Ethan’s Friday night, planned on two end dates and three closing times: the Seoul Lantern Festival and Gwanghwamun Market

At 5.40 p.m. on Friday 18 December, Ethan came up out of Exit 5 of Gwanghwamun Station and stopped in front of Cheonggye Plaza. It was the third evening of his fifth business trip to Seoul. He checked his watch, opened his notebook and put a finger on the top line. There, in careful handwriting, was tonight’s order: “Market first, lanterns after.” Yet where he was standing was not the market but the Cheonggyecheon side, where the lanterns begin.

Ethan, 44, designs machines in Seattle and lived in Seoul for six years. This trip started on Wednesday and ends next Tuesday, and yesterday, Thursday, he and his colleagues took a domestic flight from Gimpo to Busan and back in a single day. The weekend was already full of plans with colleagues, so tonight was the only evening he had to himself. Ethan turned up the collar of the winter coat he had been wearing every day since the cold set in. That line at the top of his notebook was his plan for fitting both Cheonggyecheon and Gwanghwamun Square into that one free evening, written down as an order.

He meant to stop at three places tonight: the Seoul Lantern Festival (서울빛초롱축제) on Cheonggyecheon, Gwanghwamun Market on Gwanghwamun Square, and Seoul Light Gwanghwamun at the north end of the same square. To see all three in one night in winter 2026, you need to know when each one opens and closes, whether any of it costs money and which exit of Gwanghwamun Station to take, and following Ethan’s Friday night brings up the answers one by one. His order was rewritten once on Wednesday night and again this evening outside Exit 5. The second time, he was laughing out loud at his own notebook.

The Cue — At a glance

To see both the lantern festival and Gwanghwamun Market in one night, go by 10 January, when the market ends. On the night, it is easiest to put the market first, since it opens 30 minutes earlier and closes first, and the lanterns, on until 23:00, last. Once the order is set, choose your exit to match your first stop. Ethan changed the order but not the exit, and got it wrong once.

When is the 2026 Seoul Lantern Festival? 11 December to 31 January, 18:00–23:00 every day, free

The 2026 Seoul Lantern Festival runs from Friday 11 December 2026 to Sunday 31 January 2027. It is on from 18:00 to 23:00 every day, along Cheonggyecheon from Cheonggye Plaza to Samilgyo Bridge. First held in 2009 and now in its 18th year, it is Seoul’s winter festival of light after dark, and entry is free. The hours do not change from day to day, so if the lanterns are all you want, any evening in the run after 6 p.m. will do.

Open in Kakao Map — Gwanghwamun Station

Ethan first looked these dates up on Wednesday night, the first day of the trip, at the desk in his hotel room. He had not read far before he stopped. One screen carried three event names, and all three even started on the same day. Ethan never writes parts with different dates and times into a single box on a drawing. He ruled lines down a notebook page, gave each event its own row, and ended up with the table below.

Dates and times as announced in November 2026.

Once it was all written down, the column Ethan’s eye went to first was the end, not the start. All three begin together on Friday 11 December, but the last day and the closing time differ from row to row. All three are main programmes of the Seoul Winter Festival, which as a whole runs for 52 days, from 11 December to 31 January, across Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon, Seoul Plaza, DDP, Bosingak and the Hangang parks. Even events under one festival need their dates and times read one at a time. At the foot of the table Ethan wrote, in small letters, “Same start, different ends.”

The lantern festival and the market are both free to enter, so before you go there is little to decide beyond the date, the day of the week and the exit you will use. Ethan’s notebook had no packing list either. Instead he turned to a fresh page and drew one straight vertical line down the middle. The left side was for end dates, the right for closing times. Like splitting the columns of a parts list, it kept apart two kinds of numbers that cause trouble once they mix.

How long does Gwanghwamun Market run? Until 10 January, three weeks before the lanterns end

Gwanghwamun Market runs until Sunday 10 January 2027, and the lantern festival three weeks longer, until Sunday 31 January. Starting on the same day, that gives the market 31 days and the lanterns 52. From 11 to 31 January only the Cheonggyecheon lanterns remain, with no market. Seoul Light Gwanghwamun, at the north end of the same square, also has 10 January as its last day. If you reach Seoul after mid-January, plan your evening around Cheonggyecheon alone.

On Wednesday night Ethan copied just one line across that vertical rule: “10 Jan · 31 Jan | 22:00 · 22:30 · 23:00” — two end dates and three closing times. The market opening 30 minutes earlier had already tipped his first stop towards the market, but it did not settle the order after that. When he designs machines, the clearance between meshing parts is set by the tightest side. On a Friday night, the tightest side was whichever closed first.

