Seoul Lantern Festival 2026: Dates, Route and Quieter Hours

The Seoul Lantern Festival is a free night festival where huge lantern sculptures float along Cheonggyecheon every winter. The city and the Seoul Tourism Organization run it, and it’s bundled into the year-end Seoul Winter Festival (called Seoul Winter Festa until last year).

In 2026 it runs from December 11 to January 31, 2027, from Cheonggye Plaza to Samil Bridge, and the start point is closest to Exit 5 of Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5.

When is the 2026 Seoul Lantern Festival?

From Friday, December 11 to Sunday, January 31, 2027. The lantern dates are on the program page of the official Seoul Winter Festival site, and the Seoul festival portal gives the same dates for the Winter Festival as a whole. The poster isn’t ready yet and there’s no press release, so the dates could still shift. For the bigger picture, see Seoul Winter Festival.

It starts a day earlier than last year and runs almost two weeks longer. Last year it was due to end on January 4 and was extended to January 18 because people liked it, while this year it’s planned through the end of January from the start. The venue is listed only as Cheonggye Plaza to Samil Bridge, so it’s not clear yet whether the Uicheon section that ran alongside last year will come back.

The dates and themes for the past two years are from Seoul city’s news pages, and this year’s dates are from the official site. This year they plan to mix media art into traditional hanji paper lanterns for the displays and activities. In 2024 the festival overlapped with the national mourning period after the Jeju Air crash, so events were scaled back and only the lights stayed on.

Where and when did it run last year?

The Cheonggyecheon section covers about 1.2 km from Cheonggye Plaza to Samil Bridge, split into four zones (Seoul city). You walk downstream from the plaza, which means heading east.

The lights came on at 6 pm. For the closing time I compared several Seoul city notices: some said 10 pm and some said 11 pm. There was also a notice about hours changing during the extension, so if you plan to be there after 9 pm, check this year’s notice first.

The most talked-about pieces last year were a floating Magikarp (a Pokemon Korea collaboration), a 5 m Shin Ramyun sculpture, Haechi and whale figures, and a big hot-air-balloon installation between Jangtong Bridge and Samil Bridge. Under Gwanggyo Bridge there was also a media art show called “Cheonggye Soul Ocean.”

The Uicheon section

Uicheon in Gangbuk-gu also had about 50 lanterns along roughly 350 m near Ui Bridge. That one ended first, on January 4. It’s near Ssangmun Station on Line 4, and there was an indoor spot called Jaegajeong by the water where you could warm up for a bit (Seoul city). The official schedule for this year lists only Cheonggyecheon so far.

What time is least crowded?

Seoul city’s guide put weekend evenings from 7 to 9 pm as the busiest, with weekday evenings from 6 to 7 pm and the hours after 9 pm much quieter.

Last year’s subway records show that on Wednesday, December 17, a weekday during the festival, the number of people getting off at Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5 between 6 and 7 pm was about double a normal November Wednesday. Between 9 and 10 pm that night, the number boarding there also jumped well above the usual (Seoul Metro data).

Gwanghwamun Station also carries Gwanghwamun Market visitors, so not all of those are lantern people. Still, it’s clear that on a weekday the festival crowd lands on top of the commute. On a weekday, go in after 7 pm, and for the trip back, walk to Jonggak or Euljiro 1-ga instead of Gwanghwamun and you’ll get jostled a lot less.

Field routing, bottleneck points, and pacing

Navigating the 1.2-kilometer sunken corridor of Cheonggyecheon requires careful pacing and thermal preparation.

Displays illuminate nightly from 18:00 to 22:00 (Seoul Lantern Festival visiting guide). Arrive by 19:30 to comfortably complete the one-way walk and interactive pavilions before cutoff. Interactive craft stations—such as traditional hanji paper lantern assembly—cost 5,000 to 10,000 won, and carrying disposable hot packs (hot-pack) purchased from nearby convenience stores is essential against the wind funneling along the water.

To avoid crowd friction along narrow stone walkways, optimize your vantage point (Cheonggyecheon viewing strategies). The floating wish-lantern boat launch line generates severe pedestrian bottlenecks during peak hours. Walking along the northern bank between Jonggak and Jongno 3-ga provides cleaner, unobstructed sightlines across the central displays with fewer tree branches in your frame.

Weekend crowds surge heavily with local families and tour groups (winter festival crowd analysis); target Tuesday through Thursday evenings for a significantly smoother pace. If browsing adjacent Gwanghwamun Market vendor stalls, factor in 20- to 30-minute queue times for hot winter snacks like eomuk and roasted chestnuts. Sub-zero January visits demand a full thermal setup: heavy padded coat, fleece scarf, gloves, and thermal base layers.

A steady, unhurried walk covering the full installation from Cheonggye Plaza to Samil Bridge takes roughly 35 to 45 minutes (Seoul official field survey). For accessible transit (barrier-free route access), visitors with strollers or wheelchairs can access stream-level paths via gradual ramps at Mojeon Bridge and Gwangtong Bridge, or the elevator terminal located at Samil Bridge.

Reality check

Cheonggyecheon sits below street level and the wind runs straight through it. Seoul’s own guide told people to bundle up for the wind, and with 1.2 km of walking, wear comfortable shoes too.

Leave the car at home. The Seoul Metropolitan Government strongly recommends public transit because central Jongno parking is virtually impossible on winter weekends with market and ice rink crowds. Local transit tip: while Gwanghwamun Station is the most obvious gateway, Jonggak Station (Line 1, Exit 5) and Euljiro 3-ga Station (Lines 2/3, Exit 1) offer far less crowded direct walking routes to the lantern displays along Cheonggyecheon stream.

Samil Bridge, the far end, is 1.2 km from where you started. If you walk back to Gwanghwamun Station you’re doing the lanterns a second time, so pick your station on a map app beforehand.

For year-end markets, see Seoul Christmas markets. More events are in festivals and events.