PUBLISHED ONDecember 30, 2024 10:35 AMByYeo Shu HuiSyarifah NadhirahThey flew six hours from China to Singapore for Kino and Wooseok's 30-minute set at Yuewen Music Festival yesterday (Dec 29), but piano teacher Vera Ji and executive Kyul Li didn't get one glimpse of the idols from the South Korean boy band Pentagon.
Due to the heavy downpour as well as lightning warnings, some of the talents scheduled to perform at the open-air event yesterday had their sets cancelled. Apart from Kino and Wooseok, Thai singer-actor Win and local DJ Reiko Zhang also didn't get to perform.
Thai singer-actor Nanon only performed one song.
"We feel so sad now," Vera, 27, told AsiaOne at Siloso Beach, where the event was held, yesterday.
She added: "The event organisers shouldn't have organised it outdoors during this time of the year knowing it's the rainy season."
Kyul, 29, shared: "The organisers should've been prepared. I just think that they didn't have any backup plans. Even if fans wanted to leave (to seek shelter), they were also not sure where to head to. Even these shelters are not enough. I just feel helpless and am thinking of getting a refund."
Both had paid around $320 each for their premium ticket.
The festival, which took place on Dec 28 and 29 and will run its last day on Dec 31, was organised by Yuewen Group, an entertainment platform from China.
AsiaOne waited together with more than 50 concert-goers at Italian restaurant Trapizza, the designated sheltered area for premium ticket-holders, during the downpour from about 4.30pm to 6pm.
Vera had also hoped that all the artistes' sets could be shortened so everyone would have a chance to perform, even if it was just for a song.
Sales executive Abby Chen, who flew in from Taiwan to see Kino and Wooseok, said: "Even if their performance was cancelled, the organisers should have announced it, instead of keeping fans waiting. They only announced when the next performance would start, but did not state that the earlier performances were cancelled."
The 28-year-old, who met Vera and Kyul at the event, added: "I want a refund. We came here for them in the first place… and were prepared to leave after Kino and Wooseok's performance."
"The lightning warning can't be helped, but they shouldn't have just cut away all of our artistes' performance time," Kyul added.
The three fans, who told us they are flying off on Dec 30, left the music festival in disappointment shortly after this interview.
They weren't the only ones with grievances. While concert-goers we spoke to and those who commented online understood weather conditions cannot be controlled, they were unhappy with how things were managed and organised.
Nari Byun, who attended the first day of the festival on Dec 28 for the K-pop girl group Kiss of Life, initially thought the event would be a breeze but said things went wrong from the get-go.
"Even though we paid for premium passes, there were only three tables to do our bag checks and no one was ushering us to which lane we should go to, causing people to either cut the queue or push through, and some tables for the body checks to be completely overloaded," said the 24-year-old Indonesian national who is currently residing in Singapore.
She said it was "obvious" the organisers were unprepared for bad weather conditions.
"The first lightning warning was in the middle of Maggie Chiang's set… They kept giving instructions to evacuate the area to a sheltered area for safety, which we did. We were met with security either trying to drag people out or shouting into people's faces if they refused to budge," she recalled.
"When they gave us the green light to go back in, we quickly made our way back to the entrance only to see a long queue."
She said she was stuck outside while the show resumed, and only managed to enter as Kiss of Life was saying their goodbyes.
"I know the weather changes are beyond anyone's control but the entire event was just unorganised and unruly. I hope Yuewen will put up a proper apology and issue us refunds regarding the mess they caused."
AsiaOne also spoke to the Reddit user who called Yuewen Music Festival "the worst event" he's ever attended. He had gone for the first day of the festival.
In his post, he wrote that after the initial lightning warnings and delays, attendees were subjected to 20 minutes of ads before Taiwanese singer Lala Hsu's set, which he felt could have been given to K-pop groups who had to cut their set short.
The Singaporean, who only disclosed his surname Chung, told us: "Sponsors' money is important, but so are the artistes' and patrons' satisfaction. The artistes painstakingly prepared their sets and flew all the way to Singapore only to be told to perform fewer songs than intended."
Singaporean marketing executive Chris Lim went to the first day of the festival and echoed the general sentiment, saying he felt he paid a "premium price for a poorly organised festival" and that the hiccups could've been avoided.
"From what the organisers have put out on their social media accounts, it seems like there's also a lack of accountability for how they failed to meet the expectations of attendees who were looking for a good time, but were instead met with disappointments at every turn," said the 33-year-old, adding that he hoped they will acknowledge the issues and look at "meaningful ways" to compensate affected attendees.
On Dec 29, Yuewen issued a statement on their Instagram account: "Yuewen Music Festival is designed to offer music lovers a unique experience, blending diverse music styles and engaging IPs.
"Due to the recent frequent thunderstorms in Singapore, we need to ensure the safety of all attendees and the quality of the performances. In accordance with local regulations, we have to implement a lightning contingency plan when necessary."
They followed up with a reiteration of their protocol and were berated by netizens in the comments section.
"Wow, not a single sorry for yesterday's mess," wrote one netizen.
"Better make an apology and stop being arrogant thinking you guys did nothing wrong," said another.
Another said their statement felt like a "defensive argument": "The lack of accountability while promoting your event as a fun and successful day is what's pissing everyone off."
AsiaOne has reached out to Yuewen for comment.
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