Hanwha fireworks festival set for Sept. 5, with teams from Korea, US and UK

Hanwha announced Thursday that it will hold the "Seoul International Fireworks Festival 2026 with Hanwha" at Yeouido Han River Park on Sept. 5.

The company moved the event up from late September — when last year's festival was held — to early September, taking into account the Chuseok holiday period and demand from foreign tourists.

Three national teams will participate in this year's festival: Hanwha representing South Korea, alongside teams from the United States and the United Kingdom. Each team will showcase fireworks displays reflecting their country's distinct style and pyrotechnic technology.

Hanwha also plans to strengthen safety management at this year's event. The company will deploy about 4,700 safety and crowd-control personnel in total — the largest such force in the festival's history — including 1,200 Hanwha employee volunteers on the eve of the event and on the day itself.

To help disperse crowds, the company will use Orange Safety, a real-time crowd density monitoring system operated in partnership with a mobile carrier. Zone-by-zone CCTV cameras installed around the outer edges of Yeouido, on Wonhyo Bridge and in the Mapo and Ichon areas will allow organizers to track pedestrian movement in real time and strengthen on-site response.

"This year we are preparing a more diverse event by adding new fireworks displays and cultural and tourism programs," a Hanwha official said. "We will do our utmost to deliver a festival of quality with safety as our top priority."