"Five, four, three, two, one — fire!"
At 8 p.m. on the 5th, the area around Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo District was packed shoulder to shoulder with spectators who had come to watch the 2026 Seoul International Fireworks Festival. Those who had spread out mats to claim a spot and those still standing for lack of anywhere to sit alike raised their voices along with the host's countdown.
When the countdown ended, golden fireworks burst over the dark sky with a boom and then began to pour down like a waterfall. Cheers went up here and there, but only briefly. As if by agreement, the crowd fell still, staring upward and watching the cascading fireworks in a daze. A man in his 50s filmed nonstop on his phone. A man in his 20s pressed his hands together as if making a wish. A child on someone's shoulders shouted each time a shell exploded. Their gestures differed, but everyone was taking in the fireworks in his or her own way.
The United Kingdom team opened the event. The British entry drew a strong response by using "Soda Pop," a song from the hit Netflix animated film "KPop Demon Hunters." As red, golden and green fireworks burst in time with the music, the audience waved their hands overhead and began singing along.
The United States team went second, choosing "O Fortuna," the grand choral opening of Carl Orff's cantata "Carmina Burana." As fireworks exploded one after another through the sweeping music, some in the crowd seemed overwhelmed, fixing their eyes on the sky.
The Korean team closed the show. Starting at around 8:50 p.m., the team opened with two large circular bursts and then fired without pause, giving the audience no chance to look away. When singer Lee So-ra's "The Wind Blows" came on, the crowd fell momentarily silent, apparently moved. As the show reached its climax, spectators cheered and applauded.
Kim Jung-min, a resident of Seoul's Gwanak District in his or her 20s who came to the site that day, said, "I was worried because I expected huge crowds, but I'm glad I came." Kim added, "The weather was cool and the fireworks were far grander than I expected, so I just watched, spellbound."
Crowds gathered not only in Yeouido but anywhere with a view of the sky over the Han River. At the same hour, customers at a cafe on the city's outskirts overlooking the river crowded around the windows to watch the fireworks bursting outside. A cafe patron in his or her 30s, surnamed Park, said, "I came here just to soak up some of the mood from a distance, and the view is better than I expected." Park added with delight, "The best spot isn't the crowded one — it's a place like this, where you can enjoy it at your leisure from far away."
Police, the Seoul city government and Hanwha appeared to be devoting all their resources to crowd management. With 530,000 spectators packing the site, trains at one point passed through Yeouinaru Station without stopping, leaving the area in confusion. From before the show through the performance itself, safety staff called out to the crowd, "Keep walking, don't stop." After the event ended, the crowd surged out at once and created bottlenecks. Police dispersed spectators toward nearby subway stations including Saetgang and Daebang.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency deployed 4,500 officers that day, including 51 mobile units and 28 wide-area patrol teams, to handle crowd control and emergency calls. The chiefs of the Yeongdeungpo, Yongsan, Mapo and Dongjak police stations, along with two senior superintendent-level mobile unit commanders, took charge of on-site safety by zone. Traffic was also fully blocked on Yeouidong-ro, from the southern end of Mapo Bridge to the 63 Building, until midnight, and Wonhyo Bridge remained closed to traffic in both directions until 3 a.m. on the 6th.
