In commemoration of June 13, the debut day of BTS, “2024 FESTA” was held at the futsal field and sports park of Seoul Sports Complex. The “2024 FESTA” ground event, which began at 11 a.m., had a variety of exhibitions and experience booths, as well as the main photo zone decorated with the concept of a resort.
The venue was packed with countless people from early hours. In particular, “ARMY (BTS’ fandom)” from all over the world gathered for the event to enjoy the festival and share memories. However, there was a lack of preparation for heat-related patients as a large number of people gathered in the hot weather, with the maximum temperature rising to 32 degrees Celsius.
According to people present at the event, about 50 people collapsed due to heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and took a rest in the emergency booth. “All the patients who visited the emergency booth lied down for a while and taking measures such as taking a rest or drinking water,” an official said. “I told them to go back home, but I don’t think they could go back easily.” He also pointed out lack of consideration for on-site staff. At the event that runs until 9 p.m., he said, “On-site staff members work long hours without rotation, which is physically exhausting.”
In addition, there was a lack of consideration for fans who lined up for hours to take photos in the photo zone as well as to buy goods membership subscribers at the “ARMY ZONE.” In addition, in the case of the “FESTA ZONE” with a hot air balloon-shaped structure, people also had to wait in a long line in the sun unprotected.
An elderly Japanese fan said, “I waited three hours to take a picture at a sculpture of a hot air balloon.” When asked why it is possible for her to wait three hours in the midst of sweating just, the only answer she gave was “BTS.”
As such, the enthusiasm of countless fans who visited “2024 FESTA” with only love for BTS was as hot as the heat, but unfortunately, the consideration for the fans seemed somewhat lacking. “We have established and implemented operating regulations in consideration of the size of the event and the hot weather,” HYBE told Xsports News. “We have complied with the guidelines for heat-related patients. The number of 50 heat-related patients is not true.”
