Last weekend Sara and I found ourselves at Seoul's annual lantern festival. Billed as a short walk along a stream on which giant paper lanterns floated, it sounded like a great way to spend a night in the capital. I don't know why we didn't take into consideration the other 25 million people wanting to see the lanterns, but we didn't. For over an hour and a half we walked in line, smashed body to body nearly the whole time, trying to catch a glimpse, take a picture, of some admittedly impressive paper lanterns. With half of Seoul's population behind me and the other half in front of me, I walked the steps of the Cheonggyecheon Stream, trying to create a little bit of space for me and my camera.
Would I recommend the lantern festival? Absolutely. While it's not a once in a lifetime opportunity to see paper lanterns in Korea, it's still rare enough that if you're anywhere near the city stopping by isn't a bad idea. If not for the paper lanterns, than to be that close to so many people. While the overcrowding is often a pain, there is an energy that's created by having that many people in one place. The city feels vibrant and alive and in turn, so do you. People are excited. It's not like the massive throngs at Costco trying to do permanent damage to your ankles with their carts, people have chosen to come here because they want to see something. There's an excitement as people walk around corners and new lanterns come into view. The energy that comes from the people and the city at an event like this is something worth being a part of.
If you're looking for more information, check out the Visit Korea site.
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| Because there were so many people I didn't spend much time reading any of the signs about what these lanterns represent. The internet tells me the theme of the show is the Baekje Dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea alongside the Shilla and Goguryeo. |
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| Not a good picture, but a decent representation of how many freaking people there were. This line wrapped around five or six times and then continued for the entire stream-side walk. We were in line for probably an hour and a half, and we bailed 60% of the way through. |
Our trip to Seoul was awesome. We ate, we wandered, the weather was decent. A great birthday weekend in the big city.
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