Screams and cheers echoed through the halls of Kintex in Gyeonggi, Goyang, over the weekend as thousands of BTS fans, or ARMY, descended on the exhibition center for the group’s long-awaited return to the public eye. On Friday and Saturday, BTS hosted the offline portion of its annual BTS Festa, transforming Kintex’s exhibition halls into a purple-drenched celebration of its debut anniversary.

The boy band's agency BigHit Music sent out a press release on Sunday to thank all the fans from across the globe who took part in this year's BTS Festa, marking the boy band's 12th anniversary since debut.


“We extend our deepest gratitude for the incredible support at the 2025 BTS Festa. Thanks to ARMY’s active participation and love, we were able to conclude the event safely and successfully. Please continue to look forward to the new journey that BTS and ARMY will embark on together," the agency said in a statement.

BTS Festa is the group’s annual celebration held in honor of their debut on June 13. It typically spans two weeks across online and offline platforms. This year’s offline component featured around 20 exhibitions and interactive experiences designed to draw both local and international attention.

To accommodate the global fan base, organizers said it deployed multilingual staff fluent in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean Sign Language.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]