Visiting the Seongbuk Book Festival | Enjoying the Autumn Festival from the Outdoor Library to Experiences and Performances

Last weekend, as the autumn wind was gently blowing, I took my child's hand and visited the 2026 Seongbuk Book Festival. Seeing my child's sparkling eyes as he asked, “Mom, where are we going today?” I was full of excitement about what kind of fun memories I could create!

This year's theme for the Book Festival was "Library Network ON, Shining Seongbuk". It is a representative reading culture festival of Seongbuk-gu, created by bringing together the Seongbuk-gu District Library, local universities, and various reading culture institutions. I thought it would be a great opportunity for my child to feel more approachable to books!

📍 Event Information Here!

- Date/Time: Sunday, September 6, 2026, 15:00~20:00

- Location: From the Baramdang Bridge in front of Seongbuk-gu Office ~ Area (for the area around the Bomin-dong Catholic Church, you can be seen easily by walking about 5 minutes towards the Seongbukcheon from Exit 3 at Seoul National University Station! It was nice and easy for a child to hold hands and go there.)

Upon arriving at Seongbukcheon Stream, I could strongly feel the autumn atmosphere. We took wonderful souvenir photos with my child, and could casually share stories while looking at the nearby Donam-dong Catholic Church, like, "When I was little, I used to play hide-and-seek there..." Of course, my child was only focused on 'hide-and-seek'! Haha.

🎨 Exciting Experience Parade that made children's eyes widen!

This Book Festival was truly full of various experience booths that made my child's eyes widen. a total of 18 booths operated, and it felt like they prepared for everything a child might like—from the Seongbuk-gu District Library Network team to local universities and related institutions. The best thing is to go early with your child and not miss anything! Mom has to move quickly!

Thanks to arriving slightly before the start time of the event at 3 o'clock, we were able to queue up first for the very popular Cotton Candy Dart at Saemae Malmungangmulgo, the line, couldn't be broken. Mom even tried it, but, hmm... it was harder than expected? My son was much better than Mom, bursting out four balloons and getting candies! As expected of our son!

Next, we experienced Retro Coding at Geulbit Library and played Omok (Korean board game) with AlphaGo AI,, and wow! The AI's response speed was so fast that I thought Mom was going to lose! Haha. The popular rice cake making experience... unfortunately, next time! (The line was too long, so Mom's energy... chuckle)

We learned about the Seongbuk-gu children's book on children's picture, took a quiz, did a draw-off, chose pretty bookmarks, and even a roulette for snacks! Seeing all the things my child had tucked in their hands made my heart feel so proud. We also took a quiz and got snacks by drawing a draw-off at the Bookstore at Bumonseomsu-gil Library booth.

Personally, I liked the 'Find My Favorite Book and Make Fragrant Bookmark' session at the Haesong University Literature Departmental Archive Booth the most. Without realizing it, I even wrote a passage from Author Park Wanwan-seo's 'Dall right of the dream', I was I'm. When my child saw my bookmark and asked, "Mom, I want to escape from the real world and go to a new world?" I was... I was flustered. Haha!

Environment quiz and taking another candy drawoff! Children gained energy with candy, and I gained energy with children's laughter! What was especially good was, booths that were popular or took a long time, had the waiting list written down, and we could be notified by phone when the turn came. Thanks to this, we didn't have to just blindly wait with my child's hands, but could enjoy other experiences while being efficient. Such thoughtful consideration is truly the best!

At the Arirang Library Booth, we made our own pouch and put pretty snacks inside. At the Dongdeok Yeoda Booth, we made a unique book clicker keycap, creating together with my child, laughing and talking excitedly without realizing the time passing.

✨ Double the Fun with Stamp Tour!

And with the cute hat we received from the stamp rally paper at the operating booth, the excitement of children exploded even more! By visiting 5 spots out of the experience booths and participation exhibitions and collecting stamps...