Seoul will extend the operating hours of major municipal cultural facilities until 9 p.m. to allow citizens to leisurely enjoy cultural activities after finishing work on Fridays. The “Nighttime Culture” project will officially kick off in April, focusing on scheduling nighttime programs.
The first events of the year will take place at 7 p.m. on April 4th at the Seoul Museum of History, the Hanseong Baekje Museum, and the Seoul Library, featuring a variety of content like music performances and book talks. A “Strings and Poppera” performance will be held in the lobby of the Seoul Museum of History, while “Fusion Korean Traditional Music and Korean Traditional B-Boying” will be on at the plaza of the Hanseong Baekje Museum. Seoul Library will host a book talk with psychiatrist Moon Yo-han.
The “Nighttime Culture” initiative, a new iteration of the “Seoul Summer Night Festival” from 2023, combines the words for “night” (ya) and “gold” (geum, meaning Friday), launching with extended operations at eight key facilities, including the Seoul Museum of History, the Seoul Craft Museum, the Seoul Museum of Art, and the Hanseong Baekje Museum, on a bimonthly basis.
This year, the city plans to enhance visitor stay duration and satisfaction by strengthening citizen-participation programs such as quiz events, craft experiences, and photo zones. Seasonal and trend-themed content will also be provided.
Additionally, the “Nighttime Performance Ticket,” part of the “Seoul Summer Night Festival,” will continue this year, allowing citizens to watch outstanding performances in Daehakro every Friday for 10,000 won. Further details on performances will be announced via the Seoul Cultural Portal in the future.
Ma Che-sook, the Seoul City Cultural Head, stated, “We’ve prepared the ‘Nighttime Culture’ program to ensure that citizens can enjoy cultural and artistic activities on Friday nights after work, recharging and revitalizing through culture and arts in their daily lives.”