Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City to Host “Heritage Night Busan 2025”

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will host “Heritage Night Busan 2025” on August 15 and 16 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Busan Port’s Pier 1 and other locations.

Since 2016, the city has organized this nighttime cultural heritage event, offering viewing, hands-on, and performance programs by utilizing its distinctive historical and cultural assets from the 1,023 days when Busan served as the wartime capital during the Korean War.

This year’s event will center around the “Busan Port Pier 1,” which was designated as a Registered Cultural Heritage site by the city in May 2024. Programs will be held across three areas:
▲ Jung-gu (Busan Port Pier 1–Busan Modern History Museum–Busan Meteorological Observatory)
▲ Busanjin-gu (Busan Citizens Park)
▲ Nam-gu (Woam-dong Somak Village residential area).

Under eight themes related to “Heritage Night Busan,” a total of 20 programs will offer visitors a special summer night’s outing imbued with emotional resonance. Featured activities include:
▲ Media façade “A Midsummer Night’s Time Travel: Back to the Wartime Capital”
▲ Nightscape illumination “The 1,023-Day Journey of Light”
▲ Special nighttime opening “Night of the Wartime Capital”
▲ Educational program “1,023 Children’s Tent School”
▲ Immersive experience with reenactors “Memories of the Wartime Capital Busan.”

In celebration of the 10th anniversary, new performances will be presented in collaboration with local artists, including:
▲ Opening performance featuring mascots from the city and four heritage-related districts
▲ “Chorus of Peace” by the United Nations Memorial Cemetery Boys and Girls Choir
▲ Silent film narration theater (Byeonsa-geuk)*
▲ Original musical depicting an era of peace reunited in Busan after the wartime evacuation.

*Byeonsa-geuk: A theatrical performance similar to melodrama created by narrators of silent films after the advent of sound films.

The opening event will exclude official ceremonies and VIP-centered programs, focusing instead on visitor participation. ESG-based programs reflecting environmental and inclusive values will also be offered, such as:
▲ “Plogging” clean-up runs
▲ “1,023 Wartime Walk” for carbon reduction
▲ Partnerships with Culture Nuri Card-affiliated stores.

To revitalize the original downtown, the city will also promote local co-prosperity programs with small business owners in heritage areas. These include:
▲ “Mildaweon Café” with the local Senior Club
▲ “Smart Shopper Neighborhood Store Hunt,” which offers souvenirs to participants who present receipts from local businesses
▲ “Geumsuni & Geumdong’s Guesthouse,” which provides a welcome kit to visitors staying at local accommodations for one night or more.

Further details about the event can be found on the official “Heritage Night Busan” website (busan-heritage-night.com). During the event, the Busan Modern History Museum and Busan Citizens Park History Museum will remain open until 10 p.m.

Cho Yu-jang, Director of the Culture Bureau, said, “This year’s Heritage Night Busan will provide an opportunity for citizens and visitors to experience and connect with the historical value of Busan as the wartime capital. It will also serve as a significant step toward revitalizing the original downtown and fostering public consensus for inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage site.”