Photologue @theuostimes7
Yeondeunghoe, Lotus Lantern Parade, was held in 30th of April in Jongno Street, starting at Heunginjimun and made its way through the central downtown area of Jongno-gu before ending at Jogyesa.
Yeondeunghoe is a festival that is organized every year to celebrate Buddha’s birthday with the participation of Buddhist temples all across the Korea and foreign countries such as Vietnam, Mongolia, Myanmar etc.
The festival started with bands playing traditional songs with enormous size lightened statues following and people walking with their lanterns behind. Every temple had a different theme thus creating a unique parade to watch. One could watch Kung-fu panda-themed statues followed by Buddha which was also followed by dragon statues which was spitting fire.
Turkish exchange student Selin Bayir from Kyung Hee University stated that ‘’ The parade was so different from the generic Turkish and European festivals. The fact that the festival was in a parade form was especially intriguing and interesting to watch. I loved watching dragons spitting fire real time and it was so fun to wave hands to the people who were in the parade. It was a wonderful experience for me which I will never forget.’’
In December 2020, Yeondeunghoe was officially inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This year marked the first Yeondeunghoe after the UNESCO listing, since the Buddhist community canceled the parade for two years due to the pandemic.
Without the Covid-19 restrictions, outdoor festivals are expected to take place once again.