Busan Fireworks Festival Guide: Everything You Need to Know

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Fire in the Sky Over Busan

A single firework shoots into the sky from one of the barges anchored off Gwangali Beach in Busan. It’s 7 p.m., the sky is overcast, a dull canvas for the show about to begin. More than a million and a half people crowd the 1.4-kilometer stretch of sandy beach, waiting for the countdown to start. Fire in the Sky Over Busan is about our experience at the Busan Fireworks Festival in South Korea—a great day trip from Camp Walker.

Table of Contents

• Fire in the Sky Over Busan
• Reserve Seats for the 20th Busan Fireworks Festival
• Gwangandaegyo Bridge
• Gwangali Beach
• Surveying the Beach
• Get There Early
• Old Korean Men Make Me Laugh
• Final Words on the Busan Fireworks Festival

Reserve Seats for the 20th Busan Fireworks Festival

The 20th Busan Fireworks Festival will take place on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Gwangalli Beach, Igidae Park, and Dongbaekseom Island. Hosted by Busan Metropolitan City and organized by the Busan Festivals Committee, this milestone event will feature the most elaborate and multidimensional fireworks display ever staged, highlighted by a special 20th-anniversary show over the Gwangandaegyo Bridge.

Ticket Options

Paid seating will be available along the sandy area in front of Hotel Aqua Palace and Homers Hotel on Gwangalli Beach. Tickets can be purchased through Yes24 Ticket or the Busan Bank app, with offline options at Busan Bank branches.

• R Seats (table + chair): 100,000 KRW
• S Seats (chair only): 70,000 KRW

Payment with Dongbaekjeon

For the first time, tickets can also be purchased using Dongbaekjeon, Busan’s local digital currency. Buyers will receive an 11% bonus on the ticket price (up to two tickets per ID). The bonus will be credited on November 15 and is valid through December 31, 2025.

Gwangandaegyo Bridge

Three warning shots fire into the air every fifteen minutes. Find your seat, make your neighbor happy, and get ready to be entertained.

The sky clears as darkness falls. At 8 p.m., the curtains of night open, revealing the Gwangandaegyo Bridge glowing in brilliant state-of-the-art lights. Excitement fills the air.

The bridge, Korea’s longest ocean bridge, stretches 7.4 kilometers from Namcheon-dong in Suyeong-gu to Centum City in Haeundae. For more than ten years, it has been the dramatic backdrop to the Busan Fireworks Festival. This year’s theme is Love, expressed in red heart-shaped fireworks bursting above us. Pink, orange, blue, green, and silver explosions follow, crackling and fizzing across the sky in perfect harmony.

Gwangali Beach

Every inch of the beach is covered with blankets and plastic mats sold by buskers for 5,000 won. We bought ours earlier in the day at a Korean dollar store. By 2 p.m., six hours before the show, we had secured a great spot.

This year, Gwangali Beach is divided into seven sections. The beach located to the west of well-known Haeundae Beach. Both beaches are beautiful, but my heart belongs to Songdo Beach. For the first time in the festival’s history, Busan sells tickets for beach seating—100,000 won for prime spots with a chair and table. Each extra chair costs 70,000 won. The other six sections remain open to the public, first come, first served.

The festival features dancers, singers, games, and other attractions, but for us, it was all about the fireworks. We spent the day guarding our mat. It was worth it.

Surveying the Beach

Our original plan was to camp out in one of the restaurants overlooking the beach. Many were closed for private watch parties, and we were asked to leave by 4 p.m. A seat at these restaurants costs between 70,000 and 140,000 won and doesn’t include food or drinks.

Instead, we surveyed the beach from Sharkey’s and found a decent spot near a wall and a roped-off area. It felt slightly separated and had an easy exit route. Unfortunately, someone beat us to it, so we laid our mat right next to theirs.

We chatted with our new neighbors, Christa and Doug, who travel as much as we do. Our conversation was interrupted when a Korean family squeezed in next to us. Their mat overlapped ours, and “Mama” sat on the corner of our mat without hesitation. We exchanged curious glances but said nothing.

By evening, Mama’s family shared their food with us—grapes, persimmons, kimbap, and songpyeon, the sweet rice cakes eaten during Chuseok. We washed it all down with soju.

Get There Early

The Busan Fireworks Festival attracts huge crowds. Arrive before 4 p.m. to get a good spot. By 6 p.m., you squeeze in wherever you can.

The late arrivals caused chaos. People walked across our mat with sand-covered shoes. Some tried to claim the space we had guarded for hours. We had to pull the mat from under a few bold squatters. Security eventually gave up trying to evict people from the roped-off areas.

Old Korean Men Make Me Laugh

Mama’s family kept offering soju until my husband had to politely decline. Just before the fireworks began, one of the men moved Mama aside and gestured for me to join their circle. He waved Steven off as if he wasn’t invited.

Steven held up his phone with “20” typed on the calculator, joking that I was twenty years old and not available for trade—not even for rice cakes. The man just laughed and nudged me again.

Nearby, two old men staged a fight. Their wives held them back, no punches were thrown, and soon they were back to sipping soju. But the drama ended the moment the first fireworks exploded over the bridge.

Final Words on the Busan Fireworks Festival

The grand finale got louder and brighter until it faded into silence. For a few seconds, no one moved because we weren’t sure it was over. Then the beach filled with cheers and the sound of people folding up their mats.

My only regret was sitting too far from the speakers. We saw the fireworks perfectly but couldn’t hear the music that went with them. Later, I found out each burst matched the rhythm of the songs. Next time, I’ll pick a spot closer to the sound or bring a small radio.

I was glad we got there early and found a spot near an exit. When the show ended, we avoided the crush of people trying to leave. We waited about thirty minutes before heading to the Metro, still smelling smoke and sea air. It was the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen—and one I’ll always remember. Additional Information

For updates and details, visit www.busanfireworks.com or call the Busan Festivals Committee at 051-713-5000. For inquiries about Dongbaekjeon payments, contact the Busan is Good Dongbaekjeon Customer Center at 1577-1432.

Address: 219 Gwangan Beach Road, Suyeong-gu, Busan, Korean Address: (Kakao Map)부산 수영구 광안해변로 219

 

 

 

 

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