What is the biggest holiday in Korea?

Seollal

Seollal

Seollal is a time for Koreans to return to their hometowns to pay respect to their ancestors, as well as catch up with family members. During Seollal, Koreans usually perform ancestral rites, play folk games, eat traditional foods, listen to stories and talk well into the night.

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VisitKorea Travel Highlights Celebrating Seollal in Korea

(Lunar New Year's Day) and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day) are the most important traditional holidays for Koreans, so millions of people visit their hometown to celebrate with their families.

What are some important holidays in South Korea?

What is the biggest festival in Korea?

Along with the Lunar New Year's Day, Chuseok, also known as hangawi, is one of the biggest and most important holidays in Korea, which is held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month.

Is seollal or Chuseok more important?

Korea names their Lunar New Year Celebration Seollal (설날; or Korean New Year). Sitting one notch above Chuseok, it is Korea's most important cultural and national holiday.

Is Chuseok a big holiday?

Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving Day, is one of the biggest and most important holidays in Korea. Family members from near and far come together to share food and stories and to give thanks to their ancestors. In 2022, the day of Chuseok falls on September 10.

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What does Chuseok mean in English?

Chuseok, meaning autumn evening, originated from Korea's past as an agricultural society. Whenever a full moon appears in a mid-autumn sky, it signals that the harvest season has ended—it's now time to relax and thank their ancestors for an abundant harvest.

Is Chuseok same as Thanksgiving?

Chuseok, otherwise known as Korean Thanksgiving, isn't exactly like the American holiday, but it is very similar. Being a harvest festival, it carries a lot of the traditions and values that the American version does, but is known to have a deeper, more spiritual meaning.

What are the 4 major Korean holidays?

After the establishment of the Government of the Republic of Korea in 1948, four major National Celebration Days (Independence Declaration Day, Constitution Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day) were provided by "The Law Concerning the National Celebration Days" (국경일에관한법률) in 1949.

Can I say Happy Chuseok?

How to say “Happy Chuseok” in Korean? To greet someone during Chuseok, you may say 추석 잘 보내세요 (chuseok jal bonaeseyo). This means “Have a good Chuseok.” This is like saying “Happy Thanksgiving” in English.

Do you give money on Chuseok?

Gifts given on Chuseok are divided into family members and not family members. First, you can give cash to your parents or relatives, and they will love too. The amount of cash you give depends on your income level. But these days, more and more people use 50,000 won bills for an allowance to their nephew.

Does Korea celebrate Christmas?

During Christmas in Korea, the country positively sparkles with holiday cheer. Huge light displays decorate malls and streets, over-the-top Christmas trees can be seen pretty much every which way you look, and shops are full of holiday wares. All the pretty lights at Cheonggyecheon Stream, during Christmas in Korea.

Do Koreans celebrate Halloween?

Halloween isn't a holiday traditionally celebrated in South Korea — but as Seoul has grown more cosmopolitan in recent years and with an increasing number of South Koreans returning after years abroad, it has become a more popular occasion, one in which the city's emerging diversity is on full display.

What unusual holiday is celebrated in South Korea?

Yudu- A Unique Celebration

Yudu is one of the most unique festivals in Korea. Here the local households offer the first harvest of the season to God and initiate gathering crops and fruits as their annual household stock.

What is red day in Korea?

October 3 (Tuesday) National Foundation Day is a 'red day' or public holiday on the South Korean calendar. A 'red day' means that salaried employees have a paid day off for National Foundation Day, a Korean public holiday observed on October 3 every year.

Do Koreans get Christmas break?

Unlike Japan, Christmas is an official public holiday in South Korea - so people have the day off work and school! But they go back on the 26th. There's a longer official winter break in the New Year. Churches are decorated with lights and many have a bright red neon cross on top (all the year!)

How long is Christmas break in South Korea?

School Year and School Hours

The second term starts in September and ends in February, with a one-and-a-half-month winter break starting at mid-December and ending late January.

What do you wear for Chuseok?

Hanbok. The hanbok (in South Korea) or Choson-ot (in North Korea) is the traditional dress that the Korean people wear on special holidays and formal and semi-formal occasions, such as Chuseok, Lunar New Year, and weddings.

What are Chuseok gifts?

Chuseok gifts are exchanged between friends, family and business acquaintances, as much a part of Korean thanksgiving as any other culture's. Popular chuseok gifts tend to be fruit baskets, cuts of meat such as beef and spam, snacks, and gift sets of essential and practical items: toiletries, haircare and such.

What do you eat on Chuseok?

Upon the arrival of Chuseok, families gather to make songpyeon (half-moon rice cake) and feast on japchae (stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables) and other representative traditional Korean holiday dishes.

How long is summer break in Korea?

Korean children have only about 6 weeks of summer vacation, usually from mid-July to late August, but university students keep trains and buses busy throughout the season.

What month is cherry blossom in Korea?

The best time to see cherry blossoms in South Korea is during the spring months from the end of March to mid-April.

What do Koreans drink on Chuseok?

The liquor that is drunk on Chuseok is baeksaeju (백세주), which is also made from new rice. Along with hundreds of other Korean liquors, soju (소주) is another rice-based drink that is often drunk during holidays, put on the charye table, and sprinkled on graves during seongmyo.

Why is Chuseok special?

Chuseok is also known as Hangawi, which means the 15th day of August, according to the lunar calendar. On this day, a full harvest moon appeared in the sky and families gathered to enjoy time together and give thanks to their ancestors for the plentiful harvest.