Busan Fireworks Festival

Busan's fireworks festival is the largest in Korea and its distinguishing feature is the Gwangan bridge: as well as barges out in the bay, pyrotechnics are rigged along the span itself, so a curtain of fire falls from the deck across seven kilometres of water while shells go up behind it. The show runs roughly an hour, choreographed to music, usually on a Saturday evening in October or November - the date moves year to year. Gwangalli beach is the main viewing ground and it fills from the afternoon; people arrive hours early with mats. Ticketed seating is sold in blocks on the sand. Alternative viewpoints - Hwangnyeongsan, the Igidae coastal path, Dongbaekseom - trade closeness for space. Metro stations around Gwangan are controlled and slow for a long time afterwards, and walking a station or two out is the standard advice.

What you actually see

• The bridge curtain - fire falling from the Gwangan span.
• The barge shells - the main choreographed hour over the bay.
• Gwangalli beach - the free viewing ground, packed.
• The alternative viewpoints - Igidae, Hwangnyeongsan, Dongbaekseom.

When to go

Autumn, usually a Saturday in October or November - the date is announced each year. Arrive hours early for a beach position, or take a ticketed seat. Postponed in bad weather.

Honest expectations

The crowd is enormous - hundreds of thousands - and leaving takes a long time. Beach seating is ticketed and sells out. Hotel rooms with a bay view are booked out and priced accordingly months ahead.

Nearby

Haeundae, Dongbaekseom and the Igidae coastal path are close.