Into The World Of K-pop Birthdays

It’s widely accepted that birthdays deserve special celebrations. Whether it's making a cake from scratch or splurging on a surprise party, they’re all ways of saying “happy birthday”. It’s no different for London-based photography student Georgia Boon, who spends her time baking sweets shaped into her loved one's favorite characters. The same goes for 22-year-old Tasneem Khan, who works day and night, decorating the room with balloons and the prettiest pictures of her special person. It’s no different from how everyone else celebrates birthdays, except for the fact that the birthday person won’t be the one receiving the gifts or attending these parties. Because for Georgia and Tasneem, the birthday boys are Suga and J-Hope, the beloved rappers of K-pop boyband BTS.

The “Hallyu Wave”, which refers to the global rise of Korean pop culture, got its start in the early 2000s and has now transformed K-pop into a five billion dollar industry. In 2019, it was reported that the number of Korean pop culture fans around the globe amounted to around 89 million people in 113 countries. Amongst these fans is a culture of enthusiasm and adoration for their favorite K-Pop idols, and birthday events are one of the most common outlets to show their love.

Much like the cupcakes and cookies K-pop fan Georgia bakes for the celebrations, birthday gifts for K-pop stars come in many different forms. Sometimes fans will donate to charity in honor of their favorite K-pop idol, like when Japanese fans of BTS member Jungkook donated $4,000 to the charity, the Kamonohashi project, to combat human trafficking in India. Sometimes, fans who take photographs of their favorite idol with professional cameras, also known as fan sites, will rent out billboards around the world, such as the NASDAQ and Thomson Reuters Boards in New York City’s Time Square, which go for $30,000 per week for a 15-second per hour slot. And sometimes, in the case of Georgia and Tasneem who are restlessly preparing for the 29th birthday of BTS’ rapper Suga on the 9th of March, the celebrations come in the form of a cup sleeve event.

Tasneem, the organizer for an upcoming birthday cup sleeve event in London, shuffles through what seems like a never-ending amount of cylindrical pieces of paper. Every piece, which is meant to fit snugly around a cup of coffee or bubble tea, is adorned with BTS’ faces and adorable designs like cotton candy clouds and doodled hearts. She singles out a particularly aesthetically pleasing design, explaining that cup sleeves of that type are only available in Asia and as much as she prefers them, they cost up to £600 (roughly $800) to order. Instead, she pulls out a design most British event organizers use these days. With a much thinner material and a little cut-out or sticker to secure the sleeve, the cup sleeves are only $80 for her typical order of 500.

The cup sleeves are meant to be given to fans who attend the birthday events once they purchase a drink at the organizer’s cafe or bubble tea shop of choice. Nicholas Phan, who is the founder, director, and owner of popular K-pop birthday spot Biju Bubble Tea in London’s Soho, says that they sell at least one drink every minute over the course of the five to six-hour-long events. The queues for the shop have gotten so full of excited fans at times, to the point where they block the entrances of neighboring Soho shops. Amidst the buzz and energetic music filling up the room, though, is a fun, unique atmosphere that Nicholas credits towards the dedication of the fans.

That dedication manifests itself into three months of preparation, as calculated by Tasneem who has held 12 BTS cup sleeve events over the course of three years. For her upcoming event, she’s leading a team of eight people, each of which has different roles such as managing queues (which can attract up to 400 people), giving out freebies that consist of small photos of the birthday boys, and selling official and fan made merchandise. On top of that, she has to design her own marketing materials and order decorations to BTS-ify the space. But perhaps the most telling part of the fans’ dedication is that this all comes from their own pockets, and they rarely ever make the money back.

When asked why she does all of this for someone who won’t attend the party and is most likely not aware of her existence, Tasneem shrugged her shoulders, smiling. “I don’t know why I do it. I just find so much joy in creating that sort of environment. It’s less about the birthday and more about celebrating friendship and like-mindedness,” she answers.

Georgia, on the other hand, likens the situation to anybody else who celebrates birthdays. “What some people don’t understand is that these K-pop idols, to some people, are the only reason why they are still living at the moment,” the student explains, continuing with, “if this was someone from your family, it’s something you would do. You would celebrate their birthday because you love them.” And perhaps, K-pop birthdays really are as simple as that.

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