By Kayla Lee

Seoul Tourism Organization (STO), led by CEO Gil Ki-yeon, has reorganized the Seoul Lantern Festival & Gwanghwamun Square Market into Season 2 for the New Year 2024. Season 2 will run from January 1 to 21.

First of all, the Seoul Lantern Festival will add a media show for the New Year and conduct various experience programs. A projection mapping content 'New Year Media Show' will be held from 9:50 p.m. to 10 p.m. every day until the 21st in the White Hall, a 360-degree sphere representing the universe, wholeness, and earth. 

Various videos symbolizing the city, people, and nature will be screened under the theme of "White Night in Seoul," the theme of the Seoul Lantern Festival. Video works by media artists that symbolize the present and future of Seoul will also be shown under the theme of the New Year 2024.

New Year's online and offline events will also be held for domestic and international tourists. The online event 'Tell me your wish' will be held from January 4 to 8. Everybody can participate on the official Instagram account, and if they write a five-letter New Year's wish in the comments of the event post, they can win a gift icon through a lottery.

At the Gwanghwamun Square Experience Zone, new special programs such as making your own lanterns and lucky lottery tickets will be held. Until the 12th, visitors can make paper lanterns by choosing the color of paper they want in the 'Make Your Own Lantern' program. From the 13th to the 21st, visitors can write their New Year's wishes on pre-designed mini cards to create a lucky lottery ticket.

The Gwanghwamun Plaza Market will also change some of its sculptures and vendors to showcase new products in line with the New Year's concept. Sculptures symbolizing the new year, such as lucky bags, will be installed, and the wish cards for the Wish Tree event will be replaced with models symbolizing the new year. Gwanghwamun Square Market's popular photo zone, the Gwanghwa Tree, will also be decorated with New Year's greetings.

The Seoul Lantern Festival and Gwanghwamun Square Market opened on December 15 last year and will run for 38 days until January 21. By Dec. 31, about 2.12 million people had visited the festival and the Gwanghwamun Plaza Market had generated 830 million won in sales. "We hope that the newly revamped Seoul Lantern Festival and Gwanghwamun Square Market will provide a memorable start to the new year," said Gil Ki-yeon, CEO of Seoul Tourism Organization.