Kanye West, now known as Ye, drew 31,000 spectators to his concert in Almaty, including around 7,700 tourists from more than 50 countries and territories. Organizers estimated the economic impact of the tourist influx at approximately 5 billion tenge ($11 million). Kursiv LifeStyle looks at how one of the year’s biggest musical events unfolded and the impact the concert had on Almaty.
The show took place on Aug. 15 at Almaty’s Central Stadium as part of the artist’s world tour. So far, Almaty is the tour’s only stop in Central Asia.
According to organizers, foreign attendees included around 2,000 fans who follow the artist’s world tour and attend his concerts worldwide. Visitors came to Almaty from countries including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, the UAE, the U.S., China, the U.K., Germany and Australia.
From Aug. 13 to 16, the average occupancy rate of accommodation facilities in Almaty was around 98%, according to Galiya Tokseitova, head of the Almaty Tourism Department.
«Hosting Ye’s concert and the strong demand for tourism services demonstrate the potential of event tourism and its importance for the development of the city’s tourism sector and economy,» she said.
The concert was originally scheduled for Aug. 14 but was postponed to Aug. 15 due to worsening weather conditions. Organizers said the decision was made to ensure the safety of the audience, the artist and event staff. All previously purchased tickets remained valid.
The Almaty concert took around a month to prepare. The stage and technical infrastructure at Central Stadium were installed in five days. The spherical structure, a key element of Ye’s stage design, was assembled in one of the shortest timeframes of the entire tour, according to the organizers.
First Media Group CEO Alfiya Nurgumarova said that, following the postponement, the team effectively had to prepare the venue for the show twice within 24 hours.
«We had just one month to prepare this project. During that time, the Kazakhstani team went from developing the initial technical solutions to delivering a fully realized stadium show with highly complex stage design, international logistics and the requirements of a world tour,» Nurgumarova said.
To stage the concert in Almaty, the artist’s international team brought in equipment on a large cargo aircraft and seven semi-trailers. Additional equipment was sourced from Almaty, Astana and Moscow.
Sound, lighting, projection and stage equipment was installed at the stadium. Four additional technical towers were erected outside the stands, while sound systems were positioned around the perimeter of the stadium bowl. A separate complex of 17 tents and eight dressing rooms was also prepared for the artist’s team.
More than 4,400 people worked on-site on the day of the concert, including security personnel, police officers, city and medical services, technical and production crews, stadium staff, ticketing and support teams.
The event was organized by First Media Group in partnership with Freedom Holding Corp., with Freedom Afisha, formerly known as Freedom Ticketon, serving as the official ticketing operator. According to Freedom Afisha CEO Ulan Kairbekov, the platform served both Kazakhstani and international buyers and accepted payments from foreign bank cards.
Kursiv LifeStyle previously reported that a Kanye West fan in Almaty created joke merchandise after the rapper’s concert was postponed by «fixing» the date on outdated concert T-shirts.
