Korean Lunar New Year

Korean new year is also referred to as Seol-lal and is the first day of the lunar calendar. It is the first day of the lunar calendar and is one of the most important of the traditional Korean holiday consisting of a period of celebrations, starting on new year's day. Koreans celebrate new year with great pomp and splendour which is mainly known as solar new years day celebrated on January 1 every year, followed by the Gregorian calendar.

As far as holidays are concerned, the Korean new year holidays lasts for three days and is considered to be an important holiday than the solar new year. New year in Korea is typically a family holiday. Apart from celebrating the day with traditions and cultural programmes, people also welcome the new year in modern and western style by organising breathtaking fireworks set to enhance the celebratory spirit of the occasion.

On this day, people in korea dress up in colourful traditional Korean clothing, decorate their houses with traditional decorative items and prepare traditional dishes like water kimchi, clam and scallion pancakes and persimmon punch. Children in the family are treated very special. They play spun paegi whereas women play neolttwigi, which allows them to jump on the seasaw. Though, the modern Korean new year celebration might be more prevalent in korea but there are still many families who focus on their traditional values.

Korean Lunar New Year Traditions

The 2024 lunar new year in Korea will be observed on 30 January, Thursday. Koreans celebrate new year's day at the start of the year on the lunar calendar and have been doing it so far for thousands of years. Korean lunar new year traditions feature a variety of dishes and traditional clothing. An ancestral ritual known as charya is performed during new year by all the family members whereas the traditional food known as Tteokguk (soup with rice cakes) is prepared at home as a treat to all the family members.

The most popular dish prepared in 2024 on the Korean new year was the duk gook which a soup with rice cakes but the most popular serving of Korean new year is dumplings which is prepared in every home as it is a favourite of people of every age. Where small families tend to be less formal and wear other formal clothing instead of handbook. Most of the Koreans are seen greeting the new year at the east coast location like gangneung and donghar in gangwon province where they are most likely to see the first rays of the new years sun.