K-Pop festival KPOP.FLEX coming to the UK for 2023 London edition
The event held its first ever European edition in Frankfurt featuring Monsta X at the weekend
K-Pop festival KPOP.FLEX is set to make its debut in the UK next year – get all the details of the London edition of the event below.
The festival made its European debut in Frankfurt, Germany at the weekend, hosting over 65,000 fans over two days.
In September 2023, KPOP.FLEX will come to The O2 in London for its first ever UK event, taking over the venue for three nights from September 22-24.
The event will take place in The O2’s main arena, with concerts and activities planned in the entire venue complex including a Fan Fest allowing fans to dive into Korean culture.
The line-up for the event hasn’t been revealed yet, but the inaugural European edition in Frankfurt featured Monsta X, Mamamoo, EXO’s Kai and more.
Speaking of the event, The O2’s general manager Steve Sayer said: “We can’t wait to build on the success of previous hugely popular K-Pop performances at the venue, and welcome some of the world’s top K-Pop acts and their legions of fans to The O2 for a fantastic weekend festival event that will take over the full campus at the O2.”
Rolling Stone UK met Monsta X, stars of KPOP.FLEX’s first European edition in Hamburg, in Los Angeles last year.
In the interview, the group spoke about their importance of their strong working relationship. “It helps that we only had brothers, not female siblings, so we can be direct,” Kihyun said. “If you’re not close, it’s obvious with a group when they’re performing on stage.”
They also spoke about what the reality of training to become a K-pop star entails. “For K-pop idols, mental health is a huge concern too, so that’s also an area that our parents are concerned about,” Kihyun said.
Minhyuk added: “When we were training, that system was very different, it wasn’t set up [properly] so it wasn’t that great of an environment.
“There’s been a huge improvement since – companies have officially set up and are concerned about all-round things, including mental health.”