Except for Badkiz, the rest of the four Korean pop artists including Park Jae-Sang, popularly known as PSY cancelled their visit to Bhutan for the K-Pop super concert today, disappointing fans, mostly students, who had eagerly waited for the artists.

Tourism Council of Bhutan’s (TCB) spokesperson, Damcho Rinzin, said an organising company in Korea informed the organisers – the TCB and Dynasty Co Ltd., in the country that the four Korean artists could not make it for the concert yesterday morning.

“Nevertheless, another five interesting K-Pop artists will perform at the concert,” he said.

Badkiz, Double   Eight, Seven O’clock, Stellar, Classy and Fresh Boyz will be performing at the super concert at the Changlimithang stadium in Thimphu today from 3pm. They landed in Paro yesterday.

Bhutanese local bands like Baby Boomers and IDIOCRAZY will also be performing at today’s concert. The K-pop super concert is a part of the celebration of 30 years of diplomatic relations between Bhutan and the Republic of Korea.

The show is free to Bhutanese and non-Bhutanese working in the country.

Country manager with Dynasty Co Ltd, Wangchen Dradul, in an earlier interview said the public would need to sign up for a free invitation ticket by sending an email to superconcertbhutan@gmail.com and collect the free invitation ticket from TCB office or from a stall near the entrance to the stadium today.

However, after TCB started issuing the free invitation tickets on June 13, all tickets were collected by the third day. For the past four days, there was a huge crowd and a long queue at the TCB’s ticket issuing counter.

Damcho Rinzin said more than 10,000 people came to get the tickets while the stadium can accommodate only about 10,000. Until yesterday, many youth, mostly students in school uniforms were seen waiting at the TCB hoping to get tickets.

A 14-year-old, Sonam Choki, said she knew about the K-pop concert only yesterday from a friend. She was excited to know that her favourite K-pop band, Boys Republic will be performing at the concert and had walked to TCB to get a ticket after school.

“But I went there only to find out that there are no tickets available,” she said disappointed.

Sonam Choki, along with five other friends continue to wait at TCB hoping to get the ticket even after the TCB officials said that there were no tickets available.

“We might be lucky enough to get a ticket, we never know,” she said.

Many schools in the city start their mid-term examination on Monday while some schools have already started. The examination couldn’t stop students like Sonam Choki waiting at the TCB from hoping to get a ticket to watch her favourite K-pop artist perform.

Kezang Dema, 22, came all the way from Trashigang with her two cousins to watch the concert. “I registered for the free invitation ticket as soon as I saw the advertisement in Kuensel and asked my cousin to collect the tickets for us on June 14,” Kezang Dema said. “I am a die-hard fan of K-pop and Korean drama stars. In fact, I am a fan of anything Korean, I can’t wait to see the artists perform.”

The Royal Bhutan Police has notified the public on their Facebook page that Chang Lam will remain closed for vehicles from 7am to 9pm today.

The post states that there is no parking space available at the Changlimithing parking area because of the on going Bhutan Construction Expo and that all viewers are requested to park their vehicles at the parking area in Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School, Centenary Farmers’ Market and RBP football ground.

Dechen Tshomo

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