Busan International Fireworks Festival

WHAT: BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FIREWORKS FESTIVAL
WHY: INTERNATIONAL FIREWORKS FESTIVAL
WHERE: GWANGALLI BEACH, BUSAN, KOREA
WHEN: FRIDAY 23rd OCTOBER & SATURDAY 24th OCTOBER 2015

Gwangalli Beach is a 1.4 km 65 metre wide beach, set in a half-moon shape which is very popular with visitors in their 20s and 30s as the sun goes down due to its 300 restaurants bars and coffee shops. The area is well-lit with the brightly coloured lights glinting off the Crystal clear waters. The area has recently undergone a cleansing program, the now fine sandy beach and pure waters see fisherman catching and cooking fish on the beach, such is the clarity of the rejuvenated waters.

The local dish we would recommend you try is Bulogogi; as Bul means fire and Gogi means meat this is known as … yep you guessed it “Fire meat” which are thin strips of beef which are marinated in soy, garlic, ginger, onion, sugar (or honey) sesame oil and black pepper, before being freshly prepared in front of you at your table.

This may just get you in the mood for some more fire and on the 23rd and 24th of October you won’t be disappointed as the Korean Tourist board once again stages this multi-cultural event attracting over one million firework and food fans from all over the world. The diverse program features displays from cutting edge laser shows to traditional fireworks and pyrotechnics. Some of the fireworks effects have not been see outside the industry or testing, some are so new to the world this is the first time other pyro-technicians have seen them before.

Although the beach is the main vantage point from where the bulk of the spectators will view the display from, being up close to all the action, food and drink, this isn’t the best place to watch them from, and something of a closely guarded secret by the locals and those in the know, until now! Just to the west of the beach up a dirt track (just keep heading up) you will come across Hwangnyeongsan Mountain (this should give the spell checker a work-out and I double dare you to ask for directions!) This is a perfect viewing point to watch from as firstly, there will be much more space for you to enjoy as far fewer crowds will be around, the lower light pollution seems to make the firework bursts seem much brighter and due to the elevation of the mountain, depending how high you want to get they could be breaking at eye level or even below you. Useful when you consider the beach has a maximum capacity of 100,000 but over 1a million are expected attend this hugely popular event.

Initially performed as part of the 2005 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit, the fireworks proved so popular they decided to make the event an annual firework festival and it has grown exponentially as in 2010 2.5 million guests attended.

As a fireworks company, many of the bigger events do tend to happen at our busiest times which prevents us from attending sadly so we would kindly ask if anyone is lucky enough to be part of this year’s extravaganza, we would love to see video and photographs. They can be e-mailed to sales@epicfireworks.com or drop us a message on our Facebook page or a tweet to our Twitter account.