Some concert-goers demand refund after calling Hallyu North K-pop festival a 'chaotic mess'

Some who attended a Korean popfestival are upset with organizers for failing to meet theirexpectations, but those behind the Hallyu North festival say theyare working to address concerns.

Shinee, a South Korean music group,was supposed to be the headliner of the event. The all-male group, whichhas more than sixmillion likes on Facebook,was bringing their talents to Toronto for the first time.

But according to some,organizers left attendees feeling disappointed after the first day of thefestival included a shorter-than-expected performance from the K-pop group.Those who bought tickets alsocomplained that those behind theevent struggled to handle large crowds.

• Hallyu North festival brings K-pop music to Toronto

"Everything was late, everything was terrible," said 16-year-oldVestaChoi, who claims to have spent $320 to attend the festival.

"[Organizers]were saying that they would have these food fests, they were saying that they would have theseevents, showcases and all of that none of that happened."

SylviaMeadowstold CBC News via email thatpeople hadto stand outside for several hours just to enter theEnercareCentre at Exhibition Place. She called her experience "a chaotic mess."

"I am glad no one in the crowd had a medical issue or it would have been a real disaster with people standing in those conditions for so long," Meadows said.

Organizers acknowledge 'difficulties'

HallyuNorth Entertainment issued the following statement in response to the claims:

"We are aware of a small number of complaints from fans and we want to thank these fans for their feedback," the statement says."We acknowledge that first year expositions are not without their difficulties and wearecertainly no exception.

"We're currently working on a variety of solutions for fans that were not satisfied and we intend to handle these fans' concerns both fairly and promptly."

CBC News reached out to Hallyu North organizer Gloria "Angel" Zhang to request an interview and get more information on what happened, but did not hear back as of 1 p.m. Monday.

Some fans were frustratedthat Shinee only performed four songs for roughly 30 minutes before leaving. Multiple attendees said this was well short of what was expected.

"Organizers promised it would not be a short concert but they didn't deliver," Choisaid.

Others were happy to see the group perform, butexpressed their frustrations with the festival on social media.

Some attendees wantpartial refund

Meadows, who is from the U.S.,said she paid for flights, a hotel and a concert ticket only to experience a show that did not live up to her expectations.

"They could not organize themselves and delayed everything," she said. "There [is]a mass of angry customers."

Before the show, an organizertold CBC News there were high hopes for the event.

"This is going to be the largest Korean pop themed two-day festival in Canada," Zhangsaid last week.

Not going down without a fight, agroup of disgruntledfans started aFacebookgroupwith nearly 300 members in order to organize a wayto get a 50 per cent refund.

There is no word on whether this refund will happen, but organizers said HallyuNorthwas founded to satisfy a group of passionate K-popfans.

"We feel that we provided a great experience for our fans over the course of our expo's two days of events."