Here am I. Send me!: Busan International Firework Festival!!

Before moving to Busan and even before putting Busan as my preference of location in Korea, I did research. I tried to learn some about different places throughout Korea before making a decision. When I read about Busan, one thing I was interested in was the International Firework Festival that is every October. It sounded amazing and the pictures were gorgeous. Now, I didn't choose Busan just because of the Firework Festival but it was definitely something I was looking forward too.

The day before the festival though my co-teacher told me that there was a project 1.5 million people expected to be on Gwangalli Beach for the festival. Not going to lie, it made me rethink for a moment if I really wanted to hang out in a crowd that large on a beach not that big. But the answer was still a yes. The Firework Festival was Saturday, October 26th. I taught that morning and then went to Korean class. After Korean class, Nicole and I headed to the beach to meet up with Monique who graciously had gone ahead and saved some beach space for us. Nicole and I arrived at 3 and the fireworks didn't actually start until 8. We had several hours to hang out at the beach. I brought Phase 10 and Jungle Speed. We played both! Nicole loved Jungle Speed which makes me super happy since it is one of my all-time favorite games and now I have someone in Korea who will play it with me:)

All in all, it was a fun afternoon hanging out with friends. The most memorable part of the day until the festivities started was the trip to the convenient store for food. First the area, we were in was sectioned off. This thankfully meant that it was closed to new people trying to squeeze onto any space they could find on the beach. It meant we had plenty of room and were not packed in like sardines. However, getting in and out of this space proved difficult. First you had to get a stamp. Without a stamp you would not be allowed into the area. The pathway in and out was pretty small, especially for the number of people moving in and out. Getting out wasn't so bad. Getting back in was. It was wall to wall people. You were packed in like sardines and there was very little movement. The people sitting on the sides of the place were getting knocked around and people were beginning to fall day because of all the pushing. Eventually I started to replace people moving out. I made it through and knew I would not leave again until after it was over. To walk less than 20 feet took probably 10-15 minutes. It was ridiculous.

Before the fireworks, they had some kind of concert. It was all in Korean so we continued to play games from the light of the buildings. However, at some point they had this one part that had people suspended from the side of the building dancing. They were doing double and triple front flips on the side of a building. Some even zip-lined down the side. It was pretty amazing.

Finally, it was time for the fireworks! The fireworks were backdropped by the Gwangan Bridge. Itw as a beautiful setting. They were also set to music. Literally, 2 minutes in I started wishing for my family to come visit me in October so I could share this with them. Getting there early enough to have beach space made the night worthwhile because we had a beautiful view and didn't feel like we were surrounded by 1.5 million people. I loved them.

After the fireworks, we headed to a coffee shop to warm up and wait for the crowds to dissipate some. About an hour after they finished, we made our way to the subway. The initial plan was to take a bus but traffic was at a standstill and there wasn't a bus in sight. However, the subway was packed but not unbearable. The hardest part of getting home was getting from Seomyeon (where I got off the train at) to my house. I made it in time for the last bus but it was so packed that people were only allowed to get on at the exit door and others were helping to pull them up and hold them onto the top step so they could close the door. I wasn't about to get on that bus. But then I had to find a taxi. I waited and waited and waited. Finally I walked back towards the subway. My side of the road didn't have any empty taxis going by but the other side of the road did. Eventually I crossed the street and got in a taxi willing to pay the extra to have the taxi driver turn around. I don't think he was too happy about it but at that point I was just ready to get home!

I loved the firework festival! You can tell by the number of pictures I took! Enjoy an overwhelming about of photos!

The area of the beach we were at. Somewhere middle left was Monique saving us a piece of beach.

People to the left of us.

People in front of us and Gwangan Bridge. The eye looking thing is a screen that was used for the festival. It was also a stage like barge. The barges to the right of the picture were used to set off fireworks.

People to the right of us as well as another stage and screen. there are 4 barges in the picture used to set off fireworks.

Many more people to the right of us!

People behind us.

And more people behind us!

This is the building that people were suspended and dancing from. They mostly were on the round section of the building. There is a person on the top left practicing at the time I took this picture.

Random camels parading down the road!

They were pretty big. And of course we have no clue why they were there since we don't speak Korean :)

So this was the line of people trying to get out. I had just made it back through. My friend Andy is in this picture trying to make it out. His is the only face you can see on the right side.

A closer view of the line. In the back of the picture you can see I guy with a grey and red jacket. He is on the stairs where they were checking for stamps.

A closer view of the barge and screen.

I wish this picture would have turned out. It says Busan International Film Festival.

Getting closer to time. The bridge is lit up now!

Light up suits and suspended from a building, why not dance! There were 3 people on this section of the building eventually. In total there were 6 people that were part of this.

And it starts!!!!!!

One day I will learn how to take better pictures. One day....

This is one of my favorite pictures!

Sparkly fireworks. They were pretty incredible.

So many fireworks!!!

This is another one of my favorites.

And another favorite!

The white things are remote controlled flying birds. One was launched right in front of us. Eventually they even had fireworks coming off of them.

Birds with fireworks!

I like this one a lot too!

If this one was in focus I would love it! :( I've got to get better at taking pictures.

So pretty!

This part is called the water fall. The fireworks were falling off the side of the bridge like a water all. This were in color and later it was done again in white. My pictures don't do it justice because it really looked like a water fall. It was gorgeous. I like the white one the best.