The first number, 10 January, sent Ethan straight to his travel schedule. He did not yet know when his next trip to Seoul would be. If it came after 10 January, only Cheonggyecheon would be left, so the one sure chance to see the market as well lay inside this trip. With only Friday evening to himself, there was no choice of day to agonise over. Next to “10 Jan” Ethan wrote “Safe this time” and circled it.

The opening ceremony moved to 12 December — but the lights and the market start on Friday 11 December

The only date that changed is the Seoul Winter Festival opening ceremony. It was first set for Friday 11 December and moved to Saturday 12 December, with a musical gala, a parade and a citizens’ choir on the special stage in Gwanghwamun Square. Gwanghwamun Market, Seoul Light Gwanghwamun and the Seoul Lantern Festival keep their original schedule and open on Friday 11 December. If you go on the first weekend, the lights and the market are already on by Friday evening. Pick the Saturday only if you want the opening ceremony stage as well.

This calendar had already come in handy once, on the way back from Busan yesterday. One of his colleagues brought up a friend who had been in Seoul the week before. The friend had heard only that the opening was on Saturday, and spent the Friday evening in the hotel. Ethan opened his notebook and showed the opening ceremony row and the three event rows he had drawn separately. “Only the stage moved a day. The lights were on from the day before.” His colleague laughed and said the friend had thrown away a whole Friday.

Seeing the lantern festival and Gwanghwamun Market in one night: go by 10 January, market first

To see both in one night, go on an evening up to 10 January, start at Gwanghwamun Market and then move on to the Cheonggyecheon lanterns. The market opens at 17:30, half an hour before the lanterns, and it also closes before them. The lanterns stay on until 23:00 every day, so there is still time on Cheonggyecheon after the market has closed. Putting the one that opens first and closes first at the front lets you move while both are open. It is exactly the order Ethan rewrote on Wednesday night.

His first draft ran the other way. In the version he called “Rev A”, he would walk the lanterns from Cheonggye Plaza at 18:00, go all the way to Samilgyo Bridge and come back to Gwanghwamun Square for the market. Cheonggye Plaza was familiar ground, so Exit 5 was the first number he wrote down. But once the three closing times sat on one line, the market’s Friday 22:30 came before the lanterns’ 23:00. The longer the walk back from the far end, the less time would be left for the market.

The column Ethan touched with the tip of his pencil was the one on the far right. If you stay at the market until it closes and then cross to Cheonggyecheon, you have 1 hour before the lanterns close from Sunday to Thursday, and 30 minutes on Friday and Saturday. The walk from the square to Cheonggye Plaza comes out of that time too. If you want longer at the market, Friday or Saturday, when it closes 30 minutes later, suits you better, and because 10 January is a Sunday, the last such Friday and Saturday are 8 and 9 January. Ethan circled the Friday row and wrote “Rev B” above it.

Rev B had three steps. Go into the market when it opens at 17:30 and look round first, head up to Seoul Light Gwanghwamun at the north end of the square around 7 p.m., then go to Cheonggye Plaza around 8 p.m. and walk the lanterns until 23:00. The lanterns went last because, along with Seoul Light Gwanghwamun, they stay open latest, until 23:00, and because they are seen on foot, they can use up every minute that is left. He had not erased the Rev A lines, only drawn a light stroke through them — an old habit, since he could only trust the next version if he could see where and what had been changed. Ethan put his pencil down thinking this version would last.

If work runs late and you only reach Gwanghwamun Station after 21:00, the order shifts a little. From Sunday to Thursday the market closes at 22:00, so either look round it briefly and move on, or come straight out of Exit 5 and walk only the lanterns. The last weekend is the one that catches people out: reach the market at 22:10 and on Saturday 9 January you still have 20 minutes, but on Sunday 10 January it has already closed. After 22:30, up to 10 January the lanterns and Seoul Light Gwanghwamun remain, both on until 23:00, and from 11 January only the lanterns. The later you set out, the more it pays to read the closing-time column first, the way Ethan does.

Which exit at Gwanghwamun Station? Exit 5 for the lanterns, 9 for the market, 2 for the square

Even at the same Line 5 station, Gwanghwamun, the exit you need depends on where you are going. Exit 5 is the one given for the lanterns, Exit 9 for Gwanghwamun Market and Exit 2 for Gwanghwamun Square. All three use Gwanghwamun Station, so if you go by the station name alone it is easy to lose your bearings once you are outside. Decide on your first stop before you get off. Your first stop gives you the exit number straight away.

