From ancestral rites to modern celebrations in the Korean calendar
Introduction
The Korean holiday calendar is shaped by three overlapping systems: the traditional lunisolar calendar, Confucian values emphasising family hierarchy and ancestral respect, and modern national commemorations. Understanding Korean holidays means understanding this layering of old and new.
Seollal: Lunar New Year
[[seollal]], the lunar new year, is arguably Korea's most important holiday. Families reunite at the ancestral home for the charye ritual — arranging a ceremonial table of food and drink, then performing deep bows (jeol) toward ancestral tablets. After charye, younger family members perform sebae, bowing to elders and receiving sebae-don (new year's money) in colourful envelopes.
The centrepiece of the New Year meal is tteokguk, a broth of sliced rice cakes. Eating tteokguk is said to add one year to your age — a literal new year's meal. The three-day holiday also features traditional games: yutnori (a team board game with wooden throwing sticks) and neolttwigi (a seesaw-jumping game played by women in traditional dress).
Chuseok: The Autumn Harvest Festival
Chuseok falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, when the harvest moon is full. It is sometimes called Korean Thanksgiving. Families visit ancestral graves to clean them and perform beolcho (weeding) before the charye rites. The distinctive food of Chuseok is songpyeon — small half-moon rice cakes stuffed with sesame seeds, red beans, or chestnuts, shaped by hand and steamed over pine needles whose fragrance permeates the dough. Legend holds that those who make beautiful songpyeon will bear beautiful children.
Buddha's Birthday (Bucheonim Osinnal)
On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, Buddhist temples across Korea hang thousands of coloured lanterns in lotus shapes. The highlight is the Yeon Deung Hoe (Lotus Lantern Festival) in Seoul, where an enormous lantern parade winds through the city. The festival was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020.
National Commemorations
Korea's modern history has generated powerful national holidays. Liberation Day (Gwangbokjeol) on 15 August marks the end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945. National Foundation Day (Gaecheonjeol) on 3 October commemorates the mythological founding of the first Korean kingdom by Dangun in 2333 BCE. Hangul Day on 9 October celebrates the creation of the Korean alphabet, commissioned by King Sejong the Great in 1443.
Daeboreum: First Full Moon
The first full moon of the lunar year, Daeboreum, is a minor but charming holiday centred on health rituals. Eating five-grain rice and nuts (in a custom called bureom) is believed to strengthen teeth and ward off boils. Drinking a cup of cold rice wine (gwibalgisul) at sunrise is said to improve hearing for the coming year.
Seasonal Customs
Korean culture marks the seasons through food as much as ceremony. Sambok — the three hottest days of summer — traditionally calls for samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup), the idea being to combat summer heat with warming foods that restore vital energy (gi). Winter brings jjeon (savoury pancakes) and tteok (rice cakes) to holiday tables.
Conclusion
Korean holidays distil the country's Confucian heritage, Buddhist influences, and hard-won modern identity into a calendar that moves between solemn ancestral rites and vibrant communal celebration. For travellers and those with Korean connections, understanding these traditions unlocks the warmth at the heart of Korean family life.