes usually start around 100,000 won and can reach several hundred thousand won for the most elaborate limited editions. Pickup is mostly in the two weeks before Christmas. If a cake is on your list, book in November. The popular designs often sell out before December.

Beyond Seoul. Busan has its own Christmas street. The Gwangbok-ro Winter Light Tree Festival in Jung-gu runs along the shopping street near Nampo Station. Last year it ran from December 5 to February 22, with light arches over the road and a tall tree at the center. This year's dates have not been announced yet. If you are pairing Seoul with Busan, it is an easy evening walk from your first dinner at the fish markets of Nampo.

Bookings, Queues and Christmas Day Itself

What needs a booking. The Hyundai Seoul's Christmas Village is the main one: book in the app as soon as each round opens, and keep an eye out for later rounds and on-site waitlists if you miss the first. Lotte's Jamsil market was free by day and ticketed in the evening last year. The facades, Seoul Plaza tree, Gwanghwamun Market and lantern festival need no booking at all.

Beating the wait. Weekday afternoons are the quietest time for any market. Weekends in December are the busiest, above all the last weekend before Christmas. Go to the free outdoor sights after dark, and do the indoor markets in the afternoon, when the light outside is gone by five anyway. Eat before you join a long line, because the dining tents fill up quickly at dinnertime.

Christmas Day. December 25 is a public holiday in Korea, and this year it falls on a Friday. Department stores and malls are normally open, and palaces such as Gyeongbokgung, as well as the National Museum of Korea, are open too. For Korean couples and friends, Christmas Eve is a night out, so restaurants and cafes fill up. Last year, the government's crowd forecast put Myeongdong and the area around Hongik University Station at the top of the list for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Book dinner a week or more ahead, and use the subway rather than taxis on the evening of the 24th.

The cold. December evenings in Seoul often drop below freezing, and facade-watching means standing still, so dress in layers and keep a hot pack in your pocket. Our guide to Christmas in Korea explains why the season feels the way it does here.