Tickets for traditional fire art performance sells out in under a minute

Tickets for this year’s Haman Nakhwa Nori — a nakhwa, or traditional Korean fire art, performance — in South Gyeongsang sold out within a minute of opening, local officials said on Monday.

The May 24 event, which coincides with Buddha’s Birthday this year, will operate on a reservation-only basis, with a total capacity for 5,800 visitors, according to Haman County.

Haman Nakhwa Nori, now in its 33rd year, draws visitors from across the country.

The festival dates back to the 16th century during the reign of King Seonjo of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Experts believe that Jeong Gu, the then-magistrate of Haman, started the event to pray for residents’ well-being and for a plentiful harvest.

Records in the “Haman Chongsaerok,” written by Oh Hoeng-muk, who served as magistrate during King Gojong’s reign, indicate that the event took place around Haman-eupseong, where large crowds gathered on the fortress walls to watch.

The event stopped during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule, but residents of Goehang Village revived it in 1960.

On the day of the event, members of the Haman Nakhwa Nori preservation society ride rafts onto a pond and light nakhwa sticks suspended above the water.

Visitors watch streams of sparks fall over the pond for about two hours as traditional Korean music plays in the background.

Reservations for 4,000 seats opened on the ticketing platform Yes24 at 10 a.m. last Wednesday and sold out in under a minute. Approximately 27,000 users accessed the site as soon as reservations opened, with the peak number of concurrent users reaching roughly 59,000.

The county set aside 800 seats for locals, recruiting participants on a first-come, first-served basis, starting on March 23. Another 1,000 seats went to donors who contributed at least 100,000 won ($66) to a hometown donation program. The donors were able to reserve their seats through a separate event, which opened at 1 a.m. last Thursday and also sold out in minutes, with 760 people logging in simultaneously as soon as the reservation time frame began. Each user could reserve two to four tickets.

The rapid sellout of both general reservations and donation-linked tickets led to a surge in inquiries and complaints.

“We are limiting attendance to 5,800 people and requiring reservations in advance to ensure a safe and comfortable environment,” a county official said. “We have received requests to extend the event period, but budget constraints and the need to align the event with Buddha’s Birthday make that difficult.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]