Hats off to them: Fans of SNSD in Hai Phong prepare pink conical hats to welcome their idols to perform in Ha Noi tonight. — Photo courtesy ione.net

HA NOI (VNS)— Fans of SNSD, the nine-member girl band who will perform at the K-pop Festival Concert, painted the city pink (the band's symbol colour) to welcome their idols. They could be seen all over, wearing pink hats and shirts and riding pink bicycles along the Ha Noi streets.

Thirteen bands including SNSD, Dong Bang Shin Ki, Beast, Sistar, B.A.P, T-ARA, Sondambi, Kara, and Miss A will perform in the much-awaited concert, part of a cultural series to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and South Korea.

An astounding 200 fans from Sone (SNSD's Vietnamese fanclub) rode bicycles around Hoan Kiem (Returned Sword) Lake on Sunday and held a flashmob where they danced to SNSD's top hits: Gee, The Boys and Tell Me Your Wish.

In the northern province of Hai Phong, fanclub members have finished painting 500 conical hats pink to match the girl band's style while continuing to reflect Vietnamese culture.

"We bought conical hats from the northern province of Thai Binh, which is known for beautiful products, then spent nearly one month to decorate them," said Hong Linh, a member of Sone. They also painted messages to SNSD and Vietnamese and South Korean flags on the conical hats to celebrate the concert.

On the same day, Cass, Dong Bang Shin Ki's fanclub in Viet Nam, also organised a street dance performance that mimicked the style of the boy band. While pink represents SNSD, red symbolises Dong Bang Shin Ki. The fans intended to create a "red sea" at My Dinh Stadium to impress their idols.

Top singers like Thanh Lam and Tan Minh will represent Viet Nam in the concert.

"This will be the biggest ever K-pop festival. We hope the event will satisfy numerous fans in Viet Nam," said Park Nark-jong, director of the Korean Cultural Centre in Viet Nam.

Not only audience members, but also Vietnamese celebrities are eagerly waiting for the event. Miss Viet Nam 2010 Ngoc Han shared a picture of her concert tickets on Facebook to indicate how excited she was.

Beauty queens like Jennifer Pham and Mai Phuong Thuy told the public they were also looking forward to the event.

"People may well see me and my friends dancing to SNSD's music among the thousands of audience members at the concert," said singer Minh Hang.

An imposing stage, the likes of which have never been built in either Viet Nam or South Korea, will be constructed at My Dinh Stadium. Lighting and audio experts from South Korea are currently preparing the venue for the concert.

The event, organised by South Korea-based MBC and VK Media Company, will start at 7.30pm tonight. Tickets are mainly distributed by the Ocean Hospitality Group. — VNS