Concerts by British band Coldplay at the Kaohsiung National Stadium attracted more than 170,000 fans over the weekend and generated about NT$550 million (US$17.18 million) in revenue, the city government said on Monday.
On Sunday, the number of people in and around the stadium peaked at 86,505, a record for the venue, it said in a statement.
The stadium and areas around it were visited by more than 170,000 people over the two days, boosting sales at night markets by at least 30 percent and lifting occupancy rates at downtown hotels to 90 percent, it said.
Photo: CNA
To facilitate transportation of fans, the city coordinated with the Kaohsiung MRT to increase rail services and arranged shuttle buses, it said.
It took 82 and 88 minutes to disperse the crowds on Saturday and Sunday respectively, the city said.
Of the 170,000 people who attended, 70 percent were from outside Kaohsiung, including overseas visitors from Hong Kong, Macau, Europe, North America and Southeast Asia, Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau data showed.
Separately, the Kaohsiung City Government on Wednesday said that the stadium, which has a capacity of 55,000, is the only stadium in Taiwan that can hold more than 45,000 people.
The stadium has received a “gold” rating from the central government for its environmental design, which is in line with Coldplay’s advocacy for environmental sustainability, the city government said.
Designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito, the dragon-shaped stadium’s main structure has 8,844 solar panels that can generate 1.1 million kilowatts of electricity annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 660 tonnes per year, it said.
Coldplay aims to make its Music of the Spheres world tour “as sustainable and low-carbon as possible,” mainly by cutting carbon emissions by 50 percent compared with their previous tours in 2016 and 2017, and supporting new green technologies, the band said on its Web site.
To encourage recycling, Coldplay asked concert-goers to return their LED wristbands after the shows, the city government said.
At the band’s first Kaohsiung concert on Saturday, the recycling rate for LED wristbands was 93 percent, the city government said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS