Seoul Lantern Festival 2016
In a blink of an eye, it is time that we wave goodbye to October while spreading our arms to welcome the month of November, which also marks the final weeks of autumn. And like any other year, there will be a Lantern Festival held at Cheongyecheon Stream annually where one could see hundreds and thousands of lanterns set up along the stream matching with different themes every year, lighting up the calm and quiet stream. So from the 4th of November to the 20th of November, whenever you visit the stream in the centre of the city you will be greeted with the warmth and beauty of the lantern to guide you through the colder winter nights.
From 5pm to 11pm is the best time to go to enjoy the bright lights.A larger scale of lanterns will be displayed compared to last year and stretching out as far as 1.2km up to Supyogyo Bridge, with plenty of new designs and artsy pieces to feel different from the years before.
This year, other than just looking at lanterns, the organizers have also organized hanging lantern activities where anyone including Koreans and foreigners can get to feel apart of the show. If you wish to be a part of this, You can do any of the following activities like the lantern making contest, hanging a wish lantern (requires registration in advance), floating a wish lantern (this too needs to be registered in advance and you will need to pay for it at the event) and then lastly you have the new year’s wish paper which also needs to be bought to participate in it. So though these events mostly require payment of some form, enjoying the lanterns just as a spectator is free. You are welcome to walk up and down the stream as much as you wish. Also (really) lastly but not in the least , there will be a food market nearby, make sure to go there before or after you look at the lanterns. Fill yourself with either some warm tea or food.
Ever since the first successful event which was held back in year 2009 that managed to captured the hearts of approximately 520 thousand visitors, Seoul has then decided to make it a yearly event and definitely again able to charm and attracts a growing number of crowds each year. According to the Seoul government’s website, there were approximately 2.5 million visitors just in the year 2013.
With the larger scale of lanterns, accompanied by the first Wish Tree event, hopefully it will bring more attention to even more visitors around the world this year. So make sure to wrap up before you head out to the Cheongycheon stream and take some wonderful pictures for good memories and show friends the colour of winter in Seoul.
