Haman Nakhwa Festival online reservations open Wednesday

Online reservations for this year’s Haman Nakhwa Festival will be available from Wednesday on Yest24 Ticket's website.

Haman County in South Gyeongsang Province, home to the Mujinjeong Pavilion and the annual Nakhwa Festival, had announced in early March that online reservations would be required to attend this year's festival.

This is the first time online reservations are being taken since the festival was launched in 1985. Last year, the county came under heavy criticism for a lack of preparation when more than 50,000 people descended on the venue, causing heavy traffic, internet disruptions and a temporary halt in the service of KakaoTalk, Korea's largest mobile messenger app.

While the first 6,000 tickets were released on the online reservation site Naver Booking on March 13, another 6,000 tickets will be available at Yes24 Ticket from Wednesday. The reservation site is available in Korean only.

A total of 16,000 spectators, including 4,000 Haman residents, will be able to enjoy this year's two-day Nakhwa Festival on May 14 and 15, according to a Haman County official.

Visitors can make reservations for up to four people and admission is free.

“Admission wristbands will be sent to participants' addresses ... on May 2. Mujinjeong Pavilion will be open from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and visitors without the wristbands will not be able to enter the area," Haman County said in a press release. "Various cultural programs including "nakhwa" pole-making, traditional music performances and walking at Seongsan Fortress, will be available before the fireworks event."

The festival, known as “Nakhwanori,” is a fireworks event where oak charcoal powder wrapped in "hanji," or traditional Korean mulberry paper, is set on fire, creating balls of fire that fall into the pond at Mujinjeong Pavilion.

Though the event was mostly enjoyed by local residents in the past, huge crowds flocked to Haman as the fireworks display went viral after public broadcaster KBS featured it in the travel variety show, “2 Days & 1 Night,” and in the period drama series “Bloody Heart” (2022).