That Exit 5 was exactly where Ethan had come out at 5.40 this evening. Looking at his notebook again, he saw that Rev B had fixed the order column but left Rev A’s “5” in the exit column. With the market first, he should have come out at Exit 9. It was also 20 minutes before the lanterns came on at 18:00, so Cheonggye Plaza would have meant a wait. Ethan laughed out loud, notebook in hand.

“So I fixed the drawing and forgot the parts list.” The words left him as a puff of white breath. Changing the order in a revision and leaving one number as it was is exactly the mistake he caught in red pen every time he reviewed other people’s drawings at work. Ethan struck through the “5” in the exit column and wrote “9 — if market first”, with “5 — last” underneath. At the very top he added a new heading: “Rev C”.

If you change the order, change the exit column with it. Market first means Exit 9, lanterns first Exit 5, square first Exit 2. The spot outside Exit 5 is also the meeting point for a walking course along Cheonggyecheon, so it makes an easy place to meet friends if you are joining them by the stream. Saving Exit 5 for the very end of the night, Ethan turned his back on Cheonggye Plaza and set off towards Gwanghwamun Square.

What to see at Gwanghwamun Market: Santa Village Where Time Stands Still, a giant tree and the market village

Gwanghwamun Market is in its fifth year, and its theme is “Santa Village Where Time Stands Still”. It spreads across Gwanghwamun Square and the Sejongno Park area, built around a giant tree and the market village. The stalls bring small makers’ handicrafts, Christmas decorations and warm food together in one place, along with immersive photo zones and hands-on programmes. This year a promotional booth for Namdaemun Market is due to be set up inside the market as well.

Entry is free, but you pay for whatever you pick at the stalls, goods or food. Walking in and looking around costs nothing, and since the lanterns are free too, seeing both in one night needs no ticket money at all. If you plan to eat at the market, put it in the slot before you cross to the lanterns. The lanterns are a festival you see on foot along the water, so it helps to have your hands free by then.

Ethan walked into the market just before 6 p.m. Stopping in front of the giant tree, he remembered the market’s theme and laughed to himself. In a village where time stands still, the person checking his watch most often was him. He took one photo of the tree and noted in the market box the time he had arrived. Under it was the line he had written on Wednesday night: “Seoul Light — 19:00”.

Ethan stood for a long time at a handicraft stall. Looking closely at the joins in handmade things is an old habit of his. He thought about picking a small present for his colleagues, but took out his notebook first and counted the time left. On a Friday the market was open until 22:30, so he reckoned he could walk all of Cheonggyecheon and come back to buy it, then struck the idea out almost at once. Coming back from the far end of a walk would be repeating the Rev A mistake, so he chose a small ornament there and then.

Where to see Seoul Light Gwanghwamun: the gate and the north side of the square, 18:00–23:00

Seoul Light Gwanghwamun is a separate event at Gwanghwamun Gate and on the north side of Gwanghwamun Square. It runs on the same dates as the market, 11 December to 10 January, from 18:00 to 23:00. Its main programmes are a media façade on Gwanghwamun Gate, an exhibition of light installations on the square and a New Year countdown event. It is in the same square as the market, so after the market you can walk north and carry straight on. Gwanghwamun Square itself is a free public square, open 24 hours a day all year round.

At 7 p.m. Ethan left the market and walked to the north end of the square. After gazing up for a while at the light on Gwanghwamun Gate, he opened the table in his notebook again. The Seoul Light Gwanghwamun row shared its dates with the market and its hours with the lanterns. That meant a last day of 10 January and a closing time of 23:00. Beside the row he wrote “Dates: market side. Hours: lantern side.”

That row makes the order much easier to plan. Seoul Light Gwanghwamun is on until 23:00 and closes later than the market, so it belongs after the market, not before. See the market, then Seoul Light at the north end of the square, then come back down to Cheonggye Plaza, and you can take in all three in turn while each is still open. From 11 January Seoul Light Gwanghwamun is over too, so this order only works up to 10 January. Ethan looked up at the gate once more, closed his notebook and turned towards Cheonggye Plaza.

Near Gwanghwamun the same winter: Seoul Plaza Skating Rink and the New Year’s Eve bell at Bosingak

On the way down to Cheonggye Plaza, Ethan glanced once more at the fourth line in his notebook. It was the Seoul Plaza Skating Rink line he had added on Wednesday night, and the rink opened that very day, Friday 18 December. The rink runs until Tuesday 9 February 2027 and costs 1,000 won, and is open 10:00–21:30 from Sunday to Thursday and from 10:00 until 00:30 the next day on Friday and Saturday. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve it stays open until 1 a.m., and it runs a little longer than the lanterns, which end on 31 January. Squeezing a fourth slot into one free evening would leave at least one of them racing a closing time, so Ethan wrote only “Next rev” beside it.

