A highly-anticipated K-Pop festival in Vietnam has come under fire for its failure to fulfill organization requirements.
The 2-day event, 'K-Pop Festival Open Air #2', was scheduled to take place from December 23-24 at the My Dinh National Stadium in Vietnam. Day 1's lineup featured K-Pop artists such as Highlight, INFINITE, Super Junior D&E, EXO's Chen and Xiumin, TRI.BE, and The Wind, while the day 2 lineup consisted of Highlight, Jaejoong, 2PM's Nichkhun and Jun.K, MAMAMOO+, EXO's Chanyeol, Raiden, TRI.BE, and The Wind.
However, beginning on December 20 KST, several of the performing artists, beginning with INFINITE, began pulling out of the event, citing "non-compliance" on the part of the organizers as well as the "unclear status local permits" as reasons for the abrupt decision. According to a statement by Around US Entertainment, the event organizer repeatedly failed to fulfill obligations outlined by a performance contract with the artists.
So far, artists including INFINITE, Highlight, The Wind, Jaejoong, TRI.BE, and 2PM's Nichkhun and Jun.K have confirmed the cancellation of their appearances at the event.
While the event's main organizer, BOM Entertainment, has yet to make an official announcement regarding the continuation of the event, many fans speculate that the entire performance will soon be cancelled before the scheduled dates arrive.
Many netizens warned fellow K-Pop fans to exercise caution when large-scale K-Pop events organized by inexperienced organizers, expressing concerns for some fans who may have already traveled abroad to Vietnam to see their artists.
Yup, not even bothering to obtaining a permit is a surefire way to get the artists to cancel.
There was a good amount of star power there too, very unfortunate for the fans who were looking forward to this.