Lantern Festivals Around the World: Dates, Locations and How to Plan

Lantern festivals happen somewhere in the world nearly every month of the year. Some are ancient religious observances tied to the lunar calendar. Others are modern ticketed events built around a mass lantern release. A few are small community parades that have run for decades. This guide covers 17 of them, with the dates and locations you need to actually plan a trip around one.

Dates for lunar-calendar festivals shift every year, and several organizers announce only a few months ahead. Where a date is confirmed, it is listed below. Where it is not, that is stated plainly rather than guessed at.

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Where Lantern Festivals Come From

The oldest of these traditions trace back roughly 2,000 years to Han Dynasty China, where lanterns were lit on the 15th day of the first lunar month to mark the first full moon of the new year. Buddhist monks used them to honor the Buddha. Over the following centuries the practice spread across Asia and picked up local meanings along the way: ancestor remembrance in Japan, wish-making in Thailand and Taiwan, victory of light over darkness in India.

The modern ticketed festivals in North America and Europe borrow the visual language of those traditions without the religious calendar behind them. Both types are worth seeing. They just call for different planning, which the entries below reflect.

Lantern Festivals in Asia

Yi Peng and Loy Krathong, Thailand

24 to 25 November 2026, Chiang Mai. Two festivals that fall together. Yi Peng sends khom loi sky lanterns into the air; Loy Krathong floats decorated baskets down the rivers. The combination produces the images most people picture when they hear the phrase lantern festival.

A practical note that catches out a lot of visitors: the large coordinated mass releases you see in photographs are ticketed private events held outside the city, sold separately and often months in advance. The free celebrations in Chiang Mai itself are wonderful but look different. Decide which one you are booking for. Our full guide to the Yi Peng Festival covers both.

A Thailand eSIM keeps you on maps and messaging through crowded evenings when meeting points shift.

Mid-Autumn Festival, China and across Asia

25 September 2026. Held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, marking the harvest and tied to the legend of Chang’e, the moon goddess. Lanterns light homes, streets and parks; families gather over mooncakes and lantern riddles.

It is celebrated well beyond mainland China. Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Chinatowns worldwide all mark it, so you have options if a China trip is not on the cards. Set up a China eSIM before you land.

Diwali, India

6 to 10 November 2026, with the main day on Sunday 8 November. India’s Festival of Lights, marked by more than a billion people. Rows of small oil lamps called diyas line homes and streets, alongside candles, string lights and floating lanterns.

Jaipur, Varanasi and Amritsar are the standout cities, with markets, temples and riverbanks lit end to end. Book accommodation early and expect domestic transport to be heavily booked in the days either side. An India eSIM covers you from arrival.

Chinese Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao)

20 February 2027. The 15th day of the first lunar month, closing out Lunar New Year. Lantern displays, riddle games and tangyuan rice balls. The 2026 edition fell on 3 March and has passed, so 2027 is the next opportunity.

Taiwan Lantern Festival

February 2027, Miaoli County. Taiwan’s national lantern festival tours the island, hosting in a different county each year. The 2026 edition ran in Chiayi County from 3 to 15 March; the 2027 edition moves to Miaoli. Expect large themed installations, folk performances, fireworks and lantern-making workshops. Our Taiwan Lantern Festival guide goes deeper.

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival, Taiwan

February 2027, Pingxi District, New Taipei. Often confused with the national festival above, this is a separate event and a different experience. Participants write wishes on paper lanterns and release them into the valley in mass launches over two nights. It is roughly 45 minutes from Taipei by train and gets extremely crowded; go early and plan your return journey before you arrive. A Taiwan eSIM is worth having for live train times.

Hoi An Lantern Festival, Vietnam

Monthly, on the 14th day of each lunar month. This is the one on this list you can plan around most easily, because it happens every month rather than once a year. The Ancient Town switches off its electric lights, closes to traffic and runs on lantern and candlelight from roughly sunset until 10pm.

Two editions stand out: the first full moon of the lunar year, which carries national intangible cultural heritage status in Hoi An, and the Mid-Autumn full moon. Because the lunar and Gregorian calendars drift, confirm the exact night with your accommodation the week you arrive. Our Hoi An guide has the detail, and a Vietnam eSIM covers the trip.

Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival, South Korea

3 to 18 October 2026, Jinju. Korea’s largest lantern festival and one of the least known internationally. Thousands of illuminated sculptures float on the Namgang River below Jinjuseong Fortress, some over 10 metres tall. The tradition traces to the 1592 Imjin War, when defenders floated lanterns on the river to signal positions.

Jinju sits about three and a half hours south of Seoul by KTX, or 90 minutes from Busan by bus. English-language information is thin, which is part of why international visitors are rare here despite the scale. Visit at dusk for the lighting transition, and go on a weekday if you can.

Seoul Lantern Festival

November to December 2026, Cheonggyecheon Stream, Seoul. Hundreds of hanji paper lanterns and LED installations line the stream through central Seoul. Free to enter and walkable from Myeongdong or Insadong, which makes it the easiest festival on this list to slot into an existing trip.

Exact dates are set by the Seoul Tourism Organization and announced a few months ahead. The 2025 edition ran from 12 December to 4 January as part of the city’s wider winter programme. Dress for temperatures around 5 to 10 degrees Celsius once the sun goes down, and visit after 9pm when crowds thin.