If you are in Seoul at the turn of the year, there is one more line worth reading. From Thursday 31 December to Friday 1 January the New Year’s Eve bell-ringing event takes place around Bosingak, and Seoul Light Gwanghwamun’s main programmes include a New Year countdown event. If you want to see in the new year near Gwanghwamun, put these two lines in the same box. Ethan, flying back to Seattle next Tuesday, just wrote “31 Dec — Seattle” on that line and smiled.

Where the Cheonggyecheon lanterns start: from Cheonggye Plaza to Samilgyo Bridge, until 23:00

The Seoul Lantern Festival runs from Cheonggye Plaza, where Cheonggyecheon begins, to Samilgyo Bridge, and it is on until 23:00 every day. This year’s theme is “Seoul’s Romance: A Symphony of Light”, and the exhibition is split into four zones, each staged differently. The zones are called “Hanyang Overture”, “Analogue Rhapsody”, “Neon Sonata” and “Fantasia of Light”. Hanji paper lanterns and media art are at the heart of it, with hands-on activities and events as well. If you are coming straight from Gwanghwamun Station, take Exit 5.

At 8 p.m. Ethan left the square and came back to Cheonggye Plaza. It was the same Exit 5 he had come out of by mistake about two hours earlier. This time he was following Rev C, and Cheonggye Plaza was the last slot of the night. Ethan checked his watch and counted the three hours left until 23:00. The exit that had made him laugh at dusk was now exactly where the order wanted him.

Copying the four zone names into his notebook, Ethan noticed they were all named after musical forms: overture and rhapsody, sonata and fantasia. Being someone who likes his units to match, he split the four names into four boxes and decided to note the time he entered each one. It was a way to record the time spent in each zone without measuring any distance. Writing down only the times he entered meant how long he stayed in each would come out later with a single subtraction.

Along the waterside path the light of hanji lanterns and media art ran on ahead. Ethan slowed down and looked first at how the paper and the frame of each lantern were joined. Looking at the joins before the light was the same habit he had shown at the handicraft stall in the market. At 193 cm, he bent his knees a little each time he took a photo, bringing the screen down to everyone else’s eye level. One picture he took that way became his favourite of the night.

Ethan posted that photo in the group chat he shares with Rina, Lulu and Maya, the friends he has made in Seoul. The message with it was a single line: “Exit 5 tonight: wrong the first time, right at the end.” Rina answered first. Her short reply, “So the exit had its own box too,” made Ethan look down at the exit column of Rev C and nod. That one line, so like Rina with her habit of dividing things into boxes, was the most precise review comment he received all day.

Ethan’s Rev C — a Friday-night order built on end dates and closing times

At 22:50 Ethan reached Samilgyo Bridge. There were ten minutes to go before the lanterns closed at 23:00. At the bridge railing he read Rev C again from the top. First came “Until 10 Jan”, then, in order, “Exit 9, 17:30 market”, “North end of the square, Seoul Light” and “Exit 5, lanterns until 23:00”. Wednesday night’s single line had become three slots on Friday night.

Under Rev C Ethan added one more line for whoever came next: “11–31 Jan = lanterns, Exit 5.” If his next trip came after 10 January, that one line would be enough for the evening. Once the market and Seoul Light were over, there would be no order to think about: until 31 January, come out of Exit 5 after 18:00 and walk Cheonggyecheon. Ethan closed his notebook, slipped it into the inside pocket of his coat and spent the last few minutes before 23:00 on the bridge, watching the light on the water.

Common Mistakes

• 01

  Taking the opening ceremony day for the first day

  The friend Ethan’s colleague mentioned had heard only that the opening was on Saturday, and spent the first Friday evening in the hotel. Only the opening ceremony on 12 December had moved, and the lights and the market were on from that Friday.

• 02

  Walking the lanterns first and leaving the market for later

  That was Ethan’s first draft, Rev A. In the time it takes to walk to Samilgyo Bridge and back, the market, which shuts first, keeps getting closer to closing time.

• 03

  Changing the order but not the exit

  Ethan came out of Exit 5 with a notebook in which only the order had been fixed, and stood at Cheonggye Plaza 20 minutes before the lanterns came on. Market first means Exit 9.

• 04

  Expecting the market in mid-January

  10 January is the last day for the market and Seoul Light Gwanghwamun. From 11 to 31 January only the Cheonggyecheon lanterns are on.

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