"Pohang International Fireworks Festival Evaluation Meeting: Achieved Both Fun and Economic Benefits"

Korea's Leading Culture and Tourism Festival: 2024 Pohang International Fireworks Festival Evaluation Meeting

1,000 Firework Drones, Largest Light Content Development in Korea, 330,000 Visitors

On the 12th, Pohang City held the '2024 Pohang International Fire & Light Festival Evaluation Meeting' in the main conference room of City Hall, presided over by Vice Mayor Jang Sanggil.

Pohang International Fireworks Festival Poster.

The meeting was attended by around 60 people from various sectors, including related departments, the Pohang Cultural Foundation, sponsors, related organizations, volunteer groups, and general citizens. The event proceeded with a screening of festival highlight videos, a report on the evaluation and comprehensive results, followed by a discussion on development strategies.

To ensure an objective evaluation of the festival, the city conducted a comprehensive assessment not only through professional analysis agencies but also in collaboration with the Pohang Cultural Foundation, the main organizer, and Hanwha, which was responsible for the overall direction of the fireworks display.

This year's Pohang International Fire & Light Festival received high praise for significantly boosting its brand power nationwide by revamping its main content to highlight 'fire' and 'light,' symbols of Pohang, a world-renowned steel city.

In particular, the festival featured Korea's largest 'Fire & Light Drone Show' using 1,000 fireworks drones and the nation's only 'International Fireworks Competition.' Citizens were able to directly vote via an app for their favorite team among three overseas participants (China, Australia, and the United Kingdom), with the Chinese team?known for its spectacular fireworks?being chosen as the winner, resulting in high satisfaction with this fresh festival experience.

Along with the increased interest, the festival drew a crowd of about 330,000 people over three days from May 31 to June 2, marking a more than 10% increase from last year. Proving the festival's popularity, 49.4% of all visitors were from outside the region, and the revisit rate among attendees was 67.3%, indicating a high level of visitor loyalty and drawing significant attention.

Furthermore, the evaluation results once again confirmed that the Pohang International Fire & Light Festival is a leading economic festival representing the city. Economic impact indicators showed a direct economic effect of 18 billion KRW and an indirect effect of 88.5 billion KRW, an increase of more than 23% compared to the previous year, injecting vitality into the local economy.

For the festival's mid- to long-term development, discussions were suggested on securing sustainability through measures such as ▲traffic management for large crowds ▲diversification of core light-themed content ▲fixing the festival venue ▲and implementing paid seating.

Vice Mayor Jang Sanggil stated, "We will actively reflect the development strategies suggested at the evaluation meeting to further develop the Pohang International Fire & Light Festival into a globally renowned event," and added, "I would like to thank everyone who worked to ensure the 2024 Pohang International Fire & Light Festival shined as a global and economic festival without any safety incidents."

Prior to the evaluation meeting, plaques of appreciation were awarded to 25 volunteers, related organizations, and public officials who contributed to the smooth operation and safety management of this large-scale regional festival.

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