Light Up Your Night with the Busan Fireworks Festival!
If you enjoy fireworks and going to the beach on a cool breezy night, then you’ll love the Busan Fireworks Festival. This festival is a high-tech fireworks extravaganza that takes place every autumn along Gwangalli Beach in Busan. It’s one of Korea’s most popular festivals attracting around 1 million visitors each year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. It’s a festival like no other, worthy of putting on your fall must-do list.
- Beginnings
Although it’s a renowned festival for locals and tourists now, the Busan Fireworks Festival began in 2005 as a way to commemorate the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit being held in the city. It quickly became a people’s favorite and five years later, over two million attendees were at the festival in a city with roughly 3.5 million people!
- Not Just Fireworks
The thousands of fireworks lighting up the sky to the festival’s theme song may be the main attraction, but that’s not the only festivity you’ll find. Leading up to the event, you’ll find a carnival-style setup at the beach with different street vendors, music, and games to enjoy while you wait for the show to start. Many people also use this occasion to have a picnic at the beach while reserving a spot for the night, the best of both worlds if you ask us!
- How to Get the Best of It
The beach is the traditional (and arguably, the best) view for the fireworks; so you must get there early to secure a good spot as it can get very crowded early on and traffic jams are to be expected. Since temperatures can get vary from the 70s to low 50s in late October, make sure to bring either a sweater to layer up or a small fleece blanket.
- Other Views
If sand is your public enemy number one or you don't want to deal with the crowds, there are other options to enjoy the show, such as the Hwangnyeongsan Mountain, Igidae Coastal Park, and Dongbaekseom Island. All of those will give you a great view of the fireworks.
This festival is free and open to the public, and this year, it will be held on November 2.
Let us know in the comments below if you’d love to go to the Busan Fireworks Festival!
Written by Dianelys Fuentes
