<p class="bodytext">Music spilled from every corner, dance circles appeared like magic, and queues snaked across the venue as hundreds of K-pop fans gathered for HYBE INDIA’s Pop-up Park in Bengaluru last weekend.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Part fan convention, part talent hunt, the event blended the energy of the burgeoning K-pop fandom in the city with the possibility of future fame. Fans traded photocards and plushies, compared favourite artists, posed at photo booths, and filmed dance challenges to songs by BTS, Katseye, Tomorrow X Together, Illit, and other HYBE acts blasting through the speakers. The loudest cheers erupted when familiar tracks came on. Within seconds, the crowd transformed into a synchronised dance floor, and of course, every moment was recorded for social media. Elsewhere, visitors left breathless handwritten messages for their favourite K-pop artistes, sang along wildly at a carpool-karaoke installation, and lined up for digital experiences inspired by the HYBE universe, a ‘legit’ subculture by itself.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But beyond the merchandise and music, an interesting facet of the event was aspiring performers queueing up for auditions for a global girl group project, hoping years of practice in bedrooms, classrooms and dance studios might lead to something bigger. </p>
<p class="bodytext">Music spilled from every corner, dance circles appeared like magic, and queues snaked across the venue as hundreds of K-pop fans gathered for HYBE INDIA’s Pop-up Park in Bengaluru last weekend.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Part fan convention, part talent hunt, the event blended the energy of the burgeoning K-pop fandom in the city with the possibility of future fame. Fans traded photocards and plushies, compared favourite artists, posed at photo booths, and filmed dance challenges to songs by BTS, Katseye, Tomorrow X Together, Illit, and other HYBE acts blasting through the speakers. The loudest cheers erupted when familiar tracks came on. Within seconds, the crowd transformed into a synchronised dance floor, and of course, every moment was recorded for social media. Elsewhere, visitors left breathless handwritten messages for their favourite K-pop artistes, sang along wildly at a carpool-karaoke installation, and lined up for digital experiences inspired by the HYBE universe, a ‘legit’ subculture by itself.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But beyond the merchandise and music, an interesting facet of the event was aspiring performers queueing up for auditions for a global girl group project, hoping years of practice in bedrooms, classrooms and dance studios might lead to something bigger. </p>