Matsuri Travel

Lantern and light festivals

Paper lanterns, candlelit streets and light art projected onto landmarks. Festivals that are at their best after dark.

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Colorful light projections covering a historic facade during the Festival of Lights in Berlin
Happening nowOct 9–18, 2026

Festival of Lights Berlin

October nights when Berlin's landmarks become screens for light art

Berlin, Germany$$$$
A rider dressed as St. Martin in a red cloak leads children carrying lanterns through Cologne at night
Nov 11, 2026

St. Martin's Day

Children's paper lanterns, a rider in a red cloak and roast goose across the Rhineland

Cologne, Germany +3$$$$
Christmas market stalls and lights in front of Vienna's City Hall at dusk
Nov 13 – Dec 26, 2026

Vienna Christkindlmarkt

Punch, pretzels and a skating trail in front of Vienna's neo-Gothic City Hall

Vienna, Austria$$$$
Heart-shaped gingerbread for sale at the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt
Nov 27 – Dec 24, 2026

Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt

One of Germany's oldest Christmas markets: gingerbread, mulled wine, a golden Christkind

Nuremberg, Germany$$$$
Light projections over a Lyon street during the Fête des Lumières
Dec 5–8, 2026

Fête des Lumières

Four December nights when Lyon turns its churches, squares and hills into light art

Lyon, France$$$$
Illuminated ice castle towers glowing at night at the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival
Dec 18, 2026 – Feb 28, 2027est.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

Castles carved from river ice glow neon in China's coldest big-city winter

Harbin, China$$$$
Ice sculptures lit up at night in Sapporo
Feb 4–11, 2027

Sapporo Snow Festival

Building-sized snow sculptures and glittering ice art down the length of Odori Park

Sapporo, Japan$$$$
Hundreds of glowing paper sky lanterns rise into the night sky over Pingxi during the Sky Lantern Festival in Taiwan
Feb 13–20, 2027est.

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Hundreds of paper wishes rise from a Taiwanese mountain valley at Lantern Festival

New Taipei City, Taiwan$$$$
Fasnacht musicians in green-haired clown masks playing trumpets on a Basel street
Feb 15–18, 2027

Basel Fasnacht

At 4am the lights go out and Basel's old town fills with lanterns, fifes and drums

Basel, Switzerland$$$$
Rows of glowing red paper lanterns hanging for the Lantern Festival
Feb 20, 2027

Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao)

The first full moon of the lunar year lights up lantern fairs, riddles and sweet dumplings

Nanjing, China$$$$
A monk carrying a glowing lantern through Seoul during the Lotus Lantern Festival
May 8–9, 2027est.

Yeon Deung Hoe (Lotus Lantern Festival)

A river of glowing lotus lanterns flows through downtown Seoul for Buddha's Birthday

Seoul, South Korea$$$$
Thousands of glowing lanterns released into the night sky for Waisak
May 19–20, 2027est.

Waisak at Borobudur

Monks process to the world's largest Buddhist temple and lanterns rise under the full moon

Magelang, Indonesia$$$$
The Sydney Opera House lit with green projections during Vivid Sydney
May 28 – Jun 19, 2027

Vivid Sydney

Light art on the Opera House sails, drone shows and a harbour-side walk of installations

Sydney, Australia$$$$
Hot-air balloons glow against a violet dusk sky as visitors watch from the grass at Luye Highland in Taitung
Jul 3 – Aug 19, 2027est.

Taiwan International Balloon Festival

Seven weeks of dawn balloon flights and night-glow concerts over the East Rift Valley

Taitung, Taiwan$$$$
A giant illuminated Nebuta warrior float glowing at night as it moves down an Aomori street
Aug 2–7, 2027

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri

Four-ton illuminated warriors glide through the night to chants of rassera

Aomori, Japan$$$$
A temple-shaped structure outlined in thousands of lights glows at night during Keelung's Ghost Festival in Taiwan
Aug 2–31, 2027est.

Hungry Ghost Festival

For one lunar month the gates open, and the living throw a party for the dead

Keelung, Taiwan +3$$$$
The Daimonji bonfire burning on the hillside above Kyoto at the end of Obon
Aug 13–16, 2027

Obon & Gozan no Okuribi

Japan welcomes its ancestors home, and Kyoto sends them off with mountains on fire

Kyoto, Japan$$$$
A light projection covering a historic building facade at the Singapore Night Festival
Aug 20 – Sep 4, 2027est.

Singapore Night Festival

Sixteen free nights of projection-mapped facades and light art in Bras Basah.Bugis

Singapore, Singapore$$$$
Crowds gather before an ancient Hindu temple on the Dieng Plateau for the dreadlock-cutting ceremony of the Dieng Culture Festival
Aug 27–29, 2027est.

Dieng Culture Festival

Sacred dreadlock-cutting, highland jazz and sky lanterns beside ancient temples

Dieng Plateau, Indonesia$$$$
A dancer in a deep woven hat dancing through the night streets at Owara Kaze no Bon
Sep 1–3, 2027est.

Owara Kaze no Bon

Three hushed nights of braided-hat dancers and kokyū strings in lantern-lit Yatsuo

Toyama, Japan$$$$
Colorful silk lanterns glowing in Hoi An
Sep 12–15, 2027est.

Tết Trung Thu

Star lanterns, lion dances and mooncakes light Hoi An's Old Town at the eighth full moon

Hoi An, Vietnam$$$$

Planning dates? Filter lantern and light festivals by your travel window.