[One Day 10,000 Steps] Besides Bosingak, There Are Other Countdown Spots

Listening to the ringing of the Jaya bell to see off the old year and welcome the new year, there are many places to visit this year besides the crowded Bosingak.

Seoul City will hold the ‘Seoul Winter Festa 2023’ (abbreviated as Seoul Winta) for 38 days from December 15 to January 21, connecting 7 representative attractive points in Seoul. The motif of this festival is ‘light’ and it will be held at 7 locations including ‘DDP~Bosingak~Sejong-daero~Gwanghwamun Square~Open Songhyeon Green Plaza~Cheonggyecheon~Seoul Plaza’. Under the theme ‘Unprecedented Light, Coloring Seoul,’ this festival will showcase various sights and attractions through 10 festivals and events using lighting technologies such as media facade, projection mapping, and gobo lighting at 7 locations in the city center. The Jaya bell-ringing event will also be broadcast live from three locations (Bosingak, Gwanghwamun Square, DDP) so that people can enjoy it more comfortably in a wider area beyond Bosingak.

Seoul Light DDP Production Image [Provided by Seoul City]

First, Seoul Winta 2023 will begin on December 15 at 6 p.m. with simultaneous lighting of Seoul Light Gwanghwa (Gwanghwamun Square), Seoul Lantern Festival (Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon, Seoul Plaza), and Songhyeon-dong Pine Light Festival (Open Songhyeon Green Plaza). ‘Seoul Light,’ which has established itself as a representative media art exhibition of Seoul, will be held at Gwanghwamun and DDP. It will present an 800-meter-long giant media facade extending from the Gwanghwamun Woldae, restored for the first time in 100 years, to Gwanghwamun Square.

From December 21, ‘Seoul Light DDP Winter,’ expressing ‘Digital Atlantis’ that finds the order of nature and technology, will be operated using the outer wall of DDP as a canvas. At Open Songhyeon Green Plaza, which returned to the citizens after 110 years, the ‘Songhyeon-dong Pine Light Festival’ will be held. Here, ‘light of nature’ will be projected onto the pine forest veil, an unknown space, expressing supernatural wonders with light and shadow that stand out more vividly in the darkness. The ‘Seoul Lantern Festival,’ a representative urban light festival celebrating its 15th year, will also be held for 38 days around Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon, and Seoul Plaza.

Songhyeon-dong Solbit Festival production image [Provided by Seoul City]

Centered on large-scale sculptures themed ‘White Night in Seoul,’ the festival will offer spectacular sights. In particular, the ‘Moon of Time and Space,’ a 360-degree spherical structure capable of projection mapping, and sculptures depicting a dragon awakening among mysterious clouds to celebrate the ‘Year of the Dragon’ in 2024 are expected to attract attention. The ‘Christmas Market,’ loved as a winter attraction every year, will be held at two locations: Gwanghwamun Square (December 15 to January 21) and DDP (December 21 to December 31). The ‘Seoul Plaza Ice Rink’ will operate for 52 days from December 22 to February 11 next year.

Virtual rendering image of the 'Midnight Sun' rising in the middle of Sejong-daero [Provided by Seoul City]

The bell-ringing event will involve citizen participation for the first time in four years since COVID-19. Eighteen people, including citizen representatives selected through public recommendation and global influencers, will ring the bell 33 times to announce the new year. At the same time, the ‘Midnight Sun,’ a 12-meter diameter installation in the middle of Sejong-daero, will rise, creating a spectacular scene marking the dawn of 2024. From December 30 to January 1 next year, activities to promote the festival’s true value worldwide will be carried out in connection with ‘2023 SeoulCon’ held around DDP, together with global influencers.