Seoul International Fireworks Festival 2026
Seoul's biggest single-night event returns to Yeouido Hangang Park on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Sponsored by Hanwha and free to watch, the festival puts international and Korean fireworks teams over the Han River and draws around a million people to the riverbanks.
Seoul International Fireworks Festival 2026
One night, one million people
The Seoul International Fireworks Festival is held on Saturday, September 5, 2026 at Yeouido Hangang Park. It has been sponsored by Hanwha since 2000, it is free to watch from the riverbanks, and it is the single most crowded evening on Seoul’s calendar. The 2026 edition brings together fireworks teams from Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Each team gets its own soundtrack and choreography, and the show is fired from barges on the Han River so that both banks can see it. The finale is the part people stay for.
How to actually see it
Yeouido Hangang Park itself is packed by early afternoon; people arrive with mats and convenience-store food and hold ground for hours. The bridges close to pedestrians, and Yeouinaru Station becomes almost unusable straight after the finale — expect to wait, or to walk twenty minutes to a quieter station.
The opposite bank works too. Ichon Hangang Park and the Wonhyo Bridge area on the northern side give you the sky without the worst of the crush. Note for 2026: the whole of Nodeul Island is being run as the paid “Orange Play Zone” this year, so it is no longer a free wander-in option — you need a ticket.
Start times are announced on the official site closer to the date. Check hanwhafireworks.com before you go, and do not plan anything for immediately afterwards.
