Yeouido Fireworks Festival 2025: A Comprehensive Guide
The Yeouido World Fireworks Festival will light up the Seoul sky in 2025! This spectacular event draws massive crowds eager to witness the breathtaking displays.
Due to the popularity, finding a prime viewing spot requires some planning. To help you prepare, we've compiled essential information about the festival schedule, best viewing locations, transportation restrictions, and other helpful tips.
2025 Yeouido Fireworks Festival
The Seoul International Fireworks Festival is an annual autumn event that transforms Seoul's night sky with dazzling displays. Typically held on a Saturday between late September and early October, the festival takes place in the area of Yeouido Hangang Park, right in the heart of Seoul.
Hanwha, a company with a history rooted in Korean explosives, has a deep connection to the fireworks festival. Since its inception in 2000, it has become one of Korea's top three fireworks festivals, alongside the Busan Fireworks Festival and the Pohang International Fireworks Festival. Its exceptional accessibility in the heart of Seoul makes it a hugely popular event.
In 2023, it drew an estimated 1.05 million spectators, showcasing its immense popularity. The festival features the Hanwha team (representing Korea) as well as renowned international fireworks teams from countries like Italy, Canada, Japan and the United States, each presenting fantastic fireworks shows with their own unique styles and techniques. The spectacle, which costs around 8 billion won and launches over 100,000 fireworks, is a comprehensive art performance with music, lasers, and video, ensuring an enjoyable viewing experience.
Festival Schedule
The 2025 Seoul International Fireworks Festival is scheduled for Saturday, September 27th. The main stage for the festival is Yeouido Hangang Park, right in front of the 63 Building. While the evening fireworks show is the main event, the day is filled with various programs. From 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM, various pre-events will be held at the Multipraza in Yeouido Hangang Park, allowing citizens to participate directly.
Following the pre-events, the opening ceremony will begin at 7:00 PM and last for about 20 minutes, officially kicking off the festival. The highly anticipated fireworks show will light up the night sky for a total of 70 minutes, from 7:20 PM to 8:30 PM.
This year, the Italian team will perform for 15 minutes starting at 7:20 PM, followed by a 5-minute intermission. The Canadian team will then present their fireworks show for 15 minutes starting at 7:40 PM. After another 5-minute break, the Korean team, Hanwha, will present the most spectacular and grand fireworks show from 8:00 PM to 8:30 PM, marking the finale of the festival.
After the fireworks show, from 8:30 PM, an after-DJ performance will be held to disperse the crowds safely. At the same time, a clean-up campaign will be conducted with the Hanwha volunteer group and citizens.
Essential Items to Bring
To fully enjoy the Yeouido Fireworks Festival, a few essential items are a must. The most important things are a picnic mat and warm clothing. Since you'll need to wait a long time to secure a good spot, it's important to bring a mat where you can sit comfortably. Also, autumn nights by the river can get surprisingly cold. Be sure to bring a thick coat, blanket, or heat packs to keep you warm. Bringing a thermos with a warm drink can also be helpful.
If you plan to secure a spot early in the morning, you'll also need to prepare for the strong sunlight during the day. Apply sunscreen thoroughly and bring a hat, sunglasses, or a small parasol. To avoid getting tired of waiting, be sure to stay hydrated with water or sports drinks, and bring some snacks.
In addition, it's helpful to bring wet wipes, a portable power bank, and a tripod for taking pictures.
Hanwha, the event organizer, emphasizes the importance of bringing trash bags. With so many people gathering, a lot of trash is left behind after the festival. Showing a mature sense of citizenship by cleaning up your area and taking your trash with you is the most important preparation for completing a beautiful festival.
Prime Viewing Locations and Traffic Control (Including Bicycles?)
The best spot to fully enjoy the fireworks festival is, of course, the main event site at Yeouido Hangang Park. Being closest to the launch point of the fireworks, you can witness the overwhelming spectacle of huge fireworks filling the night sky right before your eyes. This is the only place to fully feel the emotion of the fireworks perfectly harmonizing with the background music selected by the organizers.
The biggest advantage that cannot be compared to other places is that you can enjoy even the delicate fireworks displays that explode at low altitudes, but as it is the best spot, an unimaginable crowd gathers. haha
As more than 1 million spectators usually visit, fierce competition is required to secure a good spot, which requires securing a spot early in the morning on the day of the festival and enduring the wait all day long.