Lotus Lantern Festival (Yeondeunghoe), Seoul

May 2027. A separate event from the winter festival above, and frequently mixed up with it. Yeondeunghoe celebrates Buddha’s birthday with a parade of roughly 100,000 lanterns down Jongno Street, centred on Jogyesa Temple. It holds UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status. The 2026 edition ran its traditional lantern exhibition from 8 to 25 May with the main parade on 16 May; 2027 dates follow Buddha’s birthday.

Toro Nagashi, Japan

Mid-August, during Obon. The quietest entry on this list and, for many people, the most affecting. Paper lanterns are floated down rivers and out to sea to guide ancestral spirits back after their annual visit to the living world. It is observed across Japan, with well-known ceremonies in Hiroshima, Tokyo and Nagasaki.

Treat this as a memorial rather than a spectacle. Photography is generally fine but read the room, and check whether the specific ceremony you are attending has guidance for visitors. Obon is also one of Japan’s busiest domestic travel weeks, so book transport well ahead.

Lantern Festivals in Europe

Fete des Lumieres, Lyon

5 to 8 December 2026, Lyon, France. Four nights that turn the whole city into a canvas for light installations by artists from around the world. The tradition dates to 1852, when residents put candles in their windows to honour the Virgin Mary; today it draws millions.

Book accommodation months out, and plan on public transport, as central roads close to handle foot traffic. A France eSIM is genuinely useful here because the installations are spread across the city and the official app is how you navigate between them.

F-Light, Florence

December 2026, Florence, Italy. The Florence Light Festival projects contemporary light art onto the city’s historic architecture, with the Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Vecchio among the surfaces used. Smaller and more contained than Lyon, and it pairs well with a Christmas-market trip. An Italy eSIM covers the trip, or a regional Europe eSIM if you are combining Florence and Lyon in one journey.

Ulverston Lantern Festival, England

Saturday 19 September 2026, Ulverston, Cumbria. A community parade running since 1983, on the edge of the Lake District. The 2026 theme is Dusk til Dawn. Four processions set off from different points around town from 7pm, converge on County Square around 8pm, and finish with fireworks at Ford Park at 9pm.

What makes this one different is that you can take part rather than just watch. Lantern kits go on sale in town in August, and workshops run in the week before the parade. Our Ulverston guide has the details, and a UK eSIM covers the trip.

Lantern Festivals in the Americas

Gardens of Light, Montreal

Autumn 2026, Montreal Botanical Garden. Formerly the Magic of Lanterns, this three-decade tradition fills the Chinese, Japanese and First Nations gardens with hundreds of handmade silk lanterns after dusk. The lanterns are designed and built by artisans in Shanghai and shipped over each year, following a new theme each edition.

It runs for several weeks in the autumn rather than a single night, which makes it one of the easier events here to fit around other plans. A Canada eSIM keeps you connected across the trip.

RISE Festival, Mojave Desert

Dates not yet announced. RISE bills itself as the world’s largest sky lantern festival, held on the Jean Dry Lake Bed about 20 miles south of Las Vegas. It runs as a three-part event across the desert: an art walk, the lantern ceremony itself, and a music stage.

The most recent edition was its 10th anniversary, held 3 to 5 October 2025. As of writing, the organizers have not published dates for a following edition and are running a ticket waitlist instead. If RISE is the reason for your trip, join that list before booking flights. Note also that a separate, unrelated music festival in the French Alps shares the name, which causes regular confusion in search results.

Water Lantern Festival, touring

Year-round, various cities across the US and Canada. A touring ticketed series rather than a fixed annual event. Participants decorate a paper lantern, float it on a lake or river at dusk, and the lanterns are collected afterwards. Dozens of dates run across the calendar, so there is usually one within reach.

This is the most accessible option on the list if you want the experience without international travel, though it is a modern commercial event rather than a traditional one. A USA eSIM is worth having if you are travelling in from abroad.

Planning Notes That Apply to All of Them

Confirm dates close to travel. Anything tied to the lunar calendar moves each year, and sources disagree on whether they are listing the full moon or the 14th lunar day. For the difference of one night, ask your accommodation.

Sky lantern releases are increasingly restricted. Fire risk and wildlife harm have led many regions to ban or tightly control them. Where releases still happen, organizers monitor wind conditions and can cancel at short notice. Do not release lanterns outside an organised event.

Book accommodation earlier than you think. Lyon, Chiang Mai and Hoi An during peak editions all sell out months ahead, and prices climb steeply in the final weeks.

Expect your phone to be your main tool. Schedules change, meeting points move, and crowds separate groups. Roaming charges add up fast across a multi-country trip, and public Wi-Fi is unreliable in a packed old town. A Telekonek eSIM covers 200+ countries, installs before you leave home, and works alongside your existing SIM so your usual number stays active.

Which One Should You Choose?

If you want the photographs, go to Chiang Mai in November or Pingxi in February. If you want something you can take part in rather than watch, Ulverston in September or a lantern-making workshop in Hoi An. If you want scale without the crowds of foreign visitors, Jinju in October. If you want to build a trip around it without much planning, Hoi An happens every single month, and Seoul’s winter festival sits in the middle of a city you would visit anyway.

Whichever you pick, plan ahead, travel respectfully, and check the dates twice.