By Yoon Hee Young
Photos = KPOP.FLEX's official Facebook page

Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 14 attracted an estimated 44,000 K-pop fans from Europe.

The Seoul-based Yonhap News on May 16 said the concert "KPOP.FLEX" saw all 44,000 seats at the park sell out two days before, with around 30,000 sold the next day. Thus nearly 80,000 fans from 180 countries are known to have attended the two-day event.

The edition this year was the biggest K-pop event of its kind in Europe's history and featured 10 acts including Kai from Exo, Monsta X, NCT Dream, Enhyphen, (G)I-dle and Mamamoo.

The concert hall was packed with K-pop fans screaming the groups' names and singing along with their songs, Yonhap said.

Artists at the event expressed their feelings over taking part in their first large-scale offline concert in three years.

NCT Dream's Jaemin told Yonhap in an interview, "This is my first time in Germany," adding, "I've always missed everyone and am happy to meet all of you with the end of the pandemic."

Over the concert period, the Korea Tourism Organization and Korean Consulate-general in Frankfurt cohosted for K-pop fans the 2022 Korea Festival X KPOP.FLEX, the biggest Korean culture festival in Europe.

Fans at the concert hall saw a Hanbok fashion show, fusion performance of world b-boy champion Jinjo Crew and gugak (traditional music), and a gayageum (Korean zither) recital by Park Hyunjeong. Also featured was Hansik including Korean-style fried chicken, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables), tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) and mandu (dumplings) from Korean food brands such as BBQ Chicken, CJ CheilJedang and Samyang Foods.

hyyoon@korea.kr