BENGALURU: Kpop fans in the city who’ve longed for years to see their favourite idols perform live: the wait is finally over. Suho, the leader of internationally known boy group, EXO, and Hyolyn, a popular solo artiste and former member of SISTAR, will take the stage with the catchy tunes and choreography that the genre is known for.
Performing an hour-long set at K-Wave Festival happening on Sunday, they will be showcasing some of their chart-topping hits alongside new music. All India K-pop contest winners, Helix, and city-based cover group, Serein, will open for the headliners.
“The audience is totally crazy about the fact that Suho is coming to perform in Bengaluru. They weren’t expecting such huge artistes to ever perform in India,” says Siddhant Ranjan, the marketing lead of SkillBox, the organisers of the festival.
Apart from performances, activities like random play dance, a popular fan-event where groups of people dance to choreographies of randomly played K-pop songs, have been organised. A ‘K-Alley’ marketplace will feature all things Korean where visitors will take their pick of the latest in K-fashion, K-beauty and official K-pop merchandise while enjoying delicious treats like Korean corn dogs and bubble tea from 15 authentic Korean food stalls.
The idea was to bring all of K-culture under one roof and interest from Bengalureans is only growing. Anmol Kukreja, the CEO of SkillBox, says, “Seeing the growing interest in Korean culture in India, be it movies, dramas or music, we wanted to bring the entire K-pop culture,music and creativity together into one place. We are expecting the footfall to double this year – at least 3,000 to 3,500 people in Bengaluru.”
(The event is taking place on Oct 20, at Phoenix Marketcity, Whitefield. Tickets are priced at Rs 2,500 onwards)