Concerts, festivals, promotions canceled cross-country after Halloween disaster in Itaewon

Concerts and festivals are getting canceled or delayed after a chaotic stampede took the lives of over 150 people in central Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood on Saturday night.

A Halloween festival, which was scheduled for Sunday, has been canceled in Daegu after the Itaewon incident a day earlier. [NEWS1]

Concerts and festivals are getting canceled or delayed after a chaotic stampede took the lives of over 150 people in central Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood on Saturday night.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Sunday it has canceled classic concerts that were planned to take place at the Blue House starting on Tuesday. Various popular classic artists including pianist Kim Sun-wook and violinist Yang In-moo were scheduled to perform.

“We have decided to cancel the concerts scheduled for Nov. 1 and 4 and will later announce our decision on whether to hold or cancel concerts on Nov. 7 and 11,” the ministry said in Sunday’s statement.

The "Busan One Asia Festival K-pop Concert" was canceled Sunday morning, just hours before it was scheduled to take place at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium at 7 p.m. The concert was planned to accommodate around 40,000 visitors to the venue, with more than 10 K-pop stars invited to perform, including girl group Mamamoo.

The organizing committee started sending out cancelation texts. Refunds will be given from Nov. 2 to 11.

A firework festival scheduled to take place on Nov. 5 at Busan has also been called off.

Amusement parks Everland and Lotte World have canceled their Halloween festivals and parades. Everland started a Halloween festival on Oct. 2, scheduled to run until Nov. 20, but will shut down any further Halloween-related promotions.

Retailers are also calling off any promotional events, while TV channels have been canceling dramas and variety shows to mourn the deceased.

Starbucks Korea has halted selling all Halloween drinks, food and merchandise starting Sunday morning. Halloween decorations have been removed from all of its branches across the country.

A notice says a Halloween festival has been canceled to mourn the Itaewon incident, in Goksung, South Jeolla, on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Lotte Department Store also canceled its Halloween parade scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

Emart has withdrawn its Halloween promotional products.

Convenience store CU also stopped selling Halloween-themed products.

Popular entertainment shows “Running Man” from SBS and “One Night, Two Days” from KBS have been canceled for this Sunday. The broadcasters will instead air news regarding the Itaewon incident.

Trot singers Jang Yoon-jeong, Yeong Tak and Hong Jin-young immediately canceled their concerts scheduled for Sunday.

By 9:30 a.m. Sunday, 151 deaths had been confirmed by the National Fire Agency, with 19 of the 82 injured still in critical condition. Of the casualties, 97 are women and 54 are men. Early reports said that most of the victims were in their 20s.

Of the 151, 19 were foreigners, including citizens of China, Uzbekistan and Norway.

Emergency responders move bodies in Itaewon, Central Seoul, on Sunday. [YONHAP]

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]