Yeosu City Center Transforms 15,000㎡ into a Garden Ahead of Island Expo

'Namdo K-Garden Festival' to Be Held from September 11 to October 31

46 Gardens Including Works by Jihae Hwang to Be Showcased

Free Shuttle Service Linking Festival and Expo Venues

The city center of Yeosu is set to be transformed into a large-scale garden that embraces its islands and sea.

On August 9, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City announced that it will host the 'Namdo K-Garden Festival' as a boom-up event to ensure the successful hosting of the 2026 Yeosu World Island Expo. The festival will be held in the Yeomun Culture Street area of Yeoseo-dong, Yeosu, from September 11 to October 31.

The festival will create an urban garden covering approximately 15,000 square meters from Yeomun Culture Street to Migwan Square. Citizens and visitors will be able to stroll through the area and enjoy a variety of gardens and cultural events.

Under the slogan 'Yeosu Night Garden Embracing Islands,' the islands and sea of Yeosu will be reflected in the gardens, seamlessly connecting streets, squares, and alleyways as gardens. Through this initiative, the entire city center will become one integrated green space, envisioned as the 'Garden City in the Forest' brand.

Among the highlight gardens is 'Barbed Tree Reverie' by world-renowned garden designer Hwang Jihae. This work visualizes the red sun, warm temperate forests, and the future of the city and its islands in the form of a garden.

Designer Hwang was awarded a gold medal at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show in the UK, and in 2024, she presented the traditional Namdo garden 'Aeyangdan' at the Korean Cultural Center in New York. At the festival, there will be 46 gardens in total, including 10 artist gardens selected through a public contest, 30 commercial gardens, and 6 participation gardens.

Notably, the commercial gardens and participation gardens will be created as lifestyle gardens in which citizens and merchants can directly participate. Spaces in front of stores, as well as overlooked street corners, will be converted into welcoming gardens where both citizens and visitors can pause and relax.

Even after the event concludes, a citizen-led garden support group will be organized to continuously maintain the gardens. There will also be programs combining gardens and culture. Throughout the festival period, visitors can enjoy flea markets, hands-on gardening experiences, and garden busking, making the festival a place not only to view gardens but to also walk through, experience, and linger in them.

A dedicated tourist flow will also be created linking the 2026 Yeosu World Island Expo with the urban gardens.

The Integrated Metropolitan City plans to operate free shuttle buses along a 15.6 km round-trip route connecting the main Expo venue and the Garden Festival sites. The shuttle buses will run until 10 p.m., allowing Expo visitors to easily tour both the city gardens and local businesses.

The city envisions using this festival as a starting point to develop gardens as a new urban content that links daily life and tourism for citizens.

Moon Miran, head of the Forest Recreation Division at Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City, stated, "The Garden Festival will not only support the successful hosting of the 2026 Yeosu World Island Expo, but also serve as an opportunity to promote the garden culture of the Integrated Metropolitan City. We are preparing to establish romantic gardens that embrace Yeosu’s islands and sea as a new brand for the city."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.