ATEEZ brings the Adrenaline to Istanbul

byKirsty Bright -
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Photo courtesy of Istanbul Festivali

Istanbul Festivali welcomed a different kind of lineup for their fifth year, and in a first – and to the delight of fans – K-pop finally got its time to shine. This year would welcome K-pop giants ATEEZ and soloist Kwon Eunbi. The event was brought together as part of a special programme to mark the Republic of Korea’s liberation day. In celebration of this day, the festival collaborated with the Korean cultural centre to mark the day. 

South Korea's ambassador to Ankara, Boo Sukjong, used the occasion to underline the longstanding relationship between South Korea and Türkiye, describing the two countries as being connected not only by friendship but also by a bond built through shared history.

Referring to Türkiye's role in the Korean War, Boo said in a press statement that the courage and sacrifices of Turkish soldiers had provided important support for the Republic of Korea and remained deeply remembered by the Korean people.

"Korean people deeply remember and remain grateful for this support. On the occasion of Korea's Liberation Day, I was deeply moved to see Turkish young people singing along to Korean lyrics and cheering with such enthusiasm during the Istanbul Festival Korean Days," Boo said.

That enthusiasm echoed in waves, as after the doors opened at 4pm, fans arrived, filling the arena, ready to enjoy the evening ahead. People had plenty of cultural activities to indulge in, as the Korean Culture Center provided stands for the visitors. Popular trends such as K-beauty, which has had a tremendous rise globally, featured along with Korean cultural stands that fans seemed to enjoy. Even football player Oh Hyeon-gyu from Beşiktaş was a special guest there for a fan signing event. 

On the main stage a K-pop dance contest finale was held with the choreographers Berke Taşdelen and Gülşah Alan of Turkey’s highly popular girl group Manifest as the jury. The dance group CHOS7N won 1st place. Alongside that, ATINY were treated to ATEEZ-themed activities, including quizzes; over on the Youth Stage hosted DJ sets and live performances from choreographers. 

Speaking of stages, which were incredibly impressive and left quite the mark, breaking away from festival stages that can be quite basic. This festival instead added to the artist's performance, bringing its own level of aesthetics. Inspired by Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, whose approach to structural systems and arch geometry stretches about 70 metres wide and 28 metres high. The production included a large LED screen surface, hundreds of moving lighting fixtures and a line-array sound system.

But the time came to finally see the artist fans had been waiting for to take the stage. Kwon Eunbi started the evening with 2021’s "Door". Although known as the leader of the project girl group IZ*ONE, she's gone on to become a success story in her own right. Performing fan favourite “Underwater” perhaps is a subtle nod to her viral performance at Waterbomb Festival in 2023 that led to the song's recharting. Interacting with the audience, and with strong vocals, she rounded off her set with a special performance of Dua Lipa’s "Levitating". For those who were new to the singer, she most definitely won them over and certainly gained new fans with her kind personality and bubbly songs. 

With Istanbul Festival reporting this to be the most crowded day with over 50,000 people in attendance, many may ask, 'Why?' Well, ATEEZ. The moment arrived that many Atiny had patiently been waiting for. Perhaps even wondering if this was a dream, as Europe is famous for receiving K-pop crumbs. Having a powerhouse group such as ATEEZ in their city could have been seen as surreal. Rightfully so, the eight members – Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho – have dominated charts since their debut back in 2018. 

Known for having quite the extensive discography, they've been catching surprise with their latest festival setlist. Keeping everyone on their toes, every opener is a strong one, and they certainly surprised everyone by choosing the anthemic "Adrenalnie". The perfect infused track to which the crowd matched their strength and that continued with 2019’s “Say My Name", keeping the energy high. After this the members said hello to the audience and introduced themselves with the classic intro “8 makes 1 team 에이티즈입니다”.

When the first notes of their last comeback, "BAD", started to play, the audience became so loud that you could tell that they were waiting for this moment. Especially when the viral dance break arrived in which San does his much-loved chest move; as you can imagine, it left everyone's ears ringing, myself included. It's a testament that every comeback seems to outdo the last, and that is proven when it comes to the next two songs which feel like old songs yet have only been released in a short span of time, and those are of course “Work” and the undisputed queen of the setlist "Bouncy". In these moments it shows how varied ATEEZ are onstage, each member having their time to shine alongside iconic dance moments, the ones that fans await and can join in with. 



Allowing the boys to take a short break and catch their breath came a short speech. The crowd couldn’t believe it when Wooyoung expressed that he didn’t expect so many people to turn up to their concert, and Jongho stole their hearts by speaking in Turkish, saying “Aşkım, seni seviyorum” which translates to “I love you, my love”.

The mood then softened with their song "Wave" and continued with the self-assurance song "Enough", during which the lightsticks and phone flashlights brightened the audience. 

As the evening was to celebrate the special friendship with Turkey, the members were involved in a segment hosted by the MC (actor Park Jaemin) about their thoughts on Istanbul and Turkish food. The MC mentioned how the Bosphorus and the sea of Istanbul match Ateez’s pirate vibe and suggested they shoot a music video with Turkish Atinys. Seonghwa promised their fans they would be back in Turkey. And when Hongjoong apologised for resting due to his recent health issues, while the crowd was reassuring him that it was fine, Seonghwa started a cheer for him, and the whole arena shouted his name.

The fans were sad that this precious night with ATEEZ was coming to an end when the members said it was time for their last two songs. But with any show they always leave with a bang, starting the encore with “NASA” followed up by the iconic “Ice on My Teeth". 

No ATEEZ show is complete until the fan favourite of all fan favourites arrives, one that shakes the festival grounds to the core. That is "Guerrilla", and for those not familiar with the tradition of this song, it's intended to have the fans pretty much screaming the fan chant of "break the wall", overpowering the members. A fun participation for anyone involved in such a moment and one that makes you not so sad that the show is over. With this being the first time that ATEEZ were in Turkey, a promise was made that they would return, making the ending bittersweet. For the first time Turkey got a taste of finally welcoming in giant Korean acts, and having such a strong contender on stage lets hope it's the start to many more. 


Thank you to İstanbul Festivali and White Entertainment Group for having us.


Written by Rookie Korean & Kirsty Bright


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Kirsty Bright

A UK freelance writer, who stumbled into the land of Kpop while studying Korean. Her bias groups are BTS and Seventeen, but she loves a range of groups and finding new artists to listen to! Contact on Insta: @kirstybright_ or email: kirsty1253@gmail.com

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