Rungrado 1st of May Stadium

Situated on Rungra Island in the Taedong River, the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium is a prominent multi-purpose venue in Pyongyang, North Korea. Construction began in 1986, and the stadium officially opened on May 1, 1989, to coincide with International Workers' Day and serve as the primary site for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. Its distinctive architectural design features sixteen scalloped arches arranged in a ring, creating a silhouette often compared to a parachute or a blooming flower. The stadium serves as the home ground for the North Korea national football team and has hosted various athletic competitions and state events throughout its history. In 2014, the venue underwent a significant two-year renovation that replaced traditional bench seating with individual bucket seats, which reduced its official capacity from its original estimate of 150,000 to approximately 114,000. Despite this change, it remains one of the largest stadiums in the world by capacity. Beyond standard sporting events, the stadium is internationally recognized as the primary venue for the Arirang Festival, a massive gymnastics and artistic performance. It also gained historical notoriety for hosting the Collision in Korea professional wrestling event in 1995, which drew record-breaking crowds over two nights. Today, the stadium continues to function as a central hub for both national sports and large-scale political and cultural spectacles.