Lantern Festival 2027: what people eat

Lantern Festival is Saturday 20 February 2027. The Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and closes the Lunar New Year season. Families light lanterns and share bowls of sweet glutinous rice balls, while Korea marks the same full moon as Daeboreum with grain rice and nuts.

Source: Lantern Festival, Daeboreum.

Also known as Yuanxiao Festival, Shangyuan Festival, Chap Goh Mei, Daeboreum, Tet Nguyen Tieu.

What people eat for Lantern Festival

Tangyuan and yuanxiao

Southern China and Taiwan (tangyuan), northern China (yuanxiao)

Glutinous rice balls filled with sweet red bean, sesame paste or peanut butter. The round shape and the shared bowl stand for family togetherness, which is why they are eaten on this night.

Source: Lantern Festival.

Ogokbap (five-grain rice)

Korea

A Korean rice dish of glutinous rice mixed with millet, sorghum, black beans and red beans. It is among the most characteristic dishes of Daeboreum.

Source: Ogokbap.

Yakbap (sweet rice with jujube)

Korea

Steamed glutinous rice mixed with jujube, chestnut, pine nuts, oil, honey and soy sauce, eaten around Daeboreum.

Source: Daeboreum.

Boreum namul (seasoned dried vegetables)

Korea

Seasoned dishes made from vegetables dried the previous year, such as pumpkin leaves, radish greens and ferns. They are eaten on Daeboreum in the belief that they help one cope with the heat of the next summer.

Source: Daeboreum.

Bokssam (rice wrapped in leaves)

Korea

Rice wrapped in leafy vegetables, eaten on Daeboreum for luck.

Source: Daeboreum.

Bureom (cracked nuts)

Korea

On the morning of Daeboreum people crack nuts with their teeth, which is said to keep the teeth healthy through the year.

Source: Daeboreum.

Our city guides where it is celebrated

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