Kai Tak Sports Park welcomes 18,000 attendees at trial concert

The soon-to-open Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) main stadium has welcomed around 18,000 attendees for a concert on Saturday, serving as its first non-sports test event. 

Titled "FOUR in LOVE 萬人 CHARITY LIVE 2025", the one-and-a-half-hour charity concert featured Hong Kong artists including Jay Fung, Cloud Wan, Jace Chan and the band Dear Jane. After deducting the cost, all proceeds will be donated to the Hong Kong Community Chest to further promote the development of local youth affairs.

From the total of 18,000 attendees, around 4,000 were seated in the stadium's lawn area to trial setups for future major events. Only one-third of the stadium seats were used for the 50,000-seat concert. Audience were prohibited from bringing items such as water bottles, professional photography gear, and banners larger than the allowed size.

Although the concert was initially set to start at 6 pm, hundreds of attendees were still waiting in line outside the venue and unable to enter by 6:20 pm, according to HK01. The charity concert finally started at around 6:30 pm, with people still queued outside. It ended at around 8 pm. While some attendees expressed their complaints while waiting in line, others understood that it was a test event and accepted the arrangements.

Speaking to the media after the event, the city's commissioner for sports George Tsoi said the delay was caused by a malfunction of one of the escalators connecting the third and fifth floors of the audience stand at 5:45 pm, which occurred during the peak admission period. "To address safety concerns, we implemented crowd control measures at gate H to slow down entry and prevent people from gathering around the escalators.”

Tsoi added that the authorities decided to postpone the show by half an hour to ensure that the audience who arrived on time would not miss the show because of the escalator issue. Additionally, they added seats on the second floor.

Don’t miss: HK's Nicholas Tse to hold 2 Kai Tak shows after Coldplay

KTSP is Hong Kong's first multi-purpose sports, entertainment and leisure precinct. It aims to provide world-class venues and facilities for major events and community enjoyment. The park is set to officially open in March, with the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament being the first public event, scheduled from 28 to 30 March.

In early January, Kai Tak Stadium hosted its first test event, featuring the finals of the University Sports Federation of Hong Kong, China's rugby sevens tournament, which included 17 teams and saw around 10,000 spectators.

Last Wednesday (15 January), Cantopop singer and actor Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) announced that he will have host two Kai Tak shows in April. He will be the first Chinese artist to perform at the venue officially, taking the stage just weeks after British rock band Coldplay plays there on 8,9,11 and 12 April. The band announced its 2025 concert tour dates in Asia last September, and all tickets were quickly sold out.

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