Not too cool for school: How K-pop stars took over university festivals

Riize, aespa, Cortis and Le Sserafim — If you want to see these artists perform, you could fight for a concert ticket, clicking frenziedly as you try to beat thousands of other fans navigating Korea's complicated ticket checkout system.

Or you could head to a university campus around May, in what might be a surprisingly be a better option.

The month is the spring festival season at universities, with campuses littered with booths selling food, offering fun games and promoting student groups.

But the centerpiece of the event these days isn't student life. It's the artist performances, where singers, rappers and K-pop groups will come out to perform in what almost amounts to a mini K-pop festival.

For instance, Korea University’s spring festival, held from May 19 to 21, featured performances by K-pop acts including Le Sserafim, Cortis, Tomorrow X Together, BoyNextDoor and ILLIT. Singers Psy, aespa and Allday Project performed during Hanyang University's festival, which ran between May 27 and 29. Sogang University also had a handful of stars turn out, including Riize, Yena and BIBI.

Videos of K-pop acts chanting each university's slogan often go viral online, and fans dig for photos of stars donning school-themed costumes that aren't often seen on stage.

But how did K-pop performances become the defining feature of university festivals, turning them into competitions over which campus can secure the biggest stars?

How do university festivals commence?

After the midterm season ends, campuses instantly get busy preparing for their spring festivals in May. The festivals run for two to three days, with student clubs and student councils setting up booths to sell food or drinks to earn a bit of money and promote activities. Companies also set up booths to promote themselves, giving out free products or snacks to students.

Some universities let their students slack off a bit, with professors ending classes early and dorms extending or removing the curfew around the festival period.

The university festivals are organized by each school's general student council, and the most important information — the artist lineup — is usually announced through the council’s social media channels. Select events such as Yonsei University’s Akaraka and Korea University’s Ipselenti are exceptions, with lineups kept secret until performances start.

Tickets for music festivals featuring similarly high-profile lineups can easily cost around 150,000 won ($100), but at university festivals, most students can watch the performances for free or a minimal fee, with tickets to Akaraka and Ipselenti costing around 20,000 won.

Many Korean students don't consider K-pop performances on campus unusual, but having such star power on the quad is a unique experience for international students.

Mai Chi, a Vietnamese undergraduate at Hanyang University, was with a group of three friends on campus on May 27. They were dressed in blue and white school merch, eagerly waiting for the performances.

"I was really surprised by the fact that K-pop groups perform during university festivals," said Mai Chi. "Festivals we have in Vietnam are smaller in scale, and we don't have performances by [boy groups or girl groups]. Even if we do have singers, it's mostly indie singers or bands."

Who is performing, and how do you get in?

Not every K-pop group gets a festival invitation, and choosing who gets to come can be tricky as the lineup needs to satisfy everyone. Artists with popular songs that students can sing along to, as well as veteran performers that lift the mood, are often preferred.

Psy is an undeniable favorite, attending more than 10 festivals, including at Pusan National University, Kyung Hee University and Sejong University, this spring. Rappers such as Jay Park, Zico and Crush also frequently perform. Popular K-pop idols often make the list, although students may see more girl groups than boy bands.

"Boy bands have very dedicated fandoms, but at university festivals, they can place a heavier burden on organizers when it comes to managing fans," said Yoo Seung-chul, a professor at Ewha Womans University's Division of Communication & Media. "Girl groups are often preferred because they have a good balance between public recognition, the potential of festival videos spreading online and strong on-site crowd reactions."

K-pop performances can easily attract massive crowds, and student councils typically designate student-only viewing zones near the stage to ensure students have a better view. Students will start lining up early to secure spots closer to the stage, with many starting the queue in the morning.

"I lined up at around 10 a.m. to get the wristband [that allows entry to the student zone] and quickly had lunch, and now we're going to stand in line to enter the student zone," said Kang You-eun, a Hanyang University student, as she rushed to line up with friends on May 27.

Whether nonstudents can attend performances depends on each university’s policy, but most don't prohibit visitors from watching from the back or other areas around campus.

Some student councils also offer separate paid options, such as Korea University's Sejong Campus selling tickets that allow nonstudents to enter the student-only viewing area for 50,000 won ($35). Dongguk University is another, selling tickets that allow nonstudents to watch the performance from the back of the student zone for 15,000 won.

How did these festivals become K-pop bonanzas?

While today's university festivals are all about fun and big names, things were different back in the day.

Shinheung Junior College — the predecessor of Kyung Hee University — hosted the first university festival in 1956 to celebrate its seventh anniversary, according to the National Archives of Korea. The three-day festival featured student plays, sports and recitals. There was also a touch of academics, as symposiums and mock trials took place.

University festivals then spread to other schools. Yonsei and Korea University held their first festivals in 1962, also with student plays, sports, a folk dance event and literary talks.

Another big change came during the so-called military dictatorship era: Student-led uprisings were a central part of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980, and this was also reflected in the festivals.

Seoul National University didn't hold a spring festival that year, and instead held an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the April 19 Revolution, a movement protesting then-president Syngman Rhee's authoritarian government.

The term "daedongje," Korean for "festival of great unity," which many universities still use today to refer to spring festivals, also emerged during this period. Korea University named its spring festival Seoktap Daedongje in 1984, using the word daedong to reflect the idea of solidarity without discrimination. Students also held a memorial ceremony for those who died during the May 18 democratization movement.

