Fireworks message to the world, hopes for Expo bid
The 19th Busan Fireworks Festival, an international festival representing South Korea, will take place on Saturday 9 November 2024 at Gwangalli Beach in Busan.
The vibrant colours of autumn come to life in Busan, casting a magical glow over the city. Gwangalli Beach and all the viewpoints along Gwangalli Ocean are buzzing with excitement. All eyes are on the shimmering water as the night sky lights up with a spectacular fireworks display. It’s that time of year again – the Busan Fireworks Festival!
Watch the fireworks against Gwangan Bridge at the Busan Fireworks Festival. It’s a spectacular display to remember.
18th Busan Fireworks Festival held
The 18th Busan Fireworks Festival will be held in splendour as Busan hopes to host the World Expo in 2030. This year’s Fireworks Festival, which will be held on 4 November at Gwangalli Beach, Dongbaek Island and Igidae, plans to present a more spectacular fireworks display than ever before to showcase Busan’s festival hosting capabilities to the world ahead of the selection of the host city for the 2030 World Expo, which will be announced on 28 November.
Busan Fireworks Festival Schedule
This year’s festival will take place from 2pm to 9pm. Preliminary programmes include a ‘Fireworks Street’ on the white sand of Gwangalli Beach from 2pm to 6pm and a ‘Fireworks Talk Show’ from 6pm to 7.50pm, where citizens’ stories will be presented in fireworks. The main fireworks display will begin at 7.50pm with the opening ceremony.
This year’s event will be divided into two parts, with the Busan Multi Fireworks Show replacing the overseas invited fireworks show. The idea is to present a fireworks show unique to Busan, with magnificent fireworks exploding one after the other for one hour. Fireworks will also be launched from Igidae and Dongbaek Island. After the multi-fireworks show, there will be a 5-minute ‘curtain call fireworks’ in anticipation of next year’s festival.
Busan Fireworks Festival Safety Plan
Busan City is preparing for the festival by prioritising the safety of citizens and spectators. On 19 October at 3pm, the Safety Management Committee held a meeting in the large conference room of the city hall and discussed the “18th Busan Fireworks Festival Safety Management Plan”.
Approximately 6,700 safety management personnel, including city and county officials, firefighters, police, professional security guards, Marine Corps Veterans Association, Model Drivers Association, Meritorious Kindness Society, Busan Transportation Corporation and Busan Facilities Corporation employees and volunteers, will be deployed around the Fireworks Festival venue. Of these, 900 security personnel will be deployed to ensure professional and systematic safety management.
The Busan National Police Agency will deploy “Kidari Police Officers”, who climb 70cm high overhead bridges and make announcements with a megaphone, at 10 major bottlenecks around the venue to manage crowds.
Road closures around the Busan Fireworks Festival
Busan City will partially close Gwangandaegyo Bridge to traffic from 30 October to 5 November in preparation for the Busan Fireworks Festival. On 4 November, the day of the event, the upper part of Gwangandaegyo Bridge (Nam-gu, Haeundae-gu) will be closed to traffic from 4:30pm to 12:00pm. The lower part (Haeundae-gu, Nam-gu) will be completely closed from 19:30 to 12:00.
The streets around the Gwangalli venue will also be closed to traffic. For more information, please visit the website of the Busan Festival Organising Committee.
Gwangalli Beach, where the Busan Fireworks Festival is about to begin. I’m looking forward to the colourful fireworks. View as of 4pm on 4 November 2023.
Where can I see Busan Fireworks Festival?
- Gwangalli Beach
- Dongbaek Island
- Igidae
- Marine City
- Dalmajigil Road
- Cheongsapo Village
- Hwangnyeongsan Beacon
Gwangalli Beach isn’t the only place to view the Busan Fireworks Festival. There are numerous other locations throughout Busan that offer different perspectives of the fireworks.
You can head to Marine City, Hwangnyeongsan Beacon, Dalmajigil Road or Cheongsapo Village, each offering a unique viewing experience.
The magnificence of the fireworks is such that they can be seen from various parts of Busan, especially if your viewing spot has an elevation. However, it is important to consider the distance from the fireworks launch site to your chosen viewing spot, as this can affect the visibility of the display or change the timing of the show. Choose your viewing spot carefully, taking into account your personal preferences and location.
Fireworks Festival Date
- 1st – 2005 : 16 November 2005
- 2nd – 2006 : 10 November 2006
- 3rd – 2007 : 20 October 2007
- 4th – 2008 : 18 October 2008
- 5th – 2009 : 17 October 2009
- 6th – 2010 : 23 October 2010
- 7th – 2011 : 22 October 2011
- 8th – 2012 : 26 October 2012 Due to bad weather on the day, the time was changed to 8pm on the 28th.
- 9th – 2013 : 26 October 2013
- 10th – 2014 : Saturday, 25 October 2014
- 11th – 2015 : Pre-event on Friday 23 October 2015, main event on Saturday 24 October 2015
- 12th – 2016 : Saturday 22nd October
- 13th – 2017 : Saturday, 28 October
- 14th – 2018 : Saturday, 27 October
- 15th – 2019 : Saturday, 2 November
- 2020 (event cancelled): scheduled to take place on Saturday 7 November but cancelled due to COVID-19.
- 16th – 2021 (Event Cancelled) : Cancelled due to increased quarantine measures due to the re-spread of the coronavirus.
- 17th – 2022: Scheduled to be held on Saturday 5 November, but postponed due to a national mourning period declared in the aftermath of the Itaewon Apsa attack on 29 October, and held on 17 December the same year.
- 18th – 2023 : Saturday 4 November 2023
- 19th – 2024 : Saturday 9 November 2024 : busan fireworks festival 2024
Cheers to the Busan Fireworks Festival
Gwangalli Beach in Busan, where the Busan Fireworks Festival will be held on 4 November 2023, is abuzz with preparations for the event. We are confident that the event will be held with the utmost safety, but we are worried about the rainy weather forecast. But that won’t stop us from watching the international fireworks on Saturday night.
The 18th Busan Fireworks Festival came to a successful conclusion. Although there was a forecast of rain, it stopped before the fireworks started, and the spectacular fireworks were held without any safety incidents, and many people enjoyed the fireworks.
According to the city of Busan, 772,000 people attended the festival, and around 80,000 fireworks were used at Gwangalli Beach, Igidae, and Dongbaek Island.