Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival

The floating lanterns (yudeung) trace their origin to the Battle of Jinjuseong, one of the three great victories of the Imjin War, when lanterns were sent down the Namgang River as military signals keeping in contact with the volunteer militia outside the fortress walls and as a means of passing word of safety between family members. Carrying on that tradition, the citizens of Jinju long ran a 'lantern contest' as a program of the Gaecheon Arts Festival — the pioneer of Korea's regional comprehensive arts festivals, staged since 1949 — and from 2000 it has been held independently as the Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival. The lanterns have since been elevated into a festival embodying citizens' longing for peace and their hopes for love, happiness, and fulfilled wishes, growing today into a global festival that shares the value of peace with people around the world. Every autumn, in Jinju, the 'City of Light and Peace,' the spectacle of lanterns spread across the Namgang River and around Jinjuseong Fortress pairs beautiful scenery with a moment to reflect anew on the history held within.