The 2023 Seoul Lantern Festival, Everything You Need to Know

What is the Seoul Lantern Festival?

The Seoul Lantern Festival is one of our favorite events of the year. Every winter since 2009, the Cheonggyecheon Stream has hosted a myriad of lanterns to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another. The stream is lined with a display of beautiful colorful lanterns, keeping with the theme of the year. This year, the theme is “Sleepless Seoul Night, White Night in Seoul,” with white being the main color for this year’s festival.

Last year, the Lantern Festival was accompanied by the first Gwanghwamun Square Market, which is a Christmas Market composed of local small businesses. There were lots of cute handmade goods and holiday treats to snack on, so it will be really exciting to see what this year’s market will hold.

Thanks to the resounding success of last year’s festival, this year’s festivities have been folded into the 2023 Seoul Winta Festival which includes projection light shows, New Year’s Eve celebrations and two Christmas Markets.

Where is the Seoul Lantern Festival?

To celebrate it’s 15th year, the Seoul Lantern Festival will be held on a much larger scale this year, encompassing Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon Stream and Seoul Plaza (Seoul Square). While Gwanghwamun and Cheonggyecheon are within walking distance, you want to hop on a bus to get to Seoul Plaza.

• Gwanghwamun Square
  • Sejong-daero 175 (세종대로 175)
• Cheonggyecheon Stream
  • Taepyeongro 1ga 1 (태평로1가 1)
• Seoul Plaza
  • Euljiro 12 (을지로 12)

When is the Seoul Lantern Festival?

The Lantern Festival starts on December 15th this year and is scheduled to last until January 21 of the new year. The lanterns will be lit from 6 PM to 10 PM.

Tips for the Seoul Lantern Festival

Dress Warm

The lanterns are all viewable during the day, but you’ll really want to see them at night when they’re actually lit. And with winter in full swing, you’ll want to be dressed warm especially during the icy moth of January. Padding, scarves, gloves and heat tech undergarments are all heavily encouraged, especially if you’re unaccustomed to cold weather.

Go on a Weekday

Due to the easily accessible location of the festival, expect crowds no matter the day. However, we do recommend going on weekday as the crowds tend to be a bit more manageable. The weekends tend to draw larger groups of friends and families, so it can be a bit more chaotic.

Don’t Miss the Gwanghwamun Square Market

The Gwanghwamun Square Market has a lot of interesting booths with handmade goods and snacks from local small businesses. This year, the market will be split into two “seasons” to allow for more of a variety in vendors. Season 1 will be from December 15th – 31st and Season 2 will be from January 1st – 21st. Last year, the wait to get in was routinely 1 hour long. But it’s worth the wait to go in and look around. Uyu got a very nice winter hat out of it.

Go Ice Skating at Seoul Plaza

As part of the 2023 Seoul Winta Festival, Seoul Plaza will be converted into a public ice skating rink. Helmet and skate rentals are 1,000 KRW per person (0.80 USD), so there’s really no reason not to go. Make sure to visit the kiosk by the rink to reserve your time slot.