New Delhi: What was supposed to be a pop-up park ended up feeling more like a giant dance party. For two days this weekend, Yashobhoomi became a meeting place for Delhi’s K-pop community. Hundreds of young fans traded photocards with strangers, solo attendees became friends, and every familiar beat sent people rushing out of queues and toward the stage. Many found their people.
One such attendee was 23-year-old Annie, who decided to attend HYBE India’s pop-up park alone. It was a festival organised by the South Korean entertainment giant. But she wasn’t nervous at all.
“I couldn’t sleep the night before because I was so excited,” she said. “I didn’t feel hesitant to come here because I knew I would find my people here.”
She was right.
Though the event officially began at 2 pm, Annie had arrived at Yashobhoomi at 11 am to collect her fan passport. Somewhere between the metro station and the endless queues inside the venue, she met 18-year-old Payal, who had also come by herself. The two clicked instantly and spent the rest of the day together, comparing stamps and calculating how much time they had left to complete the activities.
“Nothing like this happens in India, let alone Delhi, so I was really looking forward to this,” Payal said.
Held on 13 and 14 June, the two-day festival marked the grand finale of Hybe India’s pan-India tour, which travelled through Guwahati, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru before ending in Delhi. Featuring K-pop DJ parties, random play dances, interactive sponsor booths and performances by Bharg and rapper Reble, the event drew hundreds of fans, many of whom had been queuing outside since 10 am.
Delhi’s K-pop fandom
Most of the attendees at the event were young women, dressed in carefully curated outfits. The atmosphere was electric. Long lines formed outside booths put up by Samsung, Kia, Shoppers Stop, H&M, Snapchat and Nongshim, with some stretching for hours. But fans hardly seemed to mind. They spent most of their time singing along to whatever song happened to be playing.
The first day of the event coincided with BTS’s 13th anniversary, adding another layer of excitement. To celebrate, fans raised their flashlights and sang loudly to Body to Body, turning the venue into a sea of voices.
But if there was one thing capable of bringing the entire venue to a halt, it was random play dance—when a song would play and anyone who knew the choreography was expected to jump in. The moment a familiar track came on, people abandoned conversations, stepped out of queues and rushed toward the centre of the hall. From TXT’s Sugar Rush Ride to NewJeans’ Hype Boy, every song was a call to join in. The level of choreography knowledge on display made one thing abundantly clear—Delhi’s young know their K-pop.
The festivities also included games where audience members had to guess K-pop idols’ names, and DJ sets that kept the energy levels high throughout the day.
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Coming together of a community
While the action unfolded in the centre, another scene played out on the edges of the venue. Parents sat cross-legged on the floor, bags and water bottles beside them, watching patiently as their children danced and screamed lyrics in Korean. Some doubled up as camera people, carefully filming videos and taking pictures. Others participated in small ways themselves, getting bedazzled with glitter makeup and rhinestones while waiting.
HYBE India has also set up a walk-in audition booth looking for members for its upcoming girl group. Aspiring contestants could register on the spot before uploading their performance videos online. The auditions, open to female participants born between 2005 and 2011, are part of a 15-city global search and will continue online till 31 July.
For 20-year-old Rhea, a fan of girl group Katseye, the opportunity felt almost too good to be true.
“I am going to upload for modelling and singing,” she said. “I am very introverted and I never used to sing in front of people. But in college, I started letting go of that fear. I never expected an opportunity like this to come my way. I already had plans to do my master’s, but if this works out, I will leave everything.”
By evening, the crowd’s attention shifted to the stage. Bharg drew loud cheers with his punk rendition of Katseye’s Touch, while rapper Reble, whom many had waited all day to see, delivered a high-energy closing performance that brought the festivities to an emphatic end.
For a few hours over the weekend, Yashobhoomi seemed to create a community—with shared playlists, dance moves and the comfort of knowing that nobody had to be a fan alone.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)