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Gilpost · Festival calendar · Suyeong-gu

FestivalAutumn 2026

Busan Fireworks Festival

부산불꽃축제

This edition · Data as of · Published · Compiled by

For one evening each autumn, Busan fires an hour of fireworks over Gwangalli Bay, with the Gwangandaegyo suspension bridge as the stage. It began in 2005 as a celebration for the APEC summit, and 2026 is the 21st edition. Watching is free — only a block of reserved seats in the middle of the beach costs money — and that is exactly the catch. A huge crowd turns up, so the hard part is not seeing the show but finding a spot and getting home afterwards. We read Korean blog posts by people who went in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to find out how they managed both.

Busan Fireworks Festival
2026 부산불꽃축제 (5).jpg2026 부산불꽃축제 (8).jpg2026 부산불꽃축제 (3).jpg2026 부산불꽃축제 (6).jpg2026 부산불꽃축제 (7).jpg
Photos: Korea Tourism Organization (KOGL Type3). Shown uncropped, as supplied.

Videos

[FULL] 제 20회 부산불꽃축제 (The 20th Busan Fireworks Festival)수영구TV · YouTube

Videos are hosted on YouTube. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play (privacy-enhanced mode).

What’s on

The fireworks are free to watch from the beach or anywhere around the bay; what you pay for is a reserved seat in the middle of the beach. Visitors from abroad book those on NOL World, the English side of Korea’s NOL ticketing site. The organisers have not yet published the timetable, seat map or road closures (checked 3 October).

Gwangalli Beach and the bay

Main show — invited international team and Busan Multi FireworksWalk-inFree
Sat 7 Nov · 19:00–20:00 (interval about 19:15–19:25)
An hour over the bridge and the bay. Free to watch from the beach or anywhere around it.
Reserved seats (R and S)BookingS ₩70,000 · R ₩100,000
Sat 7 Nov · Gates 15:00 · be seated by 18:00
Numbered seats in the middle of the beach. S is a chair; R is a table with chairs.
Passport checked. Be in your seat by 18:00 — after that there is no entry and no refund. Book by 11 October and tickets are posted to you; from 12 October you collect them on site. Wheelchair spaces by phone only (1544-1555). The Busan-resident discount needs an alien registration card with a Busan address.
Check availability on NOL World →
Play & Stay hotel packageBooking₩550,000–1,070,000
Sat 7 Nov · 2 nights
An R seat plus two hotel nights, at Wyndham Grand Busan, Fairfield by Marriott Busan Songdo Beach or Shilla Stay Seobusan.
The buyer must attend and check in in person — no transfers. Hotels are in Songdo and western Busan as well as the Wyndham, so check the distance to Gwangalli. No partial cancellation; from 15 days before, the fee is 90%.
Check availability on NOL World →
Black Eagles air showWalk-inFree
Sat 7 Nov, afternoon
The Korean Air Force aerobatic team, before the main show. Time not announced yet.
Activities and buskingWalk-inNot announced
Sat 7 Nov, afternoon
Scratch-art, chalk art, photo spots and street performers. Places and times not announced yet.

Sources: the Korea Tourism Organization festival listing, the organisers’ ticket page (busanfireworks.com) and the NOL ticket pages, checked 3 October 2026. Times for the air show and activities, and the invited team, are not announced yet — check the official site before you go.

The essentials

Dates2026-11-07
WhereGwangalli Beach, Igidae and Dongbaekseom Island — fired from Gwangandaegyo Bridge and the bay
CostFree to watch · reserved seats ₩70,000 (chair) or ₩100,000 (table and chairs)
OrganisersBusan Metropolitan City · Busan Festivals Organization (+82 51-713-5000)
AddressGwangalli Beach, 219 Gwanganhaebyeon-ro, Suyeong-gu, Busan
부산광역시 수영구 광안해변로 219 (광안동)
Contact051-713-5000 · busanfireworks.com/
ProgrammeAfternoon warm-up (Korean Air Force aerobatic team, activities, buskers), then the main show from 19:00 to 20:00 — an invited foreign team and Busan’s own display. See “What’s on” below.

Official poster

2026 부산불꽃축제 포스터.png

The organisers’ own poster, in Korean. Source: Korea Tourism Organization (KOGL Type3), shown unaltered. Tap to open full size.

What 29 visitors said

We searched Naver, the blog platform most Koreans use, for posts written in the month after each festival (21 for 2023, 28 for 2024, 30 for 2025), read every one to the end, kept only people who actually watched that year, and took ten per year. Sponsored posts were dropped, and no writer is counted twice. 2023 had only nine left, so it has nine; one of them is by a beach safety volunteer. Every number below counts the posts that mentioned something. Someone who did not mention a thing is not counted as disagreeing.

