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Daejeon gets ready for fireworks festival to celebrate Hanwha Eagles's runner-up finish

Published: 27 Nov. 2025, 14:29

Hanwha Eagles fans cheer during the fifth game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO postseason Korean Series against the LG Twins at Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on Oct. 31. [NEWS1]

The city of Daejeon is preparing safety measures as it braces for a major fireworks festival scheduled for Sunday.

According to the city government on Thursday, the Hanwha Eagles have organized the fireworks festival to commemorate their 40th founding anniversary and runner-up finish in this year’s Korean Series, their first appearance in the championship round in 19 years.

The event will take place at Expo Science Park and the Expo Bridge in Yuseong District, Daejeon, starting at 7:15 p.m. on Sunday.

From 7:15 to 7:25 p.m., the festival will feature a fireworks drone performance accompanied by LED lights. This will be followed by a multimedia fireworks show running until 7:40 p.m. Players from the Hanwha Eagles will also attend the event to hold a fan appreciation event.

Although the Eagles lost the Korean Series to the LG Twins with one win and four losses, the team’s appearance in the finals after nearly two decades was seen as a significant accomplishment.

The festival venue includes some of Daejeon’s major tourist attractions, such as Hanbit Tower, Shinsegae Art & Science, the National Science Museum and the Gapcheon riverside trail.

Daejeon expects as many as 300,000 people to gather in the area. The city government and Hanwha are prioritizing public safety and preparing accordingly. Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo has instructed officials to assume a higher-than-expected turnout and establish thorough safety and traffic measures. He also ordered that manuals from large-scale fireworks festivals held in cities like Seoul and Busan be reviewed to help prepare for crowd control, vehicle restrictions and fire prevention.

“If turnout exceeds expectations, we can’t guarantee safety or manage traffic,” Mayor Lee said.

Hanwha Eagles fans cheer while watching the first game of the 2025 KBO postseason playoff series between the Samsung Lions and Hanwha Eagles at the plaza in front of the National Science Museum in Daejeon on Oct. 18. [YONHAP]

To accommodate visitors, Daejeon will open five public parking lots near the festival site and deploy city officials at major intersections to provide guidance. From 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday, a section of Expo-ro, the road from Shinsegae Department Store to the headquarters of the Innopolis Daedeok, will be closed. Vehicle and pedestrian access to Expo Bridge and Science Bridge — where heavy foot traffic is anticipated — will also be restricted during the fireworks show.

Six city bus routes — Nos. 121, 705, 707, 911, Express 3 and Special District 1 — will be detoured from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. These buses will travel via Daedeok-daero, Dunsan-daero and Yudeung-ro instead of their usual routes. Visitors are advised to take these rerouted buses or Nos. 606 and 618, and walk approximately 10 minutes from stops near the Daejeon Arts Center, Hanbat Arboretum, Natural Heritage Center or Korea Innovation Foundation.

The five public parking lots to be opened include: 400 spaces at the government complex’s civil service building, 165 at the Institute for Basic Science’s visitor parking, 403 in the underground garage at DCC, 734 in DCC2’s underground lot and 1,324 at Dunsan Grand Park. All will be free of charge. The city also plans to crack down on illegal parking and stopping in the vicinity during the event.

“With this being the first fireworks festival in Daejeon, we expect a large crowd,” said Nam Si-deok, head of Daejeon’s transportation bureau. “Heavy congestion is expected, so we urge people to take city buses, the subway or walk to the venue.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM BANG-HYUN [[email protected]]