Jeju’s annual fire festival may have an origin in traditional culture but it’s a thoroughly modern event now. The event is timed to coincide with the first full moon of the lunar calender and traditionally local people would start fires in the fields at this time of year in order to burn off old grass and kill vermin. In the modern version, setting fire to the hillside of Saebyeol Oreum is accompanied by fireworks and a laser show and performances on stage. The event attracts huge crowds and quite rightly so – this is pyrotechnics on a grand scale.
Notes from a Korean island 