What people liked

The scale is overwhelming17 of 29 posts

The bridge as a stage, several launch points at once, the finale 23-03 23-08 23-11 23-04 23-06 24-23 24-18 24-19 24-04 24-06 24-12 25-18 25-24 25-28 25-12 25-15 25-21

Huge crowd, but orderly and safe7 of 29 posts

Police and stewards from the station on, clear signs, metered subway boarding 23-03 23-06 24-18 24-19 24-15 24-09 25-15

Fireworks timed to music6 of 29 posts

You need to be near the speakers, mid-beach, to hear it 24-04 24-09 25-18 25-12 25-21 25-24

Watching from outside Gwangalli worked too7 of 29 posts

Igidae, Millak, Marine City, Dongbaekseom, Jangsan — less of a scramble 23-08 24-06 24-12 24-11 25-28 25-23 25-27

What people struggled with

Getting home was the hardest part10 of 29 posts

Nearest stations closed or overflowing; people walked a stop or two 24-09 24-19 24-13 24-04 25-18 25-24 25-19 25-12 25-23 25-15

Good spots go hours before the show8 of 29 posts

The sand and Dongbaekseom fill by mid-afternoon; arrive late and you stand 23-06 23-08 24-23 24-04 25-15 25-28 25-19 25-21

Depending on the spot, the view is blocked or the music is lost9 of 29 posts

Buildings, trees and heads in the way; music inaudible from afar 23-09 23-11 23-04 23-08 24-09 24-11 25-28 25-14 25-23

Long lines for toilets and shops4 of 29 posts

Station and park toilets, beachfront convenience stores 23-11 24-18 24-19 25-18

These are raw counts, not percentages. Someone who did not mention something is not someone who disagreed.

Who goes, and when

Most people went with someone — a partner, friends, or children. Everyone was there for the 7 pm show, so what really differs from post to post is where they watched from.

Where people watched

  • Gwangalli Beach and the streets behind it (free) — the most common choice. One family found room on the sand at 2 pm; others arriving around 4 pm found it already full.
  • Reserved seats on Gwangalli Beach — praised for the head-on view and for having a seat waiting however late you arrive. The downside: seat-holders are let out last.
  • The Haeundae side (Marine City, Dongbaekseom, Haeundae Beach) — less of a scramble, and part of the show is fired close by. But the first half can be hidden behind buildings, and you will not hear the music.
  • Igidae and Yongho, across the bay — one couple claimed a front-row spot at 10 am; another found it too far away to feel the impact.
  • Millak waterside park and Jangsan mountain — side-on, or from above. On Jangsan there was no need to arrive early.

Who they went with

With friends1 of 29 posts
With children4 of 29 posts
With parents or adult family2 of 29 posts
As a couple7 of 29 posts
In a group (incl. volunteer teams)1 of 29 posts
Alone3 of 29 posts

11 of the 29 posts did not say.

Visiting from abroad

You will not be the only visitor from abroad: the three Korean writers who mentioned foreigners all said there were plenty, including tour groups. Nobody mentioned English signs or interpreters, so assume announcements are in Korean. Reserved seats for international visitors are sold on NOL World (see the seats row above), and your passport is checked. On the night, two things matter more than language: the crowd moves where the police direct it, and on the way out the nearest stations may be closed — follow the crowd away from the beach and walk a stop or two.

Weather and crowds

It is an evening by the sea in November, and the weather was different every year. In 2023 it rained through the afternoon and cleared around showtime. In 2024 it reached 22°C and several people watched with their jackets off. In 2025 writers found the sea wind sharp, and standing still for an hour got cold. If you are holding a spot from the afternoon, bring a blanket or hand warmers; on a warm year you will want layers you can take off. Most posts call it crowded and none call it quiet. In 2024 the MC told the crowd that a million people had come.

Getting there and access

Leave the car behind. The organisers provide no parking, and the beach road is closed from the afternoon. Almost everyone took Busan Metro Line 2. The official advice is Gwangan Station (exit 3), but more writers got off one stop along at Geumnyeonsan. The trains in are packed — people let several go by — and police at the platforms limit how many board, which one writer found made it calmer. The trip home is the hard part: police closed the nearest stations or the lines were enormous, and several people walked 30 minutes to an hour to Suyeong, Kyungsung Univ.–Pukyong Natl. Univ. Station, Millak or BEXCO before they could get on anything. If you have a reserved seat, the beach is cleared first; seat-holders waited a further 20–30 minutes. For Igidae, take Line 2 to Kyungsung Univ. and change to a bus; for Dongbaekseom, Line 2 to Dongbaek Station, exit 1.

No post mentions wheelchairs or pushchairs at all. That is a gap in what we know, not a sign that it is fine. The official booking page says there is a wheelchair area inside the reserved seating: it can only be booked by phone (1544-1555), has its own entrance gate, and has no chairs — companions book ordinary seats. The free areas are sand, and by showtime even the pavements are solid with people. Extra portable toilets are put out, but writers still describe long lines at station and park toilets. One family whose child is sensitive to noise found the bangs too loud and said they would bring ear defenders next time.

