Daegu Dalgubeol Lantern Festival ( 대구 달구벌 등불 축제 )

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The Daegu Dalgubeol Lantern Festival ( 대구 달구벌 등불 축제 ) is held to celebrate Buddha’s Birthday. Many cities around Korea hold festivals to celebrate Buddha’s Birthday and the one in Daegu has become very popular over the years. It is held in Duryu baseball stadium which is located within Duryu Park (대구두류공원). I was really impressed with the event and was glad I made the trip up from Busan to experience the lanterns being released. There were a lot of people there to see the lanterns fill up the sky and with good reason, it was really one of the best festivals I have been to in Korea.

 

If you are wanting to release a lantern you will need to try to buy them online (we tried however they literally sold out in 2 minutes). If you don’t manage to get a ticket online, you will need to line up on the morning of the event to get a ticket (6000 free tickets, first come first served basis, after that you can’t enter). To get the tickets simply arrive at Duryu Park (대구두류공원) in morning just near the Baseball Stadium and line up (Exact position shown below ).

I came up from Busan to see the event so I arrived at Dongdaegu Station (동대구역) and as there was 4 of us, we simply caught a taxi (was 11,000 won) to Duryu Park (대구두류공원). You can catch the subway which requires 1 transfer which generally takes about 30 minutes (includes a small walk).

At about 1.30pm – 2pm you can enter the Baseball Stadium. At about 6.30pm – 7pm the even starts. Most people use the waiting time as an opportunity to have a picnic, I would recommend bringing some food/drinks into the venue. Delivery chicken, Cup noodles and Pizza can all by bought close by.

 

Below are my photos/videos from my time there, I hope you enjoy them 🙂

 

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Early start as I caught the train from Busan (Mugunghwa Train) to Daegu
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Outside the station we caught a taxi to the venue
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Arrived at the park and can immediately see the decorations for the night
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Some of the moving lanterns for this evening
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More lanterns being prepared
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The place to wait is just across from a small store (see map provided above for the exact location). We arrived about 10am and were about 4th or 5th in line
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A short 5 minute walk away is a GS25 where you can buy noodles etc. We bought a small silver mat which can sit 4 people. It was 4000 won
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This was the line about 11.30am and it was getting quite big!
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Not long left until we could get our yellow bands (at 1pm they can give out bands)

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Hooray haha after waiting for 3 hours…….

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Once we got our bands we headed on over to the yellow entrance gate

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Once we got in we set up our things and sat down for a bit. As you can see very empty (still a while to wait)

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I would suggest getting in and finding a spot, then going back out and buying things (drinks, food etc)

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The stage and the E World 83 Tower in the background. The blue zone can be seen which means you would face away from the tower

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After a short walk to GS25 we sat down and enjoyed a well-earned drink

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After having this in Prague, I tend to always drink it if it is available. Can’t recommend it enough

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While we were waiting to get our yellow bands earlier, we were given a flyer for delivery chicken so thought we might as well place an order

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After a couple of hours the stadium really began to fill out.

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A few people let their lanterns off a bit early so the crowd made a bit of noise haha

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As the ceremony/talking was finishing up people began to start to release their lanterns

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Quite a few people getting ready to release their lanterns

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The colours and atmosphere was really something great

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A lantern flying up into the sky

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Once the majority had let their lanterns go, it really was one of the best views I’ve ever had to be honest.

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It was a fantastic night and everyone was really well behaved

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Having the backdrop of the E World 83 tower really provided a nice view for all

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A few people behind us must have brought their own lantern in haha

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A few got stuck got stuck in the trees however staff managed to pluck them loose with some long wooden poles

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There were some nice lights being displayed as well

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This photo makes it look like there are a rain of arrows

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My partner dropped my phone and the timer ran out and snapped this pic (its a kind of creepy photo tbh)

Below are a few of the videos I took while the lanterns were floating around 🙂

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As we started to pack up some fireworks began to go off

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Fireworks are always a nice end to the night

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Some good colours which was nice

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They only lasted a few minutes however were quite nice

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Some more colours

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A lot of people had already packed up and were almost outside the gates

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Looks like some Christmas colours

Once the lantern festival had finished there was a Lantern Parade which starts at 8pm from the Duryu Baseball Park and follows this route: Duryu Junction – Bangogae Junction – Shinnam Junction – Gyesan five way intersection – Banwoldang Junction

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These were some of the large moving lanterns I had seen at the start of the day when I had first arrived

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Almost about to start

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We caught the train back to Dongdaegu Station (동대구역) and got something to eat before our train back to Busan

Overall it was a really great day spent with my partner and friends. It was nice to just sit, relax and catch up over some food and drinks. I was really impressed with the lanterns and would highly recommend the festival to anyone who is interested in going. If you are looking for some festivals to attend in Korea, you can read about my experiences at the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival, Jinju Lantern Festival and the Busan Fireworks Festival.

 

As usual, if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom and I’ll try my best to assist you 🙂

 

12 thoughts on “Daegu Dalgubeol Lantern Festival ( 대구 달구벌 등불 축제 )”

    1. You have to buy tickets to enter. I lined up about 10am to get tickets (outsite the stadium), there was quite a few people there so I would recommend to get there early.

      Reply

  2. Thank you so much for your share. Could I ask what time the festival ended? was it too late to take a bus to Busan? Thank you.

    Reply

  4. Hi!! Me and my friends are planning to go for this year’s festival but didn’t manage to get tickets… I understand that they will be selling/giving out tickets on that day itself at 11am. How early do you think we should go to make sure we get a ticket? And anything else to look out for? thank you so much!!!

    Reply

    1. Hey,

      When we went we waited about 2-3 hours before it opened and managed to get tickets. Better to go early (or at least one of you) and then you pretty much won’t miss out. We just went to a local store and bought some Gimbap and snacks. We also brought a long one of those thin silver mats to still on while we waited. Also used it in the venue. Hope that helps 🙂

      Reply

    1. Sure but I think all members must be there at the time of purchasing. Online might be a different story.

      Reply

  6. Do all attendees have to be present to buy tickets, or could I go ahead of my kids and buy 5 for my family?

    Reply

    1. I think so as they said they must put the armband around your wrist (the didnt let us do it ourselves).

      Reply

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