All in white: Sensation lures 12,000 clubbers

Around 12,000 party-goers decked themselves out from head to toe in all-white, ready to liberate themselves in a night of thumping house music with a naughty storyline at one of the world’s biggest club scenes.

KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, was filled with eye-catching and seductive theatrics on Saturday night through the theme of Wicked Wonderland, mesmerizing lights and special effects, explosive fireworks and tense electrifying beats by internationally praised DJs, including the night’s headlining act, DJ Mark Knight.

“The world is becoming a smaller place musically,” said Knight. “I’ve been playing in Korea for the past two years. I can see how the EDM (electronic dance music) scene is really, really growing and I think it’s great.”

Knight expressed his excitement over the explosion in popularity of electronic and house music in Korea over the past few years and the fact that EDM seems to have finally found its niche in the country.

“The fans here are super enthusiastic, which is a performer’s dream,” he said. “(Korea) is becoming a real destination spot for people to come to play.”

The thousands in the crowd threw their inhibitions to the wind with chants of “Wrong is right” and danced well into the wee hours of the morning in a night of music that was not only made to be listened to, but to be seen ― this is the very essence of “Sensation.”

The annual one-day, all-night indoor dance party event was first developed in Amsterdam by brothers Duncan and Miles Stutterheim in 2000 and was exclusively performed in the city. However, the brothers always dreamed of creating a big dance party that could be enjoyed around the globe.

This year’s Wicked Wonderland theme was a visual masterpiece that was planned out to the smallest of details, with the crowd forming a sea of white that flooded the venue in unity as well as giving partiers neon bracelets that lit up with flashes of green in sync with the music.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)