The "2026 Spring Royal Culture Festival," held at Seoul's five grand palaces and Jongmyo Shrine from April 24 to May 3, drew a record 720,000 visitors. However, the year-on-year growth rate fell sharply to just over 3%, a disappointing figure compared with previous years.
The Korea Heritage Agency, an affiliate of the Korea Heritage Service led by President Lee Gui-young, said Wednesday that 725,281 domestic and international visitors attended this spring's festival, up 3.8% from a year earlier. The figure marks the highest turnout since the spring edition of the festival began.
The growth rate, however, fell significantly. The year-on-year growth rate for the 2025 Spring Royal Culture Festival was 16.2%. As a result, reaching this year's combined spring and autumn visitor target of 1.65 million is expected to be difficult. Last year, 1.37 million people attended, and the goal for this year was to increase that figure by 20%.
Among this spring's total visitors, foreign attendees numbered 183,427, an increase of about 33%, or roughly 45,000, compared with last spring's festival. To broaden participation opportunities for global visitors this year, organizers opened opening ceremony seats — previously reserved mainly for domestic attendees — to foreigners and sold dedicated tickets for them for the first time.
According to the Korea Heritage Agency, all pre-booked sessions among the 24 programs at the spring festival sold out. Changdeokgung's "Awakening the Morning Palace" sold out early across all 12 sessions over six days, while Changgyeonggung's "Yeongchunheon, a Spring Study" sold out shortly after pre-registration opened, leading to long on-site waiting lines. "The Emperor's Table," a program tailored for foreign visitors and held at Jungmyeongjeon in Deoksugung, sold out completely, reflecting strong interest in royal cuisine culture.
In addition, 70 volunteer activists known as "Gung-idungi" engaged with both domestic and foreign visitors throughout the festival venues. The K-Heritage (Goods) Market featured national intangible heritage practitioners, small businesses and micro-enterprises, serving as a venue for selling traditional crafts and promoting cultural products.
Meanwhile, the "2026 Autumn Royal Culture Festival" is scheduled to take place from October 7 to 11 at Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung and Jongmyo. The autumn festival will feature a total of 17 programs, including ▲ Joseon Spatial Aesthetics and ▲ Kyujanggak Academy. An online participation program, ▲ Everyone's Genre Painting 2026, will also be offered, allowing people to experience royal culture online, such as by creating Joseon-era characters.
