Leave your car at home: Seoul braces for 1 million visitors at Yeouido fireworks festival this weekend

More than 1 million people are expected to descend on Yeouido Han River Park for the 2026 Seoul International Fireworks Festival this weekend, prompting authorities to impose sweeping traffic restrictions across Yeouido and central Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced Friday that it will enforce road closures in Yeouido and major downtown arteries Saturday and Sunday to minimize congestion and public inconvenience during the fireworks festival and the YTN Seoul Tour Marathon.

The 2026 Seoul International Fireworks Festival opens with a preview event Friday, followed by the main program Saturday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Yeouido area.

Expecting dense crowds, police will fully close Yeouido-dongro — from the southern end of Mapo Bridge to the 63 Building — from 3 p.m. Saturday until midnight. At six points including Yeoui-naruro, limited access will be permitted for residents of nearby apartment complexes and official event vehicles only.

Wonhyo Bridge will be closed to all traffic in both directions from 9 a.m. Saturday until 3 a.m. Sunday to allow for the installation and removal of fireworks equipment.

Police will also conduct intensive enforcement along Han River bridges and the riverside expressways — the Gangbyeon Expressway and Olympic Expressway — towing illegally parked vehicles to keep traffic moving.

After the festival ends, one lane each on Mapo Bridge and Han River Bridge will be converted into pedestrian walkways to accommodate the surge of people heading home.

On Sunday, the YTN Seoul Tour Marathon will run from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The race starts at Seoul City Hall Plaza and follows a course through Sejong-daero, Jongno, Euljiro and Cheonggyecheon-ro before looping back via Mugyo-ro.

Police will close the stretch of Sejong-daero between Sejong Intersection and Heunginjimun Intersection from 6:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., and the section between Sejong Intersection and Sungnyemun Intersection from 6:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.

The section between Euljiro 1-ga Intersection and Euljiro 3-ga Intersection will be closed from 7:40 a.m. to 9:10 a.m., while Cheonggyecheon-ro will be restricted from 7:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Over the weekend, police will deploy about 1,610 traffic officers and designated safe-driving volunteers to manage vehicle detours and keep traffic flowing.

Motorists can check real-time traffic conditions through the Seoul Metropolitan Government's traffic information portal Topis, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's traffic information hotline at 02-700-5000, the traffic information center website at www.spatic.go.kr, or the Seoul Police Traffic Information KakaoTalk channel.