Exchange and Cooperation Between Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival and Thailand's Lamphun Lantern Festival

Lamphun Province Delegation Visits Jinju
"The Light of Culture Illuminated by Lanterns"

The city of Jinju in South Gyeongsang Province announced on October 14, 2025, that Weeradej Phuphisit, the elected governor of Lamphun Province in Thailand, along with a delegation of 13 officials, visited the festival site to promote cultural and festival exchanges and mutual cooperation.

During this visit, the delegation toured the lanterns displayed around the Namgang River and Jinju Fortress, shared operational know-how of the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival, which has grown into a world-renowned cultural event, and discussed ways to expand cultural exchange and cooperation between the two cities, using "lanterns" as a medium.

Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival ? Exchange and Cooperation with Lampoon Lantern Festival in Thailand Photo.

Lamphun Province, a small city in northern Thailand, is located about 26 kilometers south of Chiang Mai and has a population of approximately 390,000. The Lamphun Lantern Festival, held annually from late October to mid-November, is one of the region's most prominent traditional cultural events, attracting numerous tourists with its lantern decorations, wish-lantern hanging experiences, and a variety of other programs.

In particular, during this visit, Governor Weeradej Phuphisit and the delegation held a tea meeting with Jinju Mayor Cho Kyuil at Jungyeong in Jinju Fortress, where they discussed concrete directions for cooperation between the two festivals, including exchanges of lantern production and exhibition technologies, mutual visits by festival operation staff, and joint development of traditional lantern and lantern designs.

Governor Weeradej Phuphisit commented, "Jinju's lantern festival is an excellent model that has grown into a global event by modernizing tradition. Lamphun Province also hopes to elevate the quality of its lantern festival and develop it into a cultural industry through cooperation with Jinju."

Jinju Mayor Cho Kyuil stated, "Our goal is to expand Jinju's cultural value worldwide and broaden our cultural network with countries around the globe through the lantern festival. This exchange with Lamphun Province will serve as an opportunity for the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival to take another step forward as an international festival."

Meanwhile, Jinju plans to use this exchange as a starting point to establish a sustainable exchange system between the two cities, using "lanterns" and "lights" as shared cultural assets, and to further expand the scope of cooperation to crafts, tourism, and the broader cultural industry in the future.