A sorely missed part of K-pop culture is back — college festivals. With social distancing measures mostly relaxed, the end of last month saw numerous universities across the nation host their first school festivals in three years.

The student councils that organized the festivals aimed to entertain students, especially those who entered during the pandemic and have been unable to fully enjoy campus life over the past few years.

Each school hosts concerts as part of their own festivals. Hanyang University flaunted a star-studded lineup including PSY, aespa, Dynamicduo, Zico and Jannabi, while Korea University featured aespa, AKMU among others.

The concerts often become the talk of the town among the general public if a popular K-pop act performs. For instance, a video of aespa’s Winter performing at Hanyang University on May 26 went viral on YouTube and social media. The performance especially excited fans of the girl group, which debuted in late 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, as it was aespa’s first college festival appearance.

“We allocate at least 20 million won [$15,900] per act to feature them in our concerts, so we have definitely spent more than 100 million won,” an official from Hanyang University told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily. “We put in extra effort this time, since it’s the first festival in three years.

However, the concerts were not without their fair share of controversy.

Last month, when Daejin University’s student council announced that girl group cignature was part of the school festival’s lineup, some students expressed disdain that a relatively lesser-known girl group was invited. Some went as far as to say that it was a waste of the festivals’ budget, and the head of the student council had to issue a statement explaining that cignature had agreed to perform at the concert free of charge. Many netizens found the complaints disrespectful and pointed out that such reaction was hurtful toward artists.

Another common issue is students lending their student identification cards to non-students for money. Fans of the acts performing buy tickets from the students, who are given an advantage in ticket purchases and seating, then enter with borrowed ID cards.

Many posts were seen on social media with offers to lend ID cards for prices ranging between 100,000 won and 200,000 won. Since school festivals’ concerts are intended to provide students with entertainment and school spirit, some find ticket scalping problematic.

On the other hand, some approve of the practice since such concerts are rare opportunities for fans to see their favorite celebrities from a relatively close distance compared to larger concert venues.


BY HAN YOUNG-HYE, HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]