Year by year

Autumn 2023

The 18th. Rain for much of the day, clearing around showtime. One writer found the first half was not fired from the bridge towers and was hard to see from the side; several loved the second half, fired from several points at once.

Autumn 2024

The 19th. A warm night, up to 22°C. The invited team was from China, and at least one writer was surprised by how good it was. A cable failure just before the show left the bridge without its usual lighting — some felt it was less spectacular, others were still blown away. The start was delayed.

Autumn 2025

The 20th, split into three parts for the anniversary: a show set to G-Dragon's music, then a team from Japan, then Busan's own multi-site display — roughly 7:00 to 8:10 pm. One writer noted the finale was set to a song from KPop Demon Hunters. Many found the sea wind cold.

Tips from people who went

  • Leave the car; take the subway, and consider getting off at Geumnyeonsan rather than Gwangan
  • In 2023 chairs and tents were not allowed on the sand — bring a mat and a cushion
  • A blanket and hand warmers, or layers you can shed on a warm year
  • Buy food and drinks before you arrive — beachfront convenience stores have long lines
  • Go to the toilet before you settle in, and go easy on drinks
  • The interval is not the end — the part after it is longer
  • Do not head straight for the station: rest in a café for an hour, or walk a stop or two
  • Ear defenders for children who mind loud bangs
  • Hotels were full two months ahead

The 29 posts we read

  1. 23-03 · 2023-11-05 제 18회 부산불꽃축제
  2. 23-04 · 2023-11-05 2023년 제 18회 부산 불꽃축제 후기 부산 광안리 야경 데이트 밤에 가....
  3. 23-06 · 2023-11-06 2023부산불꽃축제 다녀왔어요 2024불꽃축제를 기약하며
  4. 23-07 · 2023-11-07 토요코인호텔 해운대2 | 더블룸 이용한 부산 해운대 가성비 호텔 후....
  5. 23-08 · 2023-11-07 부산 이기대 동생말 전망대 산책하기 좋은 불꽃축제 명당자리
  6. 23-09 · 2023-11-08 홍순이의 2023 부산 불꽃축제) 광안리해수욕장 놀거리, 부산엑스포 ....
  7. 23-10 · 2023-11-08 후기) 부산불꽃축제 봉사활동
  8. 23-11 · 2023-11-09 제 18회 부산불꽃축제] 2023 부산불꽃축제 구경했어요~ (feat. 용호별빛....
  9. 23-13 · 2023-11-11 2023 부산 불꽃축제
  10. 24-04 · 2024-11-09 오늘 자 유경'험 | 19회 부산 불꽃 축제 광안리 현장, 부산 복지 만세!
  11. 24-06 · 2024-11-09 2024년 제19회 부산불꽃축제 광안리해수욕장 민락수변공원 솔직후기
  12. 24-09 · 2024-11-10 2024 부산불꽃축제 지하철 타고 다녀온 후기
  13. 24-11 · 2024-11-10 2024 부산불꽃축제 후기 (클럽디오아시스)
  14. 24-12 · 2024-11-11 2024 부산 불꽃축제 아이랑 함께 해운대 마린시티
  15. 24-13 · 2024-11-11 제19회 부산불꽃축제 유료 관람석 그린존 J블럭 4열 후기
  16. 24-15 · 2024-11-11 [부산] 2024 광안리 불꽃축제 정보 명당 자리 생생 후기 영상첨부
  17. 24-18 · 2024-11-12 2024년 19회 부산불꽃축제 유료좌석 관람 후기 날씨 복장 준비물 관람....
  18. 24-19 · 2024-11-13 제19회 ‘부산불꽃축제’ 그린존 S석 O블럭 후기
  19. 24-23 · 2024-11-17 부산여행 첫째날] 부산불꽃축제 보고 왔어요~
  20. 25-12 · 2025-11-16 2025 부산불꽃축제, 아이들과 함께해서 더 기억에 남은 밤
  21. 25-14 · 2025-11-17 부산 불꽃축제 광안리해수욕장 주말 나들이
  22. 25-15 · 2025-11-17 [부산 불꽃축제 2025 20주년] 다녀온 후기(대중교통 이용/부산역에서 ....
  23. 25-18 · 2025-11-19 2025 부산불꽃축제 유료 좌석 후기
  24. 25-19 · 2025-11-20 [2025.11.15] G-STAR 2025 3일차 & 부산불꽃축제 후기
  25. 25-21 · 2025-11-21 2025 부산 불꽃축제 부산 바다보이는 찜질방 해운대 힐스파
  26. 25-23 · 2025-11-22 해운대에서 본 부산불꽃축제 2025 관람 후기
  27. 25-24 · 2025-11-27 2025 부산불꽃축제 솔플후기
  28. 25-27 · 2025-12-01 아들과 함께한 출사, 2025년 제20회 부산 불꽃축제 장산너덜지대
  29. 25-28 · 2025-12-05 [부산]2025 부산불꽃축제(해운대에서보기)

All posts are in Korean. We summarise them in our own words rather than quoting.