Music festival Boiler Room Seoul halted due to overcrowding

The music festival "Boiler Room Seoul 2024," where DJ Peggy Gou was scheduled to perform, was abruptly halted due to excessive crowding.

The festival was held at the Sfactory, a multipurpose cultural venue in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, but was stopped three hours earlier than scheduled for safety reasons as the venue became overcrowded. It was set to run from 9 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday, but the festival was forced to end around 1 a.m., just before Peggy Gou's performance.

Festivalgoers were guided out of the venue by police and fire authorities, and while there were no serious injuries, some individuals reported breathing difficulties and received on-site medical care.

Festivalgoers are demanding compensation, claiming the event organizers sold tickets without considering the venue’s capacity. According to local media, about 6,000 tickets were sold even though the venue could only accommodate about 2,000 people. Numerous social media posts of ticket buyers claim that temperature control inside the venue was poor and some audience could not enter the venue even though they had tickets.

Peggy Gou expressed her disappointment over the festival cancellation via social media, saying, "The police were called, but thankfully, no major incidents occurred. I've requested a prompt refund for everyone who purchased tickets."

She added that she is working to arrange a new performance soon and asked fans for patience.