The city of Goyang in Gyeonggi Province will hold the "2026 Goyang National Heritage Night Tour - Haengju Is Art" around Haengjusanseong Fortress this September. Visitors walk through the heritage site after sunset and watch art performances along the way. A site that opened by day and closed in the evening will receive visitors at night.
Haengjusanseong is an earthen fortress built from packed soil. Brushing the wall with a palm leaves dry soil on the hand, and on the day after rain the smell of wet earth and grass roots rises to the ridge. The path along the spine of Deogyangsan Mountain becomes hard to see underfoot once the sun goes down. The Han River flows below, and the noise of the road across the water sits on top of the low sound of the current.
This is where soldiers led by Gwon Yul and the people of this hill held off Japanese forces in 1593. The terrain, with the river at their backs and a steep slope to look up, made that defense possible. For a long time that battle was read in the letters on information boards during daytime visits. The night tour turns the same story into steps taken in the dark.
The decision to admit people at night puts a burden on the heritage site. Installing lighting equipment means disturbing the ground, and walls built of earth wear down easily under heavy foot traffic. Put preservation first alone and the site remains only in photographs, put use first alone and there is less left to pass on. How many visitors to admit and how far to open the walking route remain practical tasks for the city of Goyang.
National heritage night tours have been held in cities across the country. Goyang put "art" in its subtitle. It reads as an intention to use the walls, the river and the darkness as material for the stage, rather than stopping at placing performances beside the heritage site.
Haengjusanseong is also a hill that has served as a walking trail for nearby residents. The night event enters that part of their daily hours.
It is better to wear shoes for climbing up and down a slope of mixed earth and stone.
At Haengjusanseong after sunset, the outline of the wall remains only as a line meeting the sky. Walking along that line, the earth crumbles underfoot with a sound. In September, that sound can be heard at the foot of Deogyangsan Mountain.
Event Information
Date: September 2026
Venue: Haengjusanseong Fortress area (Goyang, Gyeonggi Province)
Host: City of Goyang
