Thousands of local electronic dance music fans flocked to Jamsil Olympic Stadium on Saturday night for the annual worldwide Global Gathering music festival in Seoul.

More than 30 acts performed across the stadium’s three stages ― Main, Sub and Bunker Stage ― including Axwell & Ingrosso and Krewella, who took the spotlight on the main stage.

Although the lineup initially had Australian duo Knife Party as the following act to Krewella, it was announced that the group was unable to make the show. Instead, the slot was filled by up-and-coming Netherlands DJ Shermanology, who riled up the crowd with his popular Afro Jack collaboration “Can’t Stop.” 

Closing out the night was Swedish DJ act Axwell and Ingrosso, consisting of former Swedish House Mafia members Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso. The duo started and ended in an adrenaline-fueled frenzy and even dropped the group’s newest single “This Time We Can’t Go Home.”

Although this year’s festival did not bring in as many bigtime acts as in previous years such as DJ David Guetta, Fatboy Slim and Armin Van Buuren, it was nevertheless nearly impossible not to find oneself throwing inhibitions to the wind and enjoying the night with abandon.

With long lines for booze and snacks and handfuls of concert goers dressed in clever costumes and flashy garb, the expected party-hard, rowdy crowd atmosphere did not disappoint even in this year’s new venue.

First held in Korea in 2009, the annual music festival was initially held at Hangang Nanji Park in Seoul for the first three years before being relocated to Caribbean Bay in Gyeonggi Province.

Global Gathering Korea is known for being inconsistent, on some years being held for two days and others just one, this year’s one-night festival returned to its urban setting. And although it was certainly a blessing transportation-wise for Seoulites to not have to schlep out to Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, the move to the stadium also meant losing the youthful splashing around in the pool that the waterpark offered.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)