KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 – The K-Spark Festival has finally made its debut in Malaysia over the weekend featuring some of the biggest names in K-pop including G-Dragon, ITZY, Hwasa and DPR Ian.
The K-Spark in Malaysia festival which took place at Stadium Merdeka last Saturday had gone smoothly and some would say better than expected, despite its late announcement and ticketing price reveal that went on sale in less than 30 days before the festival.
However, some fans who bought tickets at full price during its initial release were left feeling slightly disappointed especially after learning that the festival via collaboration with its digital outlet partners had given away free tickets, even on the day of the event itself.
Several festival-goers and social media users also claimed that the festival official ticketing partner, Klook Malaysia, also held promotions for the festival via promo codes with some claiming there were up to 40 per cent discounts on the tickets.
“I hope that future K-Sparks announcements will not be made at the last minute because there were complaints from fans that they were unable to make (accomodation) bookings and also, the last-minute ticket discounts felt unfair to early buyers like myself,” said 35-year-old C.Tan.
30-year-old Guan Yuan, another festival-goer, had bought tickets for the festival during its first week of release on January 18 out of fear that it might get snatched up but later wished he had waited.
“When they first announced this K-Spark Malaysia, I didn’t believe it, especially seeing G-Dragon as one of the headliners but after K-Spark announced in their video along with G-Dragon promoting the event, that’s when I knew this (festival) was legit.
“I bought the ticket at full price because I wanted to buy it early, it’s very sad, I wish I had waited – But I get to see G-Dragon anyways, so it’s okay,” he said.
The disappointment was also shared by local fans online especially on Thread.
Local fans venting out their frustration on the discounted tickets on social media platform Thread. —Screenshot via Thread.
However for 28-year-old Jane Thun, she has already expected at least some form of ticketing discounts would be offered nearing the day of the festival itself, which is why she decided to wait.
“What made me wait is firstly, G-Dragon’s performance will be short because there are other performances as well and paying (nearly) RM1,000 is just a lot.
“My gut feeling was telling me to wait, because it was such a short period since the announcement and also there were other concerts happening that day already such as Mayday (in Bukit Jalil), so I was sure that there’s going to be a discount,” she said, adding that she did managed to get the ticket at a discounted price.
There were other festival-goers who said that they have no regrets in buying tickets at full price saying that they were just happy to get to see their K-pop idols perform.
34-year-old Hakeem Zulkarnain is also one of the festival-goers who managed to secure K-Spark in Malaysia tickets at a discounted price. — Picture by Ian Jeremiah Patrick
Apart from that, the last minute ticket discounts and giveaways had also prompted ticketing resellers online to drop down their prices.
An online user on X, formerly known as Twitter, was seen reselling Category 5 tickets which was originally priced at RM388, for just RM250 during the day of the festival while another user was seen selling two Category 5 tickets for just RM688.
Another user was also seen reselling tickets from all categories with a 50 percent discount during the day of the event.
Similar deals can also be found on Thread.
Several resellers can be seen slashing down ticket prices online. — Screenshot via X and Thread
K-Spark in Malaysia previously had been under the limelight after local fans online began questioning the event legitimacy after its revelation was made earlier in January with teasers for the festival starting in late December last year which is unusual for a stadium-sized K-Pop event.
However the questioning seems to have dissolved after the official K-Spark in Malaysia social media page began sharing promotional videos featuring the main headliners.
The festival also marked the return of acts such as G-Dragon, Hwasa and DPR Ian to Malaysia while it is a debut show for K-pop girls group ITZY.
The headliners are also joined by local acts including 3P and Dolla.
