The Polar Bears Are Back! ... The 36th Haeundae Polar Bear Festival Held

December 14-16 at Haeundae Beach: Exhibition, Performances, Runway Show, Challenges, and Experience Zone Programs

'Winter Sea Entry Ceremony' Held Normally for the First Time in 3 Years... Human Polar Bears Begin Entry After Performances

Busan City announced that the "36th Haeundae Polar Bear Festival" will be held for three days from the 14th to December 16th around Haeundae Beach.

Poster for the 36th Haeundae Polar Bear Festival.

The Haeundae Polar Bear Festival is Busan's representative winter festival held annually to challenge the extreme by entering the cold winter sea and to promote health for the year. It is hosted by Busan Ilbo and sponsored by Busan City and Haeundae-gu.

This year's festival consists of various programs including ▲exhibition events ▲eve events ▲celebratory performances ▲unique sports competitions ▲challenges ▲experience zones, offering participants and tourists the fun and memories of a unique winter festival.

On the first day of the festival, the 14th, exhibition events such as the Giant Snowball Photo Zone and the Haeundae Polar Bear Character Photo Zone will be held. The photo zones will be open until the 16th, creating a winter festival atmosphere along with the nearby Haeundae Light Festival sculptures.

On the second day, December 15th, at 7 p.m., the eve event will take place. The eve event includes the unique runway show "Haeundae Polar Bear PERPET SHOW," featuring pets and their owners, and the "Haeundae Polar Bear MUSIC PARTY," both of which are open for free viewing by citizens and tourists.

The main event kicks off on the 16th at 1 p.m. with the "1km Accompanying Swim." The accompanying swim is a group swimming event where swimmers who have professionally learned swimming participate as clubs or associations.

Following this, participants and tourists will enjoy the "Polar Bear Running Race," where runners wear polar bear masks, and the "Unique Entry Contest," which features various entry performances into the water.

This year, the winter sea entry ceremony will be held normally for the first time in three years. After fiery performances by 'Cyberger' and 'Sani' raise participants' spirits and the festival atmosphere, warm-up exercises will begin, followed by the human polar bears entering the water.

In 2021, the ceremony was canceled due to COVID-19, and in 2022, it was canceled due to bad weather, but this year the winter sea entry ceremony will be held normally after three years.

Participants who finish the entry can take commemorative photos at the "Certification Photo Zone." The festival plans to present a spectacular scene of a unique winter festival to participants and tourists.

Park Geun-rok, Director of the Tourism MICE Bureau, said, "We ask for the citizens' great interest and participation in this well-planned Haeundae Polar Bear Festival, which includes various experience programs, exhibition events, and performances."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.