The Seodaemun District Office says it will hold the 2026 edition of the French street music festival Fête de la Musique in Sinchon, northwestern Seoul, on Saturday. The open-air event is co-organized with the Embassy of France in Korea and is scheduled as a one-afternoon program that brings French music to the student and youth-focused neighborhood, where performances typically feature K-pop culture.
This year’s event carries additional diplomatic significance because Seoul and Paris mark the 140th anniversary of establishing formal diplomatic relations in 1886. The Fête de la Musique concept began in France in 1982 as a summer-solstice celebration built around free, decentralized public performances, and it has since expanded to roughly 120 countries worldwide. Seodaemun District adopted the festival model in 2017, and since then Sinchon has become an annual venue for cultural exchange between the two countries.
Organizers say the lineup mixes European and Korean elements, with the main stage set to open at 5:00 p.m., including preliminary performances by local artists.
