Hahoe Seonyu Line Fireworks, a traditional Korean fireworks display, is held every week from September to November every year in Hahoe Village, Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do. The festival has not been held recently because of COVID-19 but resumed this year after a three year hiatus.

   The fireworks festival, held every Saturday since late August, is also held on Oct. 22, 29, and Nov.15. The festival is held 17 times to promote the traditional culture of Andong, a tourist hub city. The fireworks display is held from 6 p.m. when the sun begins to set, while the moderator provides a description of this event before 6 p.m.

   Seonyu Line Fireworks is a traditional fireworks display that is viewed from Buyongdae Cliff to Hahoe Village across the Nakdonggang River. People can enjoy “Julbul,” a traditional way of lighting a fire by hanging a knotted rope on the river, and ‘Seonyu’, a boating game for aristocrats.

   On top of the river, there is also a ‘Yeonhwa’, which is lit by cotton coated with oil in hundreds of eggshells. ‘Yeonhwa’ has the meaning of a “flower-shaped fire” in Korea.

   When the fireworks reach their peak, a ‘falling flower’ performance is held where fireworks fall from the 64m-long cliffs of Buyongdae. At this time, the white sand beach along the Nakdonggang River in front of Hahoe Village is filled with thousands of visitors who want to watch Seonyu Line Fireworks.

   This year’s Seonyu Line Fireworks will also hold performances such as dances on a ship during ignition time, where dancers wear hanbok, a traditional Korean costume, and dance to classic songs.

   The event will run a shuttle bus for tourists to and from the Hahoe Village parking lot. The shuttle bus runs from 9 a.m. until about an hour after the event, and the last bus takes tourists to the downtown area of Andong.

   Hahoe Seonyu Line Fireworks was selected as the target of next year’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Discovery and fostering project selected by the Cultural Heritage Administration last month.

More detailed information can be found on the Andong Hahoe Village website.: http://www.hahoe.or.kr/coding/sub3/sub2.asp.