'My cat had a seizure': Seoul fireworks leave neighbors contending with noise, trash and pollution

While the Seoul International Fireworks Festival brought cheers and excitement to hundreds of thousands of spectators, nearby residents were left to contend with the less festive side of the spectacle — noise, trash and air pollution.

At 1 a.m. on Sunday at Yeouido Hangang Park in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, people were still lingering more than three hours after the official events of this year’s Seoul International Fireworks Festival had ended the previous night.

The festival took place on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. this year, with the main shows running from 8 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. Attractions were also held the day before the show for the first time.

As visitors were slow to leave, trash remained scattered throughout the park into the early hours.

Some 1,300 people from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Future Hangang Project Headquarters, outside contractors and Hanwha Group, the festival organizer, worked through the night to clean up the site. But some visitors left disposable picnic mats behind or tossed empty plastic bottles into grassy areas.

Hundreds of thousands of people flock to the Han River area for the fireworks festival each year. The event has become one of Seoul’s signature festivals and is eagerly anticipated by many, but nearby residents also face inconveniences from trash and pollution, while large numbers of personnel, including police officers, are mobilized for the event, adding to its social costs.

Calls have persisted for measures to mitigate the impact on local residents and address waste and environmental concerns.

About 49 metric tons (54 U.S. tons) of trash and 3,360 liters (888 gallons) of food waste were collected from Yeouido and Ichon Hangang parks over the two-day festival on Friday and Saturday, according to the Future Hangang Project Headquarters. The figures cover only waste collected within the Hangang parks, which suggests the actual amount of trash generated was likely higher.

Hanwha covers the full cost of disposing of waste generated within the festival grounds, according to the company and the Seoul city government. But the problem extends beyond the festival site. Trash could easily be spotted along the roadsides just a five-minute walk from Hangang Park. Cigarette butts and beer cans were also discarded near apartment complexes and the entrances of middle and high schools around the venue.

Nearby residents complained about the noise.

“The thunder-like booms continued for more than an hour, and my cat became so stressed that it even had a seizure,” said Jang Ye-eun, a resident of Dongjak District in southern Seoul. “I live about 1.3 kilometers [0.8 miles] from the fireworks festival venue, but the impact is still significant.”

A resident surnamed Kim, who lives about 5 kilometers from the venue, also expressed frustration.

“Before the fireworks festival, they put up banners around the neighborhood that basically say, ‘It’s going to be noisy, but bear with it,’” Kim said. “It feels like existing residents are not considered at all for the sake of a brief bit of entertainment.”

Concerns have also been raised about air pollution after the fireworks.

At 10 p.m. on Saturday, immediately after the event, the concentration of ultrafine particulate matter in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, reached 121 micrograms per cubic meter, a level classified as very bad, while fine particulate matter reached 148 micrograms per cubic meter, classified as bad.

Those levels were 11 times and nine times the Seoul averages at the same time, when ultrafine particulate matter stood at 11 micrograms per cubic meter and fine particulate matter at 16 micrograms per cubic meter, respectively. At around 1 a.m. on Sunday, ultrafine particulate matter reached 105 micrograms per cubic meter in the Singil-dong area of Yeongdeungpo District.

The large police presence required each year for crowd control is another social cost associated with the festival.

An estimated 530,000 people gathered in the Yeouido area over the two days, according to police, while organizers estimated attendance at 1 million.

About 4,700 police officers, including personnel from 51 mobile police units and 28 metropolitan patrol teams, were deployed during the period to manage crowds and respond to emergency calls, police said.

Hanwha has described the Seoul International Fireworks Festival as one of its flagship social contribution programs in its annual sustainability reports. The company, however, does not disclose specific figures on the amount of pyrotechnic material used at the festival or its greenhouse gas emissions.

Experts say the success of large-scale festivals should be assessed not only by their economic benefits but also by their environmental and social costs.

“Large-scale festivals draw huge crowds, so the inconvenience and social costs that local residents must bear from overtourism can be just as significant as the economic benefits,” said Son Shin-wook, an associate research fellow at the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute. “Organizers need to look beyond managing the event site itself and consider measures such as tracking carbon emissions or finding ways to give back to the local community.”

BY NOH YU-RIM [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]