The Lotus Lantern Festival held in Seoul in April 2025 / Captured from Seoul Metropolitan City’s X account
Celebrating Buddha's birthday, May is peppered with a variety of celebrations among Buddhists around the world.
In Korea, the annual Lotus Lantern Festival is one of the major celebrations taking place at temples and cities across the country leading up to Buddha's birthday on May 24, with local parades, lantern displays and community events nationwide.
Visitors in Seoul can encounter colorful lanterns hung at Gwangwhamun Square, Jogye Temple and Bongeun Temple.
A highlight will take place this Saturday and Sunday when the soft glow of lotus lanterns fill the central capital, drawing crowds into a rare blend of spiritual ritual, spectacle and shared festivity.
The Seoul edition remains the largest and most prominent, and here's what you can expect at the festival.
Lanterns are displayed at a Buddhist temple near Jogye Temple in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin
The centerpiece is Saturday evening’s lantern parade, which will take place in the main boulevard between Heunginjimun (Dongdaemun) and Jogye Temple, which covers 3.5 kilometers.
Starting at 7 p.m., more than 200 large-scale lantern installations — from towering pagodas and lotus blossoms to elephant and dragon-shaped installations — will illuminate downtown Seoul.
Lotus, elephants, dragons and fish are the common shapes of lanterns. In Buddhism, lotus and dragon symbolize enlightenment, while elephants mean mental strength. Fish, meanwhile, represents freedom.
Source: Korea Times News
