Hanwha moves up 2026 Seoul Fireworks Festival to early September

Hanwha Corp. will hold the Seoul International Fireworks Festival on Sept. 5, more than three weeks earlier than last year, the company said Thursday, citing the Chuseok holiday and demand from foreign tourists as reasons for the shift. The festival, held annually at Yeouido Hangang Park along the Han River since 2000, ran on Sept. 27 last year. Hanwha moved this year's date to early September to avoid overlapping with Chuseok, Korea's autumn harvest holiday and one of its biggest travel periods, and to better align with the tourist season, the company said. Fireworks teams representing Korea, the United States and Britain will take part this year, each showcasing techniques distinct to their respective countries. Hanwha said it is stepping up safety measures for the event, deploying a record 4,700 safety and crowd control personnel, including 1,200 company employee volunteers, across the festival's eve and the main event day. The company will also use "Orange Safety," a real-time crowd-density monitoring tool developed with mobile carriers, to help manage crowd flow, along with CCTV came