November 12, 2012
The Best Festival in Korea?: The Jinju Lantern Festival
If you’ve been reading for a while, you may know that Korean festivals and I have a rocky relationship. Mainly due to the fact that festivals can be called festivals whilst a) not being a festival and b) having zero relation to the supposed theme of the festival.
It was then with caution but a glimmer of hope that I approached the Jinju Lantern Festival, named by the Korean tourism board as the number 1 festival in all of South Korea – ahead of even the Boryeong Mud Festival.
After an eventful bus ride to Jinju – the police boarded the bus due to suspected ticket fraud from a group of foreigners (turns out they hit the “cancel” button after printing tickets on the Korean booking website, rather than “close”) – Gil Dong and I arrived in the city and breathed a sigh of relief.
A festival. An actual festival with an obvious theme, activities related to the festival, and a rather pretty location to top it all off.
Gil Dong and I had decided not to stay the night in Jinju, and that meant catching the last bus back to Daejeon which unfortunately was at the too-early time of 7.10pm, which resulted in us only briefly being able to see the lanterns lit up at night.
A beaming lion-slash-dragon hybrid creature thing to greet visitors down by the river.
Even without the night sky as a backdrop, the lanterns were pretty impressive, and we also made time to wander around a fortress in the city, as well as have a brief panic when Gil Dong thought he’d lost his wallet, called up to cancel his cards, only for it to be returned the second he hung up the phone by one of the barristas in Caffe Benne.
Oh so dramatic!
Faux-wallet-losing antics aside, the festival was exactly what I expected the reputed best festival in Korea to be. Fun, distinctly Korean, and with unique twists – you could walk across the river on makeshift floating walkways to get closer to the lanterns, for example – the Jinju Lantern Festival has restored my faith (but not completely erased my caution) that there are those in Korea who understand the concept of a festival.
A healthy dose of violence to go with the family fun.
A crocodile waiting to devour anyone coming out of the bathroom. Much less embarrassing than getting chomped on the butt by an alligator while in there.
A freakishly high see-saw with no safety rails. Talk about daredevils.
This woman is blanking me. Whatever, she’s clearly had too much work done on her face anyway. Check out those eyes.
Ariel gets a Korean makeover.
The obligatory bug photo to break up the main event.
This bunny lantern is the thing that nightmares are made of.
Manpower at the Jinju Lantern Festival.
Alleyway of wishes at the Jinju Lantern Festival.
A rather flamboyant dragon twinkling at night.
What is this, some kind of dragon gay pride?
Flower lantern. I’ll take one of these for every room in my apartment. Which is…one room.
Night time view of the Jinju Lantern Festival.
A ladybug with what I assume to be some kind of radioactive glow, due to its size.
Is this a pepper? Or an apple? A papple? An apper?
More terrifying bunnies. I’m willing to bet anything that their teeth are the size of my arm.
A waterfall of light at the Jinju Lantern Festival.
So there you have it folks! Now, I want to hear from you. What do you think of the photos here? Does the festival look like your kind of thing? Are there any other festivals in Korea that you rate highly? Let us know in the comments below, or shout out on Facebook or Twitter.
Damnit, I totally wish I made it to that one! I’m pretty sure it was when I went to Geoje Island instead….and that was kind of a fail of a trip haha. Great shots! The night ones are awesome!
Jessica Wray just posted #OnlyIn: Thailand
Hahaha oh Korea and its fail festivals! Thank goodness that this one lived up to the hype
“What is this, some kind of dragon gay pride?”
I love the photos, but your commentary, as always, is the best thing about this post!
And yes, that bunny latern is way creepy…
Nicole just posted Angry at Istanbul
Thanks Nicole! I think the bunny was intended to be cute, but alas it failed. There were other, almost equally creepy animals in a similar fashion to the bunny, too. Shudder.
You got some great photos! And it doesn’t look like there were too many people! I went to the lantern festival on Cheonggyecheon last weekend and it was bedlam. There was even a queue to get down to see the lanterns! Jinju seems like it’s probably the better place to see some lanterns!
Amanda @ Farsickness just posted Capture the Seasons
Oh Amanda, it was HEAVING as Gil Dong and I were walking back to the bus terminal in the evening! Once nightfall hit, it was packed.
It looks wonderful!! So sad that I’d missed this.
jill just posted The Secrets Behind Boulder’s Beautiful People
It’s a yearly thing, so if you’re ever in Korea again around October time, you should definitely try and get down there!
I wanna visit.. lanterns look trippy at night!
ciki just posted Velvety Layers & IOI Mall, Puchong
Korea is the bomb when it comes to lanterns! 3 years here and it’s my first official visit to a lantern festival, though – glad I made the trip.
Tom Stockwell just posted Happy Birthday B!
These photos are spectacular! I totally want to see this festival! (much more so than the mud festival)
Harvey (H-Bomb’s Worldwide Karaoke) just posted H-Bomb’s Friday Photo, week 6: Man over New Zealand
Aww, thanks Harvey! The mud festival…yeah, I let you know my feelings about that on Twitter. This festival was far more my cup of tea, although being slathered in mud and splattering strangers with the stuff was pretty fun, too!
I have never been to South Korea, but I travelled a lot in China, but I have never seen the festival like this. The Flower lanterns and a ladybird look amazing. The whole scenery is unreal. Will hit the festival once I get to South Korea for sure!
Agness just posted Food and Accommodation in Bangkok on a Budget (
The whole festival was so pretty! If you get to South Korea, make sure you come in May or September/October, which is prime festival time, and it means you’ll avoid the stifling summer heat! The scenery was so beautiful and I’ve fallen in love with rural Korea lately