Busan Sea Festival, city's largest summer festival canceled

The Busan Sea Festival, the city’s largest summer festival, has been canceled this year due to coronavirus concerns.

Now in its 25th year, the festival which takes place at five of Busan’s beaches has become a staple of the holiday week in Korea.

The city of Busan believes that concerns about community infections including in the Seoul Metropolitan area are still a concern and that citizens’ lives and safety are the top priority.

The festival was scheduled to be held from August 1st to August 5th.

In the event that COVID-19 infections continue, the government is in principle required to postpone and cancel various events that are unnecessary, and in the case of beaches, it is recommended to ban events that increase the risk of infectious diseases due to crowded contact by users.

“I hope that citizens will understand that the event was canceled due to concerns about spreading and securing citizens’ safety in the current situation of the spread of regional infections,” Cho Yong-rae, director of the Tourism and Mice Industry Bureau of Busan City, said.

The city decided to cancel the event in consideration of various circumstances, including resolving the concerns of citizens and preventing the spread of COVID-19 after discussion with the Busan Culture and Tourism Festival Organizing Committee.

The 2020 Busan International Rock Festival was also canceled by the city this week.