Jinju Lantern Festival

I had a really great weekend, after a few days off due to exams at my school. So I headed south to a town in another province for a great festival. I met up with a friend in Daegu, the second largest city in Korea, and then we took a bus down to Jinju for their Lantern Festival. It reminded me so much of the Disney movie Tangled, but instead of the lanterns floating into the sky, we floated them down the river! It was a beautiful festival.

All along the river there were stands set up with food, shopping, and crafts. I had everything from my favorite chicken-in-a-cup to waffles with strawberry cream to a Turkish wrap. We also made our own lanterns by constructing them with wire and paper. At different intervals along the river, there were floating bridges set up, so that you could walk across them to see all the displays and get to different areas of the festival. Along one side of the river was an ancient fortress where Koreans held off Japanese invaders in a very famous battle. The fortress was covered in lights, with displays inside of lighted soldiers,trees, and other lanterns. It reminded me a lot of the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Display on the river!

Entrance to one of the floating bridges.

Display of a famous cartoon, Pororo.

One of my favorite parts of the festival was when I made a wish lantern. I wrote 4 wishes on a paper lantern with a candle inside. Then I went down to the river, lit the candle, and set the lantern down on the water. Watching all the lanterns float down the river was so awesome! Just like Tangled.

On the way home from the festival, I stopped in Daegu to grab McDonald's for lunch (which is actually good in Korea!) and went to a bookstore that has an English section. I finally got a new book (hopefully my last one, as I am looking to get a Kindle soon!).

So, it was an awesome weekend, and back to the daily grind tomorrow :).