For those who want to avoid the extreme crowds at the Yeouido site, the next alternative is Ichon Hangang Park across the river. This place faces Yeouido and is famous as a place where you can leave fantastic fireworks photos with the 63 Building and the Seoul skyline as a backdrop.
Especially among photography enthusiasts, it is considered the best shooting spot, and countless tripods are set up here every year. It is relatively more relaxed than Yeouido, but it has become a well-known spot as much as Yeouido, so it is difficult to expect a comfortable viewing unless you arrive early.
Also, Han River bridges such as Mapo Bridge or Wonhyo Bridge are traditionally considered prime spots, but special attention must be paid to safety as a large number of people gather on narrow walkways, making them very crowded.
Hidden Gems? Probably Not Anymore...
If you want to avoid the massive crowds in Yeouido and Ichon and enjoy the fireworks in a slightly quieter environment, it's a good idea to look for hidden spots, but it seems that most of the information is now shared through social media, etc., so there are no perfectly hidden places.
One of the most popular spots is the parks located in the highlands of Noryangjin in Dongjak-gu. Among them, Sayuksin Park has gained explosive popularity in recent years as it offers a cool view of the Han River and Yeouido from a high place. However, so many people are gathering that it is no longer appropriate to call it a hidden spot, and on the afternoon of the festival, the district office sends a text message recommending that people refrain from entering for safety reasons.
Yongbongjeong Neighborhood Park, located nearby, is also close to Nodeul Station and offers an open view due to its high altitude, but the disadvantage is that some of the view may be blocked by Wonhyo Bridge and there is a lack of nearby amenities.
Nodeul Island, located in the middle of the Han River Bridge, has also emerged as a new spot to enjoy the fireworks festival since it was reborn as a complex cultural space. Due to the characteristics of the island, it is open on all sides, so there is an advantage that you can enjoy the fireworks from a unique composition. However, general viewing is restricted and it is operated as Seoul Fireworks Companion Island, so only specially invited people such as multicultural, single-parent, and large families can go, so please refer to it if you plan to visit.
In addition, slightly special places such as the parking lot of the Noryangjin Fisheries Market building and the Mapo Saebit Cultural Forest are constantly gaining popularity among those in the know. There is also a way to enjoy the fireworks leisurely in nature, avoiding the crowds a little, such as Seonyudo Park or Yanghwa Hangang Park, which are a little far away. These places require you to give up the grandeur of the fireworks or the harmony with the music, but it seems like a good alternative for those who want to escape the hustle and bustle of the festival and enjoy the fireworks in a quiet atmosphere.
Rain Plan and Traffic Control
As the fireworks festival is a large-scale outdoor event, it can be affected by the weather. If it rains on the day of the event or if severe weather such as a typhoon is forecast, the festival schedule may be changed or canceled. These changes will be announced on the official website of the Seoul International Fireworks Festival, so be sure to check before visiting.
However, in the case of the 27th, the day of the event, although it is cloudy, there is still no news of rain, and since the organizer carefully selects the day with the lowest probability of rain and not being cold based on data from the Korea Meteorological Administration, there has rarely been a case where the event was completely ruined due to heavy rain.
On the day of the festival, traffic control will be implemented in the Yeouido area to ensure the safety of spectators and the smooth running of the event. Vehicle traffic will be completely restricted on the Yeouidong-ro section from the southern end of Mapo Bridge to the 63 Building from 2 PM to 10 PM. Also, the Hangang Park parking lot in front of the 63 Building will be closed from the night before the event, so it is wise to avoid using private cars as much as possible and use public transportation.
For safety reasons, bicycle access to the venue will also be restricted from 2 PM. Riding a bicycle in the crowd is very dangerous, so if you use a bicycle, you must park it away from the venue and walk. In the case of the subway, Yeouinaru Station on Line 5, which is the closest, may be temporarily passed without stopping for safety reasons due to extreme congestion immediately after the festival. Therefore, it is recommended to use other nearby stations such as Yeouido Station, Saetgang Station, or Daebang Station and then walk.
For those who have a schedule or cannot attend due to the large crowds, you can also watch it online through YouTube live streaming. Of course, the excitement of the scene will be less, but I think you can still feel the mood.
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