By John Redmond
The popular Haebangchon festival (HBC Fest), a twice-yearly gathering of local and foreign musicians and spectators, that takes place at venues along the main street in Haebangchon, has been cancelled by Yongsan authorities.
The final blow came after negotiations broke down early last week over sticking legal issues concerning permits and licenses. However many feel the issues run much deeper.
What started out as a good opportunity to pool the wealth of talent being witnessed by local music establishments blossomed into the first HBC Fest back in 2006 under the organizational skills of local musician Lance Reegan-Diehl.
The first festival, in name only, took place in July of that year and involved some 23 acts performing at three local bars ― Phillies, Ssen and Orange tree.
Attendances were good and the crowd got to experience a cross section of music and spoken word acts at venues in central Seoul. The evening was such a huge success that for bar owners it seemed a logical conclusion to hold a similar event later in the year.
With word of mouth and the Internet, the follow up concerts were overwhelmed with talent and audiences.
For the next few years the biannual gathering of bands also embraced standup comedy shows and expat local theatre troupe’s were given the opportunity to showpiece up and coming productions. All seemed to be going well.
Gradually complaints became commonplace, namely about noise and crowd control, as numbers were so large that people were literally spilling onto the street ― a major traffic thoroughfare and bus route.
Bar owners, concerned with keeping the peace with local shop and restaurant owners, issued warnings to patrons urging them to stay inside the venues.
Closing the street was only possible at a cost of 1 million won. As it being a free event, that was not an option.
Still more complaints kept coming ― enough to alert local authorities and provoke a series of investigations.
What was now in question was not only noise levels and public disturbance issues, but also the whole aspect of if the HBC Fest was a legal event. Korea has very strict laws regarding concerts and behavior in public places.
The organizers argued that there were no issues regarding funding _ no entrance fees were charged by venues ― and public disturbances, as people were told to remain in the bars.
Shows were staged in enclosed spaces to eliminate excessive noise.
Sadly this was not enough and the HBC Fest is now technically an illegal event.
Reegan-Diehl spoke to The Korea Times about the decision but stated that for the sake of the musicians and bar owners, it was better to call the whole thing off and instead run a few shows over two nights at selected venues.
A statement was also issued by email from the HBC Fest community on Facebook.
It read: “Hello to everyone looking forward to hearing and playing music. We the bar owners have decided to go with a ‘Happy Music Night’ for all of our friends.
“Oct. 7, V.F.W and Phillies (will) host a music benefit show. Some of you will play at this event.
“Oct. 8, Orange Tree, V.F.W, Phillies and The Local will have Happy Music Night from 2 p.m. till 2 a.m. The rest of you will play at these independent bar promotions.”