Other universities also adopted the name and the spirit, with Pusan National University, for example, naming its festival Hyowon Daedongjae in 1985.

But why K-pop groups and singers today?

As time passed, political undertones faded away in the 1990s. Student performances and booths selling food and drinks took center stage, and festivals started adding a bit of fun with performances by popular singers such as Insooni, Song Chang-sik and the band Sanulrim.

The real boom came in the 2000s, as the memories of collectivism in the face of oppression gave way to individualism, raising the need to bring students together. Such a monumental task was made easier by the simultaneous rise of K-pop.

"Individualistic tendencies have grown stronger, and the sense of community within a university is becoming weaker," said Yang Seung-hoon, a professor at Silla University's Division of Hotel and Medical Tourism Management.

"Shifting away from the strong social and ideological foundations universities once had, students are now more focused on future employment opportunities and individual experiences. So for student councils, their challenge is to bring those students together and make them participate in campus events. Today’s celebrity performance-centered festivals aren't just about festivals being commercialized, but are a practical strategy to gather students as campus culture changes."

Seoul National University’s first K-pop group performance came in 2008, when Wonder Girls — who became a nationwide sensation with the song "Tell Me" (2007) — performed at the university’s spring festival. The group also attended festivals at the likes of Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University and Dankook University that year. Girls' Generation was another festival regular, performing at Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University and Seoul National University that year.

While there are a lot of attention-grabbing entertainment elements, celebrities are among the most powerful for those in their 20s.

"Celebrity performances are one of the most direct and powerful crowd-pullers," said Professor Yoo. "They are among the most effective ways to quickly draw attention, generate hype on campus and create a buzz beyond the university itself."

What's in it for the performers?

As students look forward to celebrity performances, university festivals are also becoming an opportunity for artists to promote themselves.

"University festivals have now become a platform that singers and entertainment agencies actively use, rather than just an event in which universities invite singers," said Professor Yoo. "University festivals allow singers to showcase themselves to the young generation and go viral through fancams and short-form videos."

Le Sserafim released the song "Boompala" on May 25, but performed the full song before its release at Soongsil University's festival on May 15 and Korea University's on May 19.

H//PE Princess, formed through Mnet's audition show “Unpretty Rapstar: Hip Pop Princess” (2025), debuted on May 27. However, the group performed at six university festivals — including Daegu University, Hongik University Sejong Campus and Sangmyung University — promoting itself to students ahead of its debut.

Then, of course, there's the pay.

The cost of bringing K-pop to campus

Bringing a star-studded lineup does make students happy, but it comes at a cost — literally. Universities often spend hundreds of millions of won, with a significant portion going toward booking fees.

Sunchon National University had a budget of 209.5 million won for its spring festival this year, according to a request for proposal (RFP) document looking for an event operations agency uploaded to the Public Procurement Service. The document specified that the selected bidder must book singers popular amongst university students, which includes two S-tier performers or groups that can be booked for 40 to 50 million won each; one A-tier option with a 30 to 40 million won booking fee and three B-tier options with a 10 to 30 million won booking fee.

Even assuming those artists can be booked for a minimum fee, the university would have had to spend 140 million won, or 67 percent of its budget, on booking fees.

The university's festival, held on Monday and Tuesday, included singers such as Kwon Eun-bi, Jo Yuri, YB, girl groups cosmosy and Rescene, along with the rapper Changmo.

Pusan National University's RFP shows that it had a budget of 379 million won. The university stated that the selected bidder must book four or more "top-tier" artists. Its festival, held between May 26 and 28, included a star-studded roster of 15 artists such as Psy, BIBI, Crush, Kiss of Life, BoyNextDoor and Heize.

Are students actually happy?

Despite the hefty price tag paid for partly by tuition revenue, many students see university festivals as one of the highlights of campus life. But it's the overcrowding from nonstudent fans and paparazzi that some can't stand.

Hanyang University’s performances took place at the campus's outdoor amphitheater, which was only open to students, graduates and faculty. But that doesn't mean outsiders couldn't come. On May 27, several fans carrying professional cameras could be seen outside the amphitheater fence.

While a small number of fans may not be difficult for security to manage, some universities designate separate areas for photographers to prevent possible chaos. For this year's spring festival, Hanyang University's Erica Campus allowed the use of professional cameras in a demarcated "homma" zone, a portmanteau term from the words "home" and "master" that refers to photographers who upload the pictures they took of their favorite singers on social media.

Korea National Sport University also operated a homma zone during its 2025 spring festival.

Fans hoping to watch performances up close also attempt to enter student-only viewing areas. Presenting a student ID is required for entry, leading some fans to borrow IDs for a fee.

On social media platforms such as X, it was easy to find people who want to borrow and lend student IDs. Rental fees ranged between 30,000 won and 150,000 won per day, and could be even more expensive if K-pop groups with huge fandoms were set to perform.

Student councils have tried to prevent ID borrowing by tightening identity verification measures, with Incheon National University announcing that it would carefully compare a student ID photo with the attendee's face, request other IDs if necessary and issue a stamp to be checked alongside wristbands.

Is it here to last?

While inconveniences exist, students still see festivals as a rare moment of a collective campus experience.

"I actually don't have a