Seoul Lantern Festival facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Seoul Lantern Festival |
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Seoul Lantern Festival
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| Genre | Exhibition |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | Seoul |
| Years active | 15 |
| Inaugurated | 2009 |
| Most recent | 19 December 2022 – 24 January 2023 |
| Attendance | 1.3 million (2022) |
| Patron(s) | Seoul Tourism Organization |
The Seoul Lantern Festival is a super cool event that lights up Seoul, South Korea, every winter! Imagine a city glowing with beautiful lanterns and amazing outdoor light displays. You can also find a fun Christmas market and try out different activities.
For many years, this festival happened for about two weeks in November along the Cheonggyecheon stream. But since 2022, it moved to Gwanghwamun Plaza and now lasts for over a month in December.
A Bright History
The Seoul Lantern Festival first began in 2009. For its first few years, the festival lasted about two weeks, starting on the first Friday of November. It would fill downtown Seoul with sparkling lights, making the city glow at night as winter began. People could see all sorts of lanterns stretching from Cheonggye Plaza all the way to Supyo Bridge, which is about 1.2 kilometers long.
Festival Themes Over the Years
The Seoul Lantern Festival always has new and exciting themes each year. Let's look at some of them!
2009: The First Festival
The very first Seoul Lantern Festival in 2009 lasted for five days. It celebrated "Visit Korea Year 2010 to 2012." The festival had four main themes, all connected to the Korean word 'ryu':
- Theme 1: Gyoryu zone (Exchange zone)
- Theme 2: Wonryu zone (Headwaters zone)
- Theme 3: Hanryu zone (Korean wave zone)
- Theme 4: Ilryu zone (First-class zone)
2010: Growing Bigger
The second Seoul Lantern Festival in 2010 was a huge success! About 2.3 million people visited, including around 370,000 tourists from other countries. The festival featured amazing paper lanterns from 24 different countries, like Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and New Zealand. It was planned for 10 days, but so many people loved it that the organizers added seven more days!
- Theme: Seoul, the forest of the glimmer of hope.
2011: Stories Told with Light
In 2011, the festival's main theme was "The History of Seoul by Lanterns." Lantern art was used to tell the story of Korea, from the old Joseon Dynasty all the way to modern times. There were even special stories just for children!
- Theme 1: History of Korea
- Theme 2: Memory of the childhood
- Theme 3: Characters for children
2012: Ancestors and History
The theme for 2012 was "The Roots of Seoul, the Life of Ancestors." This festival also lasted 17 days, with lanterns lighting up from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The displays stretched over 1.5 kilometers and included more than 35,000 lights from different parts of Korea and other countries like Japan and Singapore.
- Theme 1: Fortress Wall of Seoul
- Theme 2: The story of ancestors who led Joseon for about 200 years
- Theme 3: Life of the people of Joseon
- Theme 4: Opened Seoul
2013: A Millennial Dream
The fifth Seoul Lantern Festival in 2013 had the main theme "Millennial dream of Hanseong Baekje." Visitors could try making hanji lanterns, watch musical shows, and enjoy other fun events. A modern lantern shaped like a falcon represented the brave Baekje kingdom, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
- Theme 1: 500 years of Hanseong Baekje
- Theme 2: Woongjin(Gongju) Baekje Period
- Theme 3: Buyeo Baekje Period
- Theme 4: The harmony, spirit of Baekje
2014: New Name, More Lights
In 2014, the festival's Korean name changed to the Seoul Bitchorong Festival, but the English name stayed the same. This change happened because the festival now included both traditional lanterns and modern lights like LEDs. It stretched about 1.2 kilometers and showed off around 30,000 light bulbs and 300 lanterns. A special "wish tree" at Kwangtong Bridge was 8 meters tall and held wishes from people in Seoul and visitors. Over 3.14 million people enjoyed the festival in 2014, which was a 25% increase from the year before!
- Theme 1: Wonderful world heritage of Seoul
- Theme 2: Invitation from local government and foreign country
- Theme 3: Famous characters
- Theme 4: Light Arts
2015: Amazing Heritage
The 2015 festival continued to showcase incredible light art and themes:
- Theme 1: Amazing World heritage in Seoul
- Theme 2: From local governments and overseas invitation
- Theme 3: Corporation and the character
- Theme 4: Light Art author show
2022: A Sea of Light
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The 2022 festival brought new and exciting themes to life:
- Theme 1: Sea of courage
- Theme 2: The light of Companionship
- Theme 3: Garden of Light
- Theme 4: My Soul Seoul
Where to Find the Festival
The Seoul Lantern Festival takes place at:
- Gwanghwamun Square
- Cheonggye Plaza and Cheonggyecheon Stream
- Seoul Plaza
Getting There by Subway
It's easy to get to the festival using Seoul's subway system:
- Line 1 and 2: City Hall Station, use exit 4 or 5
- Line 5: Gwanghwamun Station, use exit 5 or 9
- Line 1: Jonggak Station, use exit 1, 5, or 6
- Line 2: Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station, use exit 1-1
See also
In Spanish: Festival de la Linterna de Seúl para niños
