Suho, B.I, BamBam, Hyolyn and more: Indian K-pop fans gear up for multiple concerts

This weekend, Kounain Fatima (Kushi) and her friends are set to head to Bengaluru for their first K-pop concert experience at the K-Wave Festival. “I am really excited to see my favorite musicians perform,” says the 20-year-old Chennai native.

For fans of all things South Korean music, 2024 has been a phenomenal year. While South Korean indie-rock band The Rose and Korean-American singer Eric Nam kicked off this year with performances at Mumbai’s Lollapalooza, there are many other exciting performances lined up. This weekend, K-pop group EXO’s Suho and singer Hyolyn are scheduled to perform at the K-Wave festival in Mumbai and Bengaluru on October 18 and 20, respectively; An announcement that pleased many in September. Meanwhile, there are four big names heading to the K-Town festival in Mumbai on December 14 – EXO members Chen and Xiumin, BI (Kim Hanbin), and GOT7’s BamBam. This year the Cherry Blossom Festival in Shillong will host SuperM’s Lucas.

For long-time K-pop fans in India, this upcoming line-up of acts featuring multiple A-list artists is nothing short of a dream. Nikita Anghepi, co-founder of Pink Box Entertainment, who is working on artist coordination for the K-Wave festival, recalls how when she started working in this field almost a decade ago, things were very different . “When we started, our goal was to make sure there was more conversation about K-pop, to expose more artists, to interest more people and event organizers and to show them that K-pop is happening in India. There is a market for pop. Looking at how 2024 is shaping up, it looks like our approach has succeeded,” she says.

One of the first to delve into the K-pop concert culture in India, Nikta was instrumental in bringing singer DEBIT to India in early 2015, and brought K-pop groups MONT and KARD to the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland in 2018 and 2019. .

“When you’re trying to build a market, you can’t bring in the biggest musicians right away. Things are becoming easier now, agencies and artists are starting to recognize that there is a market here. For example, we’re now working with SM Entertainment to bring Suho, and it’s clear that big companies are now looking at India, seeing how K-pop is becoming a big force here, ” she says.

The venue is definitely exciting, says Anmol Kukreja, founder and CEO of Skillbox, which is organizing the K-Wave festival in the two cities. “The focus of the K-Wave Festival is not just on music, but also on authentic experiences based on Korea – with food, desserts, mocktail stations, workshops and more,” he says.

While around 2,000 people attended the festival in Bengaluru last year, Anmol says he expects double the number of attendees this year.

changing trends

In 2023, when K-pop group GOT7 member Jackson Wang came to perform at Lollapalooza India with his ‘Magic Man’ concert, he was greeted by a crowd of fans at the Mumbai airport. Hours before their performance, fans lined up near the barricades for the best view, and exchanged photocards and posters. “It’s one thing to say that there is immense power of streaming on music platforms in India, but will you also see music festivals in large numbers? We didn’t have much evidence for this until Jackson Wang came to India to focus on the post-pandemic K-pop boom,” says Riddhi Chakraborty, founder and CEO of Bridge Asia, a creative media agency , which currently works primarily with K-pop stars to expand their presence in India.

Attending K-pop concerts always feels like a community activity, says Riddhi. “There is a lot that is unique to K-pop fandom, and people have made friends through their shared love for these artists. Over the years, for K-pop fans here, it doesn’t matter how big or small the artists are. They have traditionally come out to support them because they are grateful to see these artists coming to India,” she explains.

BI (Hanbin) will perform on stage in 2023. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Riddhi, a journalist who covers K-pop extensively, says that artists have come to India before, but not as many A-listers. She says the stacked lineup for the coming months comes as no surprise to her. “Viewership is continuously increasing. Whereas in the past the audience was very young, there is now an older audience that is willing to spend money on concert experiences, and parents of young fans are also much more aware of K-pop,” she says. .

While Indian fans have traditionally traveled to nearby countries to see their favorite K-pop acts perform, this upcoming series of artists could mean the opposite going forward. For K-Town 2.0, the Korean cultural and music festival to be held in Mumbai during December, tickets have been booked by fans from Bangladesh, Thailand, Dubai and even the US. “For our first edition in February this year, we had attendees from Japan. We expected a total turnout of around 1,000 people and around 2,500 people participated,” says Sheetal Sikarwar, Founder and CEO, TANI Events.

Having initially worked on bootcamps, workshops and mentorship camps in the region, Sheetal says she organized the first edition of the festival even though she was a little skeptical as to whether the K-community would show up. “We were blown away by the response and we are expecting a three-fold increase in the number of attendees for the upcoming edition,” she says. Apart from the big names in music, Sheetal says she has a range of experiences across the board. which include photo booths and Korean food as part of the festivities.

Judging by the upcoming promising lineup of Korean acts, things can only get bigger next year, and Sheetal agrees. “Big cast and multiple cities are being planned. We’re excited for what’s to come,” she says.