Seoul Jazz Festival: Three Days in Olympic Park

Right as spring winds down, three whole days spill out across Olympic Park. This is Seoul Jazz Festival 2026. Jazz is right there in the name, but the days when this stage played only jazz are long gone. Jazz stays the root, and from there the festival has always reached out to pop, rock, R&B, and indie — that openness is a character it's kept for years. Olympic Park in May is easy on you: the daylight stretches long and the evening breeze is still cool, so it's a good place to let a whole day go by outside. You sit on the grass, half-listening to sound drifting over from somewhere far off, then quietly get up and wander toward whatever stage is pulling at you. That's the kind of place this festival is.

The Name Says Jazz, but the Three Days Reach Further

Look at the lineup and the genres blur together. Herbie Hancock, a master of jazz piano, is on the bill; so are Of Monsters and Men out of Iceland, DK and SEUNGKWAN of SEVENTEEN, Epik High, Jang Beom June and HYUKOH, and Baek Yerin — names with completely different textures, standing side by side on the same list. Sixty acts take the stage in all. People who came for jazz, people who love a big band sound, people who followed a K-pop group — each one fills the same park for their own reason. That breadth, the way it refuses to sit inside a single genre, is exactly what makes you want to walk the three days end to end. At one stage you hold your breath for a single piano note; at the next you sing yourself hoarse. Moments at different temperatures, stitched together inside one evening — that's the fun of it.

Here's your prep checklist.

• Dates: May 22–24, 2026 (three days)
• Where: Olympic Park
• Lineup: Herbie Hancock, Of Monsters and Men, SEVENTEEN's DK X SEUNGKWAN, Epik High, Jang Beom June and HYUKOH, Baek Yerin, and more — 60 acts
• Tickets: 3-day pass ₩470,000 / 1-day pass ₩189,000, booked through Melon Ticket
• Tip: with 60 acts spread across several stages, check ahead for artists whose sets overlap

When Stages Clash, Plan Your Own Route

With 60 acts scattered across several stages, there's always going to be a moment when two sets you want land at the same time. So this festival is less about 'seeing everything' and more about 'building your own order.' When the timetable drops, mark the stages you can't miss first, and for the overlaps, factor in the distance between stages and the walk time, then pick one ahead of time. Your day loosens up a lot that way. Some stages you'll want to reach a little early to grab a spot up close; others are plenty just sitting far back on the grass, letting the sound come to you. Even those walks from one stage to the next turn out, later, to be one of the frames you keep from the day. So don't wear yourself out trying to catch every single thing — leaving a few slots open, to wander wherever your feet take you, is its own kind of plan.

My bag's already packed. You'll be walking a big park for hours, so comfortable shoes and one picnic mat make the whole day easier. The May sun gets pretty sharp, and once it sets the breeze turns cool, so a light layer, some water, and a hat for the sun will see you through all three days. Somewhere between spring and summer, three days of sound are waiting — see you at Olympic Park.