A Month in ‘Ari Red’: Singapore Turns December Into a Citywide K-Pop Festival

Singapore is not just hosting four concerts in December. It is redesigning the whole month around them.

The Singapore Tourism Board said on 10 November that BTS The City Arirang — the South Korean group’s citywide fan programme, stopping only in Singapore in South-east Asia — will run from 1 to 31 December across ten venue partners. Expect drone shows, fireworks, fan villages and exclusive merchandise pop-ups at places such as Gardens by the Bay, Jewel Changi Airport, Mandai Wildlife Reserve, the National Gallery, the National Museum, New Bahru, Resorts World Sentosa and The Kallang.

The colour of the season is “Ari Red”, the shade of the Arirang tour. From 8 to 22 December, landmarks around Marina Bay and the Singapore River will glow red every night, now joined by the Asian Civilisations Museum, the Peranakan Museum and the Merlion.

All of it builds towards the group’s shows at the National Stadium on 17, 19, 20 and 22 December. Every ticket, priced between S$148 and S$388, is already gone — which is partly the point. For the many fans who did not get a seat, the city itself becomes the venue, and the tourism board gets a month-long reason for visitors to stay, explore and spend beyond the stadium gates.