Around Buddha's Birthday — the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, usually in May — Seoul glows for Yeondeunghoe, a 1,200-year-old tradition inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2020. The centerpiece is the Lotus Lantern Parade, when more than 100,000 handmade lanterns flow about three kilometers from Heunginjimun Gate along Jongno to Jogyesa Temple, carried by drumming samulnori troupes and crowds of every age. The next day, Ujeongguk-ro and the lanes of Insadong fill with hands-on craft stalls, where you can fold your own lotus lantern. Bongeunsa hangs paper lanterns for nearly a month, and the lights string along Cheonggyecheon Stream — a quieter way to catch the warm orchid-and-pink glow.
