Cheonggyecheon Lanterns Schedule: 2025 Seoul Lantern Festival Dates, Hours, and Sections

The 2025 Cheonggyecheon Lanterns schedule centered on the 17th Seoul Lantern Festival, officially held from December 12, 2025, with the Cheonggyecheon section running through January 18, 2026. Because the event dates have now passed, this guide summarizes the confirmed schedule, hours, locations, and exhibition layout for readers checking past event details or comparing future winter festival timing.

Cheonggyecheon Lanterns Schedule and Hours

The Seoul Culture Portal listed the 2025 Seoul Lantern Festival as a cultural arts festival held around Cheonggyecheon and Uicheon under the theme “My Light, Our Dream, Seoul’s Magic.” The main operating period was December 12, 2025, to January 18, 2026, with the Cheonggyecheon section operating from 18:00 to 23:00. The Uicheon section and the Cheonggyecheon Ogansugyo area were listed as operating only until January 4, 2026, from 18:00 to 22:00.¹

That means the schedule was not identical across all areas. Visitors focused on the core Cheonggyecheon lantern route had a longer viewing window, while Uicheon and the Ogansugyo-linked section followed the shorter winter festival period ending January 4, 2026. This distinction matters because some early announcements introduced the broader festival as running through January 4, while later event listings reflected the extended Cheonggyecheon schedule through January 18.²

The broader Seoul Winter Festa connected six major winter festival sites: Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon, Seoul Plaza, DDP, Bosingak, and Uicheon. Within that larger citywide program, the Seoul Lantern Festival occupied the Cheonggyecheon and Uicheon portions, with lantern installations and media art arranged from the Cheonggye Plaza side toward Samilgyo and Ogansumun.²

A city statement described the broader aim as letting people experience a “fantasy Seoul” where citizens become the protagonists throughout the city center.² For practical planning, however, the most important takeaway is simpler: Cheonggyecheon had the longest confirmed run and the later closing time, while Uicheon was shorter and closed earlier in the evening.

Where the 2025 Lantern Displays Were Set Up

The official Seoul Culture Portal identified the Cheonggyecheon area as running from Cheonggye Plaza to Samilgyo, while the Uicheon area covered the stretch from Uigyo to Suyugyo.¹ Seoul’s public information channels also described lanterns and media art placed from the Cheonggye Plaza-side sculptures toward Samilgyo and Ogansumun.²

On Cheonggyecheon, a Seoul city citizen reporter article described four themed zones from Cheonggye Plaza to Jangtonggyo. The reported displays included more than 400 light sculptures and media art pieces, large hanji paper sculptures, Magikarp and Gyarados installations, and a large “Seoul Moon” installation measuring 15 meters in diameter.³

A later city article described the 17th Seoul Lantern Festival as combining traditional hanji lanterns, LED, kinetic art, and media art across about 500 light sculptures. It also named four main Cheonggyecheon exhibition zones: “Miracle Seoul,” “Companion Seoul,” “Memories of Fairy Tales,” and “Footsteps of Light.”⁴

The Uicheon expansion was also a notable part of the 2025 event. Seoul Shinmun reported that the festival, which had lit the Cheonggyecheon area each year, expanded to Uicheon for this edition.⁵ The Uicheon section was described separately under the “Soul Light” theme, with more than 50 light sculptures shown from Uigyo to Ssanghangyo.³

Planning Notes for This Past Event

For anyone reconstructing the 2025 visit schedule, the safest way to read the dates is by section. The core Cheonggyecheon route ran from December 12, 2025, to January 18, 2026, from 18:00 to 23:00. Uicheon, and the Cheonggyecheon Ogansugyo-related section, ran through January 4, 2026, from 18:00 to 22:00.¹

The later 23:00 closing time was not just a minor detail. Global Economic reported on December 19, 2025, that the Seoul Tourism Organization extended the operating hours from the previous 22:00 close to 23:00, alongside plans to add safety staff on weekends and holidays and manage crowds in real time. The same report said the festival drew 1.48 million visitors within five days of opening.⁶

For a schedule-focused search, this explains why different sources may appear to show different end dates or closing times. Some articles covered the initially announced Seoul Winter Festa period through January 4, 2026, while later or official event details separated the longer Cheonggyecheon operation through January 18, 2026.¹²

작성자 소개

Patrick Choi

Administrator

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