Busan to hold wartime-capital heritage night festival

A scene from the 2025 Busan Wartime Capital National Heritage Night festival [Busan city government]

Busan city will hold the 2026 Busan Wartime Capital National Heritage Night festival over two days — Friday and Saturday — at Yeongdo Bridge and Yurari Square, the city announced Monday.

Since 2016, the city has organized the annual nighttime cultural heritage event drawing on the history of Busan, which served as South Korea's wartime capital for 1,023 days during the Korean War. The program features nighttime tours, hands-on experiences and performances.

This year's edition is timed to coincide with the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee session. The city hopes the event will raise awareness of the global significance of Busan's wartime-capital heritage both at home and abroad, while building public support for the ongoing bid to have the sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Held under the theme "Busan, City of Memory — Walking the Legacy of Emotion," the festival runs from 5 to 10 p.m. each day, offering 20 programs across eight thematic tracks that let visitors walk, see, hear and experience the history and cultural heritage of wartime-capital Busan firsthand.

The lineup includes nighttime tours of wartime heritage sites such as the Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum and the Busan Meteorological Observatory, an eco-friendly plogging run, a history talk concert and a fairy-tale theater performance designed to appeal to all ages. A musical co-created by local artists and residents, street performances, and an exhibition and performance by young artists recreating Mildawon — a celebrated café of the wartime era — will also be featured.

A highlight on Saturday evening will be a media façade projected onto Yeongdo Bridge during its nighttime drawbridge lift at 8 p.m., with light installations evoking the history and significance of Busan as a wartime capital. Yurari Square and key wartime heritage sites will be decorated with traditional lanterns and other nighttime lighting, along with photo zones.

To help revitalize the original city center — the heart of Busan's wartime-capital heritage — the city will also run a community partnership program involving local small businesses. Flea market stalls and food booths operated by local vendors will be set up, and visitors who show proof of dining at a restaurant in Jung-gu or staying at least one night at a Busan accommodation will receive a commemorative gift.

kaf2002@heraldcorp.com