These K-Pop events are happening near you!

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K-Pop parties in the disco, events organized by fans to celebrate the birthday of idols and other K-Pop events are a daily occurrence in Korea. But in fact there are also parties in Germany and Europe where K-Pop music is played and fans celebrate the birthday of their favorite idols together! Have you ever been to a K-Pop party or fan meeting near you?

In this article we will introduce you to a few events that might be in your area:

• K-Pop Parties
• Cup Sleeve/ Bubble Tea Event
• Dance Cover Contests/ Random Play Dance
• Meetups

K-Pop Parties

Parties are popular everywhere and since K-Pop has become a global phenomenon, it is no wonder that K-Pop parties are also held in Europe. Often they just play K-Pop in general, but there are also themes like certain years or a specific group.

To find out if there's a party coming up soon in your area, you should regularly check for K-Pop parties on social media and the Internet.

One helpful site is eventbrite , for example, where you can filter for suitable events using keywords. German fans can also keep an eye on Korean Party Factory's Instagram account, where new parties are regularly announced.

Cup Sleeve Events/ Bubble Tea Event

When an idol has a birthday or the anniversary of a K-pop band is coming up, fans often organize so-called cup sleeve events:

Cup sleeves are sleeves for cups, usually made of paper. The sleeves usually have a picture of the idol's birthday printed on them, as well as a date or a birthday greeting. These events usually take place in a coffee shop. To get a cup sleeve, guests simply have to order something at the cafe. Often, in addition to Cup Sleeves, there are freebies like photo cards or stickers. In most cases, there is even appropriate music playing in the cafés.

These events are organized entirely by fans. They rent a cafe or organize a collaboration, they design the sleeves and freebies, produce them and let as many fans as possible know when and where these events take place. Most of the time, just googling "cup sleeve event" and your city or country is enough to find out if there are events near you. There are even Twitter or Instagram accounts that are just there to inform fans. Examples include the German account @kpopeventberlin or the Australian account @kpopteaeventsau.

Also, if you know a cafe that has hosted a Cup Sleeve event before, there's a good chance the cafe will repeat it at some point.

Also, have you perhaps heard of bubble tea or K-Pop tea events?

These are often but not always the same as Cup Sleeve events. This is because cup sleeve events often take place in bubble tea stores. This fits very well, after all Bubble Tea is a very popular drink among K-Pop fans and by now there are such stores everywhere in the world.

Why isn't every bubble tea event also a cup sleeve event? The very simple reason is that cup sleeves are not always distributed. Sometimes there are photo cards, stickers or other freebies instead.

These events are a great opportunity to celebrate the birthday or anniversary of the idol in question, meet other K-Pop fans and take home some free gifts. Have you ever been to a cup sleeve event?

Dance Cover Contests/ Random Play Dance

Sometimes fans or event organizers call for a Random Play Dance or a Dance Cover Contest.

A Random Play Dance is usually organized by fans:

K-Pop fans meet at a certain location to dance together in a relaxed way! The organizers put together a medley of popular K-Pop songs and anyone who wants to can run into the middle and dance to the songs if they know the choreography. It's like a big flash mob and the audience stands in a big circle to leave room for the dancers. Some fans dance along to almost every song, some only once in a while and others just watch. So you're welcome even if you can't or don't want to dance. The more people that come, the better!

In addition to the Random Play Dance, there are also K-Pop Dance Cover Contests, but most of them are not organized by fans, but by event companies.

Dance groups can often apply with a video and perform at the contest if their video has convinced the jury! The prizes include money or a trip to Korea. At big events like the K-Pop World Festival, the finals even take place in South Korea! Not only dance teams from all over the world perform there, but also K-Pop stars!

There are also spectators at some such competitions, especially if they are part of a bigger event. So you can also go there as a spectator to meet other fans.

If you like to dance, you should ask around to see if there is a K-Pop dance group near you. Have you ever seen a "K-Pop in Public" video? These videos are recorded by fans who have formed groups to dance together! They memorize the iconic choreography down to the last detail and dress appropriately for the videos as well.

Meetups

Sometimes fans just get together to meet other fans and hang out together. It's especially important to keep your eyes open when there's a K-Pop concert coming up in your area, or a big festival like Japantag in Düsseldorf, Germany. Especially such big events, for which fans travel from all over the world, are a good opportunity to have a get-together, either on the day itself or before/after.

Celebrate and mourn together:

It is very annoying and sad when a concert is cancelled, for example because the artist is ill. But the day doesn't have to be wasted because of that! Sometimes fans organize a spontaneous get-together for everyone who would have actually gone to the concert. There is no better opportunity, after all, everyone has kept the day free. Even visitors from abroad often attend if the concert was cancelled at such short notice that they were unable to cancel their flights. Make the most of the day!

If there's really something to mourn, like the death of an idol, maybe you can mourn together with other fans.

When Jonghyun of SHINee died and more recently Moonbin of Astro, fans of the idols gathered to share their grief. Especially when you don't have other K-pop fans around, such gatherings are a chance to express your feelings. You can comfort and rebuild each other. Pictures and candles are often put up to create a special place of honor for the singer, at least temporarily.

Like everything else, such reunions and events are announced and organized on social media. Check back regularly on Twitter, Instagram and the like so you don't miss a thing!