Jinju is a city located in the Southern part of South Korea, in the Gyeongsang province. It is known for its rich history, for its own version of bibimbap (a famous Korean dish) and, maybe above all, for its lantern festival.
I went to Jinju during the second half of my 1 month trip to South Korea, and the main reason why we included this city in our itinerary was to see the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival: the Jinju Lantern Festival.
When planning our South Korea trip, we checked if there were any festivals of cultural events taking place during our stay and with much delight we heard about this beautiful lantern festival. It was immediately added to the itinerary!
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So, if you are interested in checking out this amazing cultural event, read on to find out more about its history and our experience! You’ll find more practical info for your visit at the end of this post!
Experiencing the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival
What is the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival?
The Jinju Lantern Festival, or Jinju Namgang Yudeung festival, is a festival that takes place in the city of Jinju, South Korea, in October. Its name in Korean literally means Jinju Nam River Floating Lantern festival, and that gives you already some information on what you can see there.
During the festival, the banks of the Nam river are filled with food stands, concert scenes, colourful tunnels and huge “lanterns” representing various themes. On the river, you’ll also see many floating installations and bridges that light up at night to create a beautiful, almost surreal scene.
Throughout the duration of the festival, there are fireworks, light shows, cultural events and music, making sure you leave with a lasting memory of this beautiful event.
What is the history behind the Jinju Lantern Festival?
Historically, the Jinju Lantern Festival is linked to the Japanese invasion and siege of the Jinjuseong fortress during the Imjin war of 1592 and the battle of the Jinjuseong Fortress in 1593. At the time, floating lanterns (yudeung in Korean) were used to prevent the Japanese army from crossing the Nam river and to contact families outside of the fortress.
A lot of Korean civilians, government officials and soldiers were killed during these battles, and the people of Jinju started using floating lanterns as a way to commemorate them.
This tradition has continued until today with the Jinju Namgang Yudeung festival, when people make wishes by floating colourful lanterns down the river.
My Review of the Jinju Lantern Festival
Going to this type of festival was a bucket-list item, and I absolutely loved it! While I didn’t fall in love with the city of Jinju itself – although its mascot, Hamo, is very cute – the festival was truly magnificent.
First evening
We arrived in Jinju in the afternoon, after taking the plane from gorgeous Jeju Island to Busan, then the bus from Busan. We left our stuff in the hotel we had booked and rested for a bit, then went to have dinner nearby.
While I don’t necessarily recommend the hotel we stayed at, the restaurant was fantastic and served a delicious katsudon at a very resaonable price. However, if you are going for the festival and don’t have much time in Jinju, I recommend to just eat there, as there are loads of food stands.
After our dinner, we started exploring the Jinju Lantern Festival. Since it is located right in the centre of Jinju, close to the historical fortress and all along the river banks, it was a pleasurable walk, despite the cold and sometimes rainy weather.
The festival grounds are huge and we were pretty tired, so we decided to only see parts of the festival on the first night, and leave the rest for the next day. This is quite easy to do as the festival is divided into several zones according to a “theme”.
On the first evening we saw some of the installations in front of the fortress that represented the battles of Jinju, then walked in the bamboo forest and made our wishes upon a floating lantern!
The next day
On the next day, we wanted to take it slow, so we simply walked around Jinju. One of the main things to do there is to visit the Jinju Fortress, and I’d say it is worth doing it both at night and during the day. It is surrounded by a pretty big park, so it makes for a nice walk and gives a great overview of Jinju’s history.
The installations and sculptures are still there during the day so it was also interesting to see the difference between night and day.
After our historical visit, we browsed some shops in Jinju and stopped for coffee here and there. As we didn’t want to take buses or taxis, we also limited our exploration to the centre but it was fine for us, even though there aren’t a lot of things to do in Jinju itself!
In the evening, we came back to the beautiful Lantern Festival and continued our exploration. This time, we walked throroughly from one zone to the next, crossing the illuminated bridges and stopping to eat all the street food, enjoying the light shows, the fun atmosphere and the music!
Recap
I would absolutely recommend the Jinju Lantern Festival to anyone looking for a one-of-a-kind experience in South Korea. It was really impressive to see all the work and craftmanship that went into creating these beautiful installations and organising such a large-scale event.
You can definitely see that the city of Jinju makes every effort to create a wonderful yearly event, attracting many people each year. At the same time, it never felt too crowded, so that was also a huge bonus!
I would not necessarily recommend going to Jinju outside of the festival, but I am also aware that I only saw parts of it, and maybe one day I’ll get the chance to visit it more!
Jinju Lantern Festival –
Practical information
When does the Jinju Lantern Festival take place?
The Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival takes place each year in the first half of October. The exact dates change each year, but if you are in the South of Korea around that time of the year, I highly suggesting checking it out!
In 2024, the Jinju Lantern Festival took place from October 5 to October 20. The dates for 2025 haven’t been announced yet, but should be announced in the summer.
For more information and the exact dates and program, you can check the official website of the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival and Jinju City’s official website.
If you have enough flexibility in your itinerary, I’d suggest going on the opening day as apparently there are loads of special events and fireworks, but it might also be more crowded.
The festival is open both day and night during this whole period, but it is truly at night that everything comes to life.
Where is the Jinju Lantern Festival?
The festival takes place in the centre of Jinju and the main areas of the festival are:
- the Jinjuseong Fortress
- both banks of the Nam river around the fortress
The whole festival area is divided into zones that have a “theme”. In 2024 some of the themes were: space, school, k-culture and k-classics.
This means that in each zone you’ll have some installations linked to the theme, like a large floating planet or schoolbook, for example.
Below is the 2024 layout of the festival. It is in Korean (I don’t think any of the festival leaflets were in English), but each coloured area represents a theme or zone, and you’ll see throughout this post some pictures of the installations, sculptures and areas.
What can you do during the Jinju Lantern Festival?
The best thing to do during the Jinju Namdang Yudeung Festival, is simply to explore the festival grounds and admire all the lanterns and installations.
More specifically, here are some of my favourite things and what I would recommend:
- walk around the Jinjuseong fortress
- eat Korean street food
- walk in the bamboo forest
- take a picture with Jinju’s mascot, Hamo
- walk through the lantern tunnel
- make a wish on a floating lantern
If you would like to visit the Jinju Lantern Festival worry-free, you can check out organised tours that take you on a day trip to Jinju from Busan, like this Busan and Jinju tour from Klook. (Full disclosure: I haven’t been on this specific trip but I used the Klook website in Seoul and found it great!)
How much does the Lantern Festival cost?
The entrance to the festival is free as it is an open-air event, so you can freely walk around the festival area. However, you’ll have to pay a small fee to cross the illuminated bridges. In 2024, it was 4 000 won (2.5 EUR/2.8 USD).
Is the Jinju Lantern Festival very crowded?
We didn’t feel like the Jinju festival was too crowded, and were pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to walk around. Of course, there are still people and you won’t have the place to yourself, but that only contributed to the fun atmosphere of the event.
I have to specify though that we were there from a Sunday evening to a Tuesday morning, so the weekends might be a lot busier.
The festival seemed to attract a lot of Koreans and we didn’t see a lot of international tourists. Maybe that is why the festival leaflets and brochures were not translated into English, but we could get by very easily with English or through the Papago translator app.
How long should you stay in Jinju for the Lantern Festival?
Since the Jinju Lantern Festival is best seen at night, I would recommend spending at least a night there, so that you have enough time to see all the lanterns and installations.
The festival grounds can be explored in one evening/night, so you don’t need to stay longer, except if you want to take it slowly or if you are staying in Jinju to explore the surrounding areas and cities over several days.
Where to stay in Jinju?
If you are going to Jinju for the Jinju Lantern Festival, I recommend staying in the area surrounding the festival grounds, close to the Jinjuseong fortress. That way, you’ll only be a short walk away from this great event.
I wouldn’t recommend specifically the hotel we stayed at, as it was nothing special (but not too bad either), but I’d recommend to check your accommodation on Booking as I feel like the prices are more decent than Airbnb during the festival.
In any case, I’d recommend you to book your accommodation in Jinju pretty early as it gets sold out very quickly!
The Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival is an amazing event that you should absolutely try to go to if you are in South Korea in the first weeks of October. Its stunning sculptures, installations and light shows feel like a fairy tale came to life!
