K-pop festival Waterbomb will stage an Australian edition for the first time as it relaunches its international expansion.

The touring series plans to stop in Sydney later this year, picking up on the Waterbomb World Tour that faltered in 2024. Dates and performers will be announced in the coming months.

Waterbomb’s expansion comes after organisers failed to deliver its rapid global expansion last year, after it announced editions in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, the UAE, Singapore, the US, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The only new editions to go ahead were Hong Kong, the UAE, and Singapore, while the event continued its tour of multiple South Korean and Japanese cities.

The Los Angeles edition was postponed due to “operational challenges” with less than three weeks to go to the event, while the Indonesian debut in Jakarta was delayed in October. Extreme weather and flooding forced the cancellation of the Taipei and Ho Chi Minh events. No new dates have been announced for these editions.

“We’ll return stronger and better prepared to deliver the Waterbomb experience you’ve been waiting for,” said organisers at the time of US cancellation.

In contrast, another Australian festival will not return his year

Four stops are already confirmed for 2025, with plans to return to China, and South Korea, where the Seoul edition has been held annually since the event launched in 2015. The festival will debut in Manila, Philippines and Bali, Indonesia next month, after pushing both countries’ inaugural editions late last year.

Artists due to perform in Manila include Kangdaniel, Dynamic Duo, Sulreggae, Chanyeol, Bambam, Viviz, and other K-pop, hip-hop and dance stars.

Though lineups vary by city, past performers have included Blackpink, aespa, TWICE’s Nayeon, American rapper Jay Park, and SHINEE’s Taemin, and South Korean singers Hwasa, Chung Ha, Bibi, Simon Dominic, and Jessi.

In contrast, the Australian festival Hello Sunshine will not be held this year. The family-friendly event was set to return to Melbourne for its third year and debut on the Gold Coast this March.

Organisers cited low ticket sales and rising production costs as reasons for the cancellation.

Stone Temple Pilots, Smash Mouth, Wolfmother, Kasey Chambers, Rogue Traders, and Drapht were on tap to headline the event.

The cancellation is the latest to hit the Australian festival sector. Last November, the debut edition of You & Me Festival was cancelled for similar reasons. They join several Oz festivals cancelled in the past year, including Splendour in the Grass, Groovin the Moo, and Return to Rio.

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Around 150,000 tickets to Jay Chou’s upcoming concerts at Taipei Dome were snapped up in just five minutes last week.

The Taiwanese star is due to play four shows from 5 to 8 December at the venue, which opened last year and has a capacity of up to 50,000 for concerts.

A total of 890,583 users visited ticketing website Tixcraft in an attempt to secure tickets for the 45-year-old’s first performances in his native country in seven years.

The box office value of the 150,000 tickets reached more than NT$657m (€18.9m), with individual ticket prices ranging from NT$1,880 to NT$6,880.

The box office value of the 150,000 tickets reached more than NT$657m (€18.9m)

Tixcraft chief executive Chiu Kuang-Tsung said the company had to make use of more than 10,000 virtual machines – its most ever – to accommodate the heavy traffic.

“In the future, there might only be Jay Chou who’s capable of breaking that record,” Chiu said, as reported by Focus Taiwan.

The concerts, which are part of Chou’s Carnival World Tour, are expected to set the record for the largest indoor solo concert held in Taiwan.

Demand for the shows was so high that scalpers were reportedly selling tickets for up to NT300,000 (S$12,000), prompting Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an to order a strict investigation.

According to local media, the police received over 300 tip-offs in a day and one couple was arrested for scalping.

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Taiwanese city Kaohsiung has reported an economic boost from concerts, driven by international stars performing at the National Stadium.

The southern Taiwan city hosted 96 pop concerts between January and August this year, attracting 950,000 people and resulting in revenues of at least NT$3.2 billion (US$100 million).

In 2024 so far, the National Stadium in Kaohsiung has hosted concerts with the likes of Ed Sheeran (UK), Bruno Mars (US) and One Ok Rock (JP), as well as domestic stars including Energy and Mayday.

Concerts by superstars have attracted overnight and same-day visitors, bringing in an estimated tourism revenue of NT$32.7 bn (US$ 1bn), according to the city’s department of tourism.

It has been projected that more than 120 concerts will be held in the city this year, attracting more than one million concertgoers.

It has been projected that more than 120 concerts will be held in the city this year, attracting more than one million concertgoers

Last year, Kaohsiung hosted 117 concerts with artists including Coldplay at venues such as the Kaohsiung National Stadium, Kaohsiung Arena, Kaohsiung Music Center and Pier-2 Art Center.

The 15,000-capacity Kaohsiung Arena is mainly used for sporting events but has also welcomed local talents such as Zhang Qing Fang, Rene Liu, and A-Lin over the past 12 months.

Data from the city government showed that 1.39 million people attended these events in Kaohsiung, with their consumption of food, accommodation and other services or products generating more than NT$4.5 bn (US$ 141m).

To multiply the economic benefits of pop concerts, the city government has launched a programme to give out NT$50 night market coupons with concert tickets to boost the income of shopping areas.

The city’s catering industry generated gross revenue of NT$39.7 bn (US$1.2m) and the hotel industry saw NT$9.2 bn (US$ 288m) in revenue in the first half of this year – both a record high.

Kaohsiung’s airport, harbour, five-star hotels and 55,000-seat National Stadium has made the city the top destination in Taiwan for international stars, Kaohsiung Bureau of Cultural Affairs Deputy Chief Chien Chia-lun said.

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Touring K-pop festival series Waterbomb Festival is expanding to several global markets this year, with new editions set for the US, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, the UAE, Singapore, and China.

Set to kick off this May in Xiamen, China, the international series will take water-soaked stars to Hong Kong in June before touring South Korea and Japan in July and more cities across both, plus Singapore, in August. A Bangkok edition has been set for September, with stints in Los Angeles, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei, and Dubai to be announced.

First held in 2015 in Seoul, South Korea, the festival series first expanded to new markets in 2023 with two editions in Japan and one in Bangkok. This year, the series will visit nine cities in South Korea, four in Japan, and one in Thailand, along with the new editions.

The event was launched by Hong Kong-based streaming platform Viu and Singapore-based Evergreen Group Holdings, with local promoters helping bring it to new territories.

The K-pop genre continues to soar to new hights and into new markets

As the name suggests, Waterbomb intertwines various water activities alongside local and international lineups of K-pop, hip-hop, and EDM performers. Though lineups vary by city, performers include K-pop supergroup TWICE’s Nayeon, American rapper Jay Park, and SHINEE’s Taemin, and South Korean singers Hwasa, Chung Ha, and Bibi, among a variety of others. Former performers include Blackpink, aespa, Simon Dominic, and Jessi.

The K-pop genre continues to soar to new heights and into new markets, with behemoth HYBE reporting its concert revenue skyrocketed by 40% in 2023, reaching KRW 359.1 billion (€253m) in the year. Last autumn, fellow agency SM Entertainment announced its Q3 revenue surged 40% year-on-year, partly attributed to their star’s expansive world tours.

KCON, the world’s biggest K-pop and culture convention, also expanded to a fifth region this year, adding Hong Kong to its 2024 lineup of Japan, Los Angeles, Saudia Arabia, and to-be-announced Europe.

The 2024 schedule is as follows:

May
18-18: Xiamen, China

June
1-2: Hong Kong

July
5-7: Seoul, South Korea
13: Jeju, South Korea
13: Fukuoka, Japan
20: Daegu, South Korea
27: Busan, South Korea
27-28: Tokyo, Japan

August
3: Incheon, South Korea
10: Daejeon, South Korea
10: Osaka, Japan
17: Sokcho, South Korea
17: Nagoya, Japan
24: Suwon, South Korea
24-25: Singapore, Singapore
31: Gwangju, South Korea

September
TBA: Bangkok

TBA
Los Angeles, United States
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Taipei, Taiwan
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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The impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on touring in Eastern Europe and ethical dilemmas around potentially lucrative new markets were top of the agenda for ILMC’s Geo-politics: The Bigger Picture session.

The panel, hosted by LIVE’s Jon Collins, examined the place of touring and festivals in a tumultuous world.

Just over a year on from Russia’s invasion, Kyiv-raised Dartsya Tarkovska, co-founder of Music Export Ukraine, brought the room up to date on the office’s work, and stressed the importance of the international live music community continuing to support their efforts.

“We have the team of six people now,” she said. “And since Russia started the invasion in Ukraine, we had to split. Right now, we have two people working in Ukraine and four of them are abroad. I’m one of them. I’m currently working and living in the UK as a temporarily displaced person, aka, a refugee. That still allows us to be super-active and promote Ukrainian artists as much as we can, internationally. And our mission was definitely brought to a whole new level.”

Despite the stark circumstances, Tarkovska stressed that the Ukrainian live music industry was still a going concern.

“We used to think that Covid restrictions were super-tough to maintain. Trust me, it’s nothing compared to these challenges”

“It changed dramatically, and there are definitely a few things that impacted this change,” she said. “One of things would was a set of new restrictions and rules for concerts for civilians, because we have air raid alerts, we have shellings, we have curfew, electricity cuts… We used to think that Covid restrictions were super-tough to maintain. Trust me, it’s nothing compared to these challenges. But there are still promoters and bookers who are keeping up with these restrictions, because there is still a demand for concerts in Ukraine.”

She added: “Another trend would be concerts for Ukrainian soldiers at the frontline. That’s definitely a new, very non commercial niche, but a very important one. You can barely find an event without a charity component, and many Ukrainian artists donate at least part of their income for charity purposes.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies – a lot of industry stakeholders did pivot, because it’s very hard to maintain a full time business at the time of war. Some of them tried to diversify their activities, or stay open for new markets and explore new opportunities, whereas others literally do a 180 and focus on charity and other areas.

“For example, some of my colleagues – an independent booking agency called Kontrabass Promo – opened a charity organisations called Musicians Defend Ukraine, and are now collecting for charity. But solely for musicians who are now spending their time in the Ukrainian army, or at the territorial defence, so that they could get back from war and keep on creating more music.”

“Right now, one of the main challenges for us is to keep the conversation going, to keep the spotlight on Ukraine”

Promoter Máté Horváth of Live Nation CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) said the Hungarian market had enjoyed a “serious bounceback”, with strong post-Covid ticket sales, adding that the ramifications of the Ukraine war for the scene had been minimal up to this point.

“I think there was one confirmed tour which was, which was cancelled, but it hadn’t even been announced. It was literally just a week or two weeks after 24 February [2022],” he said. “I saw very few cancellations. I know there were difficulties for artists who lost tour dates in Ukraine, Russia or Belarus, to figure out how to make their tours work out… but it was not very rampant.”

Horváth added, however, that the completion of a new venue in the country was delayed and is still under construction because the building materials were to have arrived from Ukraine. “So there are effects on the market. But as far as cancellations go, it was not a major issue for us,” he said.

Tarkovska indicated that maintaining the attention of the international music community over a year into the war was a challenge.

“At first, we were overwhelmed as an export office with the amount of booking requests and cooperation ideas,” she said. “But as the time goes, we are definitely seeing the attention decreasing. Right now, one of the main challenges for us is to keep the conversation going, to keep the spotlight on Ukraine and keep the representation of our country in the international context.”

“We’re doing as much as we can. But we still need the interest from the international industry stakeholders to make this magic happen”

She pointed out, however, that keeping the spotlight on the issue was a “two-way street”.

“One of the things that our government is doing at this point is trying to develop some international policies and build the bridge to keep the spotlight and make sure Ukraine is represented at the key international events and cultural events,” she said. “Music would definitely be one of the areas of interest, and we’re doing as much as we can. But we still need the interest from the international industry stakeholders to make this magic happen. So if you’re wondering, ‘What can I personally do to support Ukraine?’ This is exactly what you can do.”

Weining Hung, co-founder of Taiwan’s LUCFest, mentioned that tensions between Taiwan and China had left some overseas acts reluctant to visit the former.

“We got rejected or asked questions by many artists from Western countries like Canada or the UK because they were quite concerned about their safety and asked us whether it was still a safe place to go.

“You definitely won’t have problems if you play in Taiwan. You can definitely still go to China, so it won’t have any impact.”

“Beyoncé did not perform in Dubai to celebrate the government, she performed to open a hotel”

The discussion later turned to how the industry should approach markets with questionable human rights records. Beyoncé’s recent private concert in Dubai marking the opening of the luxury Atlantis Royal Hotel, for which the singer was reportedly paid US$24 million, was put forward as an example.

Tarkovska said such decisions should be left up to the artist, but advised they first carry out “thorough homework” to understand the background of the country.

“They really have to evaluate if their values are aligned and if they’re not, why is it still beneficial for the artists to go and work in this particular market? It has to be thoroughly evaluated – what are the pros and cons of this kind of involvement? Because it is very tricky, and the consequences are inevitable. At the end of the day, it’s not necessarily all about the money.”

Middle East-based promoter Thomas Ovesen of TOP Entertainment said there was an important distinction for artists.

“Beyoncé did not perform in Dubai to celebrate the government, she performed to open a hotel,” he said. “Many of the shows in Dubai are commercial shows where the government has no involvement. Perhaps in Saudi is slightly different. So I think it’s a bit more nuanced than dismissing a market if you don’t agree with the rulership, because there is a massive upside in having acts performing. I mean, I’ve had Elton John in Dubai and he’s were very well aware of the rules there, but played to fans and did not play to support the government.”

However, Nick Hobbs of Istanbul-based Charmenko argued that outlook should not extend to all countries.

“Just to be polemical, I would say if there is a situation that the Russian regime continues after this war ends, then going to play in Russia normalises that situation. It says it’s okay, it’s normal.

“It wouldn’t be the Russian government directly inviting [the artist to play], although that is possible, it would be a promoter – but with the sanction of the government. And that, for me, is normalising something which is not normal.”

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The 15th edition of IQ Magazine’s New Bosses was published in IQ 114 this month, revealing 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.

To get to know this year’s cohort a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2022’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success.

Catch up on the previous New Bosess 2022 interview with James Craigie, a promoter for Goldenvoice in the UK. The series continues with Jonathan Hou, senior director of talent and touring at Live Nation APAC in Taiwan.

A Taiwanese-American born and raised in Houston, Texas, Jonathan got his start in the music industry working as an intern at Live Nation while studying music business at The University of Texas at Austin.

After college, he moved to Taipei to work with B’in Music, touring internationally with the Taiwanese rock band Mayday. In 2014, he re-joined Live Nation and has since worked with the company in multiple markets, most recently in Shanghai, China.

Jonathan now works on booking talent for Live Nation’s APAC division, building tours for international artists across the region.

You’re a long way from Texas. What’s the thing you miss most about living in America?
Being in close proximity to family and friends. I think the biggest sacrifice that many of us expats have to make is the time that we spend away from home. Due to Covid, I was unable to see my family for almost three years.

Were you able to speak Mandarin before making your move to Taipei? And how have your language skills improved (do you speak any Hokkien)?
Growing up we would speak Mandarin at home, but I still had a huge learning curve when I first started working in Taiwan. Additionally, even after having worked in Taiwan, there was another learning curve when I started in Shanghai, as the terms and characters that Mainland China (Simplified Chinese) uses is different from Taiwan (Traditional Chinese).

There was definitely a lot of Google Translate used in the early days, but I’m proud to say that my language skills have now improved to a point where most people are unable to tell that I am a foreigner. I can understand some Hokkien, but unfortunately am not fluent… yet.

What about the cultural differences between promoting in the USA and across Asia – what’s the most important lesson you can impart to visiting ‘Western’ acts?
Asia can often be treated as one region, but each market is unique with its own cultures. It’s important to know what the cultural sensitivities are before performing in every market. For example, something that may be well received by fans in Bangkok, may not be so well received in Shanghai.

“Asia can often be treated as one region, but each market is unique with its own cultures”

How did you land your job at B’in Music – did you have to fly there for an interview, for example?
I was in Taipei interning for an indie record label at the time, and through some of the contacts I had made at my internship at Live Nation, I was able to set up a meeting with Julia Hsieh, the COO of B’in Music who also manages Mayday. We met at the backstage of a festival and talked briefly. Two weeks later, she called and offered me a job to tour with Mayday across Europe and North America, and the rest is history.

Asia seems like it will be the next region to really explode in terms of live music business growth. How would you lure fellow professionals to the region to help facilitate that growth?
Asia is the place to be if you’re looking for a challenge and an adventure. The next couple of years are going to be great growth years for the live music industry in Asia, and it’s exciting to be able to be a part of shaping the industry.

And what about the artists? How do you persuade acts and their representatives to invest the time to tour in Asia?
We have a lot of very passionate fans in Asia that cannot wait to see their favourite artists perform. Fans in Asia do not take shows for granted, as it is not guaranteed that an artist will bring their tour to Asia. Also, we have seen over the years that artists that do invest and tour Asia early in their careers have been able to build large, loyal fan bases here, and the pipeline for the next couple of years is huge.

“Artists that do invest and tour Asia early in their careers have been able to build large, loyal fan bases here”

In a non-Covid year, how extensive can the tours that you book be, in terms of cities, venues, and potential new fanbases?
Our most extensive tours in a non-Covid year would typically range around 12-13 shows across 8-9 countries, and this would be for artists of all sizes from club- to stadium-level acts. Moving forward, there is potential for tours to expand even more once all markets open their borders, especially in China, and additional opportunities as new markets open up for touring, such as Vietnam. For some artists it may be possible to do ten or more shows in China alone.

Do you have a mentor or someone you rely on to turn to for advice?
I have two mentors that have helped shape my career, Julia Hsieh (B’in Music) and Dennis Argenzia (Live Nation). Julia taught me a lot of the fundamentals when I first started out in the industry, including how to market an artist/show and how to build a tour. Dennis, who I’ve worked with now for seven years, has taught me everything I know about booking talent and promoting shows.

Is anyone else in your family involved in music – or do they all think you are crazy for your choice of career?
We’re a family of classically trained musicians, so music is in our blood. My family has always been supportive of my career in music, and I am very blessed for that.

“I want to continue to be a bridge between Asia and the West”

What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
There are too many to choose from as I think every experience is unique, and I love what I do. However, the top three that stand out are promoting Mayday at Madison Square Garden (first ever Chinese band to perform at MSG), promoting Madonna’s first-ever show in Taipei, and booking keshi’s first Asia tour.

As a New Boss, what one thing would you change to make the live entertainment industry a better place?
I believe we’ve already made strides with the emergence of 88rising and artists such as keshi over the past couple of years, but I would like to continue to see more AAPI representation throughout the industry, globally.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I want to continue to be a bridge between Asia and the West. I’d like to work on building bigger tours for international artists across Asia, which would entail developing more markets across the region. I would also like to be working on exporting Asian artist tours (not just K-pop) to other parts of the world.

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Taiwanese star A-Mei has shifted 130,000 tickets in under ten minutes for her multi-date concert series at Taipei Arena.

The Mandopop star will perform 12 nights at the capital’s arena between 1–16 April, as part of her upcoming ASMR world tour.

Tickets for the Taiwain dates were available via ticketing marketplace tixCraft and A-Mei’s record label, EMI Records, said that around 320,000 fans were on the site after the tickets were released.

There have been reports that some fans are upset by a ticketing policy that requires attendees at the concert to provide their name and ID number before they will be admitted to the Taipei Arena.

EMI Records, said that around 320,000 fans were on the ticketing site after the tickets were released

This led to roughly 800 refund requests from fans that had submitted the incorrect information.

According to reports, the organiser then reversed its decision, allowing those that had input the wrong information to enter the concert. Some say the move could enable ticket scalpers.

The concerts will mark A-Mei’s return to the venue for the first time since 2015 when residents in the area complained of noise pollution during concerts for the Utopia World Tour.

As a result, the management of Taipei Arena introduced a regulation that imposes a fine of NT$100,000 (US$3,617) per song and possible cancellation of the performance if a concert’s decibel level rises above 63. The regulation became popularly known as the “A-Mei Clause.”

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Seven people who attended attended a stadium concert on new year’s eve instead of self-isolating have been fined by Taiwanese authorities for endangering public health.

The concertgoers – who had been ordered to observe ‘self-health management’ (ie self-isolate/quarantine) after coming into contact with someone infected with Covid-19 – went to see veteran Mandopop band Mayday perform at Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium near Taipei on 31 December.

Over 22,000 people attended the show, according to Taiwan News, part-way through which “news broke out that several individuals who were supposed to be following self-health management protocols were in the crowd”.

The seven were caught out by Taiwan’s mobile phone-based contact tracing system, dubbed “Skynet”

Taiwan’s Central News Agency reports that the potentially infected septet were caught out by the country’s mobile phone-based contact tracing system, dubbed “Skynet”, which clocked them just half an hour after they left their houses.

Three of the Mayday fans, who were supposed to be quarantining for another three days, were each fined NT$70,000 (US$2,460), while the other four, who each had one day to go, received fines of NT$30,000 (US$1,070).

Taiwan, which is home to nearly 24m people, on 22 December recorded its first domestic case of Covid-19 in over 250 days. The island country was the first to return to hosting full-capacity major events, with arena shows restarting in August.

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Taiwan has become the envy of the global live music industry after enjoying many months of full-capacity festivals, concerts and events.

The east Asian country, which has a population of more than 23 million, has recorded a mere 603 cases and only seven deaths during the pandemic, despite being close to mainland China where the virus began.

The country recently celebrated a record 200 consecutive days without any domestically transmitted cases of Covid-19, making it even more successful than New Zealand (which has a far smaller population) and Vietnam – both of which have been lauded for their efforts since March.

Taiwan’s success with controlling the virus has been tied to a number of factors, including: an early response which brought in strict control measures such as two weeks of quarantine for anyone flying into the island; a generous amount of resources being poured into testing and tracing and checks on travellers arriving from Wuhan as early as December last year.

On top of that, the island’s previous exposure to the Sars epidemic meant that preparations were extensive and up to date.

As a result, the nation has managed to maintain a positive rate of economic growth, and unemployment rate dropped to 3.83% in September, the lowest seen in six months.

Thanks to these precautions and achievements, the country saw a return to live as early as June when the Taiwanese government lifted all limits on the number of people allowed to attend public gatherings, including cultural events, and removed the need for social distancing at concert halls and stadiums.

Taiwain has recorded a mere 603 cases and only seven deaths during the pandemic

Following that, Taiwanese artist Eric Chou delivered Asia’s first post-Covid arena shows to a sold-out, full-capacity Taipei Arena (cap. 15,350) on 8 and 9 August.

Fans were still required to wear masks, undergo temperature checks upon entry, and provide identification that would facilitate contact tracing should the need arise. Pink medical masks and square alcohol wipes were provided.

Since then, however, measures are not being as strictly enforced. Last Saturday (14 November), some 10,000 – mostly maskless – patrons crammed together at Dajie Riverside Park in Taipei for Ultra festival, a worldwide electronic music festival franchise.

A carefree audience enjoyed performances from domestic and international artists (who would have quarantined for 14 days upon entering the country) including Kayzo, Vini Vici, Slander and Alesso.

Artists have been among those praising the nation for its efforts in tackling coronavirus. Last Tuesday (10 November), world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma gave thanks to the audience and praised the people of Taiwan for their “truly amazing” feat during his concert.

His performance at Taipei Music Center to more than 4,000 fans was his first in front of a live audience since March.

One of the nation’s biggest triumph in terms of live events, however, came last month as tens of thousands celebrated the LGBTQ+ community in Taipei.

On the 31 October, the capital hosted the biggest in-person pride event of 2020 since the pandemic began, drawing an estimated 130,000 people.

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Taiwanese artist Eric Chou performed to a sold-out, full-capacity Taipei Arena (cap. 15,350) on 8 and 9 August, delivering Asia’s first post-Covid arena shows.

In July, the singer announced a series of four concerts in major arenas in Taiwan – including two upcoming dates at the 15,000-capacity Kaohsiung Arena on 5 and 6 September – which sold out in a quarter of an hour.

All attendees of the Tapei Arena shows were required to wear masks, undergo temperature checks upon entry, and provide identification that would facilitate contact tracing should the need arise. Pink medical masks and square alcohol wipes were provided.

“We were the first to do it during this Covid-19 situation, and there was a lot of preparation,” Chou told the South China Morning Post. “But the show went really well – every part was exactly like how I pictured it was going to be.”

The concerts come after the Taiwanese government lifted all limits on the number of people allowed to attend public gatherings, including cultural events, on 7 June, and removed the need for social distancing at concert halls and stadiums.

“The show went really well – every part was exactly like how I pictured it was going to be”

Taiwan has been praised worldwide for its response to the coronavirus crisis. The country, which has a population of more than 23 million, has recorded 479 cases of Covid-19 and only seven deaths. In early June, after no new locally transmitted cases were recorded for eight weeks, leading to the lifting of restrictions.

Taipei Arena has announced a number of concerts scheduled for the coming weeks, including Zhan Yawen’s 30th Anniversary Tour and the Folk 45 Summit.

The restart of arena shows comes following the Taiwan ministry of culture’s issuing of 2.1 million electronic cultural vouchers, worth NT$600 (€18) each, for tickets to concerts, art exhibitions and other cultural events, or to buy items at venues or culture-focused shops.

The NT$1.2 billion (€35.3m) programme aims to boost the cultural and arts sector and encourage people to attend cultural events as the Covid-19 situation subsides in Taiwan. The programme is expected to generate an estimated NT$5bn (€146.8m) for the sector.

Chou’s arena shows signal that Taiwan’s live music scene may return to something like normalcy sooner rather than later.

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