One of the best festivals of the year is the Buddha Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul. It is usually a day of learning to make Lotus Lanterns, meeting from Buddhists from around Asia and lots of good chances to take pictures. For the past few years, I have been too busy to attend due to tutoring or other things on the go. This year I wanted to go and fully experience the festival.
During the day, the streets are busy with people. Most of the people were Westerners, and most of them would have to be English teachers here in Korea. The center of the festival is Jogyesa in Seoul. It is the Buddhist center of the city, and it is stunning at night with the hundreds and maybe even thousands of lighted lanterns.
At night there is a parade of lights stretching from Dongdaemun to Jogyesa. The route is about 10km. In the parade, people walking down the street holding Lanterns, or following lightened floats. People are chanting and playing traditional Korean Music. Along the roads are a lot of people taking pictures and enjoying the festival.
At the Temple, the lights are spectacular, and I couldn’t help but take a lot of pictures. The night, with the lanterns, is fantastic. I had to leave, but I took WAY too many pictures.