Sport & Entertainment
JAM | Feb 2, 2023

Heartbreak at K-POPDramaFest 2023

/ Our Today

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Krystal Grant, K-POPDramaFest originator, with Miss K-POPDramaFest 2023, Amanda Hinds. Hinds was crowned at the event held on Saturday, January 28, at the Portmore HEART Trust/NTA Academy auditorium. (Photo: Contributed)

In the heights of what was the most successful staging of K-POPDramaFest to date, came the news that sent shockwaves through the K-POP community- event organizer Krystal Grant announced that she would be stepping away from her brainchild.

She shared the news near the end of the event that took place on January 28, at the auditorium of the Portmore HEART Trust/NTA Academy.

“It just takes a lot to plan and I’m always involved in everyone’s life, but after a while this has all become a bit overwhelming, so I think I just need to step down and do smaller events that take less time. K-POPDramaFest is a lot of work,” said Grant.

K-POPDramaFest 2023 was the third and largest staging of the event since it began last year. Grant, an event planner by profession, decided that she wanted to share her own love for Korean pop culture with the larger community.

K-POPDramaFest 2023 posted its largest audience to date in its short run. (Photo: Contributed)

“I’ve been into K-POP for a while now, about seven, eight years. From I was a teenager I was always, as a Jamaican, called weird because I liked other cultures. I liked pop music. I wasn’t supposed to like pop music. I was supposed to like dancehall and reggae. So it started there. I’ve never really conformed. I’ve always been just me and K-POP was good, feel good music,” she said.

In 2022 Grant held the first K-POPDramaFest in Discovery Bay, St Ann, boosted by finding fellow K-POP fans via TikTok.

“I realized there were a lot of Jamaicans into K-POP, so I wondered if it would be cool to have a K-POP event as a joke and it just moved from there,” Grant explained.

The initial event drew fifty fans and by the second it had outgrown the venue, causing Grant to seek a larger location.

K-POP dance group Jak’D giving fans in attendance at K-POPDramaFest 2023 a great show. (Photo: Contributed)

“No show has ever been the same. The first show was just fifty of us. The second one we did a pool party. We had a big sound system. We did our games, went into the pool and had fun. This time because I wanted to carry it to Kingston, this is where I could find a decent venue and that’s how I came up with the Black and White edition to celebrate our one year anniversary,” said Grant.

With the move to Portmore, St Catherine, came a host of changes including the addition of a Miss K-POPDramaFest pageant. Four young ladies from across the island took part. At first they were introduced to the filled auditorium and then throughout the day they were put through their challenges, including talent and a Jamaica/Korea fusion clothing segment. Amanda Hinds proved popular with the judges who were looking for a candidate that best displayed the best of and blended both cultures.

“I’m shocked, surprized, but ultimately grateful to have won,” said Hinds. She added that she was sad upon hearing the news of Grant’s retirement from K-POPDramaFest, but she was still none the less happy to have won the crown.

Hinds was followed by Nathania Dixon, a contestant from St Ann who sashed first runner up. The self-professed introvert had entered to not only show her love for K-POP and help get herself over her natural shyness.

It was thumbs up for K-POPDramaFest 2023 from Kaala Moses, winner of the Spicy Ramen Eating Contest. (Photo: Contributed)

“What I like about K-POP is the music. That’s what brought me in first. Then the community. We all get together and have fun,” said Dixon.

Like many she was sad about the revelation from Grant.

“I’m very sad, honestly, because I was trying to convince her to hold more of these events,” said Dixon.

Second runner up went to Gizelle Harrison, who was also inspired by her love of K-POP to attend and enter the Miss K-POPDramaFest pageant.

“I love the fact that K-POP inspires people and you don’t have to be of a certain social class, or a certain background to be able to enjoy the music. K-POPDramaFest is where anyone is able to come and vibe in a safe environment,” said Harrison.

That environment also was populated with vendors who has plenty of Korean items on sale to satiate any K-POP fan. Past the posters, stickers, music, and trinkets on sale or up for live auction, were Korean snacks and foods.

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