Ultra Korea Overcomes MERS Fears

A number of public events were canceled in recent weeks in South Korea owing to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome scare, which has so far killed more than a dozen people.

Photo: facebook.com/umfkorea

In addition, Koreans are being snubbed at other events in Asia due to fear of contamination. The Shanghai Film Festival reportedly asked Koreans not to attend this year.

Nevertheless, Ultra Korea, the Korean leg of the global Ultra Music Festival, took place as scheduled June 12-13 at Seoul’s Jamsil Sports Complex and was deemed a huge success, with 100,000 people attending over the weekend.

A good portion of the revelers had traveled from foreign countries. Organizers opted “to reinforce preventive measures … rather than calling off the event,” by supplying bottles of disinfectant gel throughout the venue and scanning concertgoers with body temperature detectors, according to the Korea Herald. A good portion of the attendees entered the stadium wearing surgical masks, “only to throw them off when the music grew wild,” reported the newspaper.

Among the 76 DJs, electronica dance acts and hip-hop artists who showed up to perform were Skrillex, Hardwell, Porter Robinson, Knife Party, Lil Jon, Snoop Dogg and David Guetta. Only two scheduled performers, Nicky Romero and Alesso, pulled out of the festival due to “health concerns.”