Busan is Ready, ‘The 18th Busan Bulkkot Festival’ Preparation Complete!

Top Priority on Citizen Safety, Full Administrative Support for Zero Accident Festival

Global Promotion of Busan as an International Tourism City, Demonstrating Capability as Expo Host Venue

The 18th Busan Fireworks Festival, showcasing its status as a global tourist city, is just four days away.

Poster of the 18th Busan Fireworks Festival.

Busan City announced that, ahead of the decision on hosting the 2030 Busan World Expo, it is fully committed to ensuring the safety of visitors at the Busan Fireworks Festival scheduled for November 4, focusing all efforts on safety management at the event site.

First, the city is thoroughly conducting pre-inspections through the establishment of safety management plans and safety reviews, working closely with related organizations to ensure flawless safety management.

On the 19th, a Safety Management Committee meeting was held in the city hall’s main conference room to systematically manage the safety of the fireworks festival.

On that day, 41 committee members attended, including Chairman Mayor Park Hyung-jun, heads of disaster management agencies in Busan, the police chief, military unit commanders, and private safety management experts, meticulously reviewing the safety management plan for the 18th Busan Fireworks Festival and strengthening the cooperation system.

To hold a safe festival without a single accident, the city designated a total of 43 key management zones for detailed safety control. These include 8 zones at Gwangalli Beach, 6 subway stations, 9 external viewing areas, 16 main event access roads, and 4 other areas, covering the entire districts of Suyeong-gu, Nam-gu, and Haeundae-gu.

At the comprehensive control room, the event’s safety control tower, CCTV installed at major bottlenecks and alleyways around the venue monitors real-time crowding conditions, and the main entrances and exits of the event site are subdivided into 16 locations to implement a total capacity control system.

If overcrowding occurs in any zone, step-by-step crowd control and detour guidance will be provided, and LED vehicles and tall police officers will be deployed at key points within the venue to promptly broadcast real-time updates in case of congestion.

To prepare for emergencies, four emergency passageways connecting the beach sand area, the beach road, and Gwangnam-ro have been secured, and emergency medical booths and ambulances will be deployed for immediate response to urgent situations.

Additionally, to monitor forest fires and control access to high-visitor areas such as Geumryeonsan, the city and district forest fire prevention situation rooms will operate. A total of 323 public officials and forest fire monitors will be stationed at Hwangnyeongsan (Geumryeonsan), Jangjasan (Igidae), Jangsan, and Baeksan areas to ensure visitor safety.

Expecting crowds exceeding one million, about 6,700 safety management personnel, including city and district officials, firefighters, police, related agencies, private security, and volunteers, will be deployed.

On October 31 at 4 p.m., safety training and work guidelines will be provided to team leaders by zone in the 26th-floor conference room of city hall. Prior to the event, joint on-site inspections with related agencies, led by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, will be conducted over two days from November 2 to 3. On the event day, hourly zone inspections and proactive measures will be taken to respond systematically and flawlessly to any safety incidents.

Notably, compared to last year, increased professional safety personnel (private security) will be strategically deployed, demonstrating once again Busan’s capability to hold a mega event with zero safety accidents through enhanced and professional safety management.

After the event, to prevent crowding and ensure orderly departure, visitors on the beach road will be guided to leave first, followed by those on the beach sand area, with on-site announcements, broadcasts, and text messages provided. Additionally, empty trains will be deployed at congested subway stations, and if congestion becomes severe, trains will pass without stopping and entry will be controlled in stages to prevent accidents caused by crowding, encouraging dispersal through detours to nearby stations.

For smooth event progress, traffic control will be implemented from October 30 to November 5.

Partial lane closures on Gwangandaegyo Bridge will be enforced for the installation and removal of structures, lighting, and decorations.

On the event day, November 4, the upper deck of Gwangandaegyo Bridge (towards Nam-gu) will be closed from 4:30 p.m., and the lower deck (towards Haeundae) from 7:30 p.m., with section-by-section control around the Gwangalli event site as well.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “We will devote all efforts to safety management to showcase Busan’s K-Safety capabilities as an international tourist city to the world,” adding, “I hope the dream of a prepared Busan (BUSAN IS READY!) will be realized, proving the city’s capability as a safe and attractive candidate for the 2030 World Expo and making a great leap forward as a global tourist city.” He also urged, “Traffic congestion is expected on the event day, so we recommend using public transportation and ask citizens for active cooperation in maintaining voluntary order and participating in the campaign to take their trash home.”

Detailed information about the festival can be found on the official website of the Busan Culture and Tourism Festival Organizing Committee.

The festive atmosphere in Busan is far from over. True to its reputation as a global TOP 2 city (Trip.com, 2023 rapidly rising travel destination), following a bountiful local festival season in October, November will also captivate tourists with a variety of enjoyable events.

The ‘K-Music Season Good Night Concert in Busan,’ a music concert that combines Busan’s attractive international night tourism spots with music to create beautiful nights, will be held in a relay format over four days from November 2 to 5. ▲ November 2: ‘Good Night, Ballad’ at APEC Naru Park ▲ November 3: ‘Good Night, Hip-hop’ at Yongdusan Park ▲ November 4?5: ‘Good Night, Trot’ and ‘Good Night, K-pop’ at the outdoor theater of the Busan Cinema Center.

Also, over 130 domestic and international creators leading global trends will stay in Busan from November 4 to 6 for three days to create content promoting Busan’s charm. On the first day, they will be welcomed by the ‘Busan Fireworks Festival,’ followed by ‘Networking Day’ at Yeongdo Piac, ‘Mission Tour’ across Busan, and ‘Networking Night’ at Wyndham Grand H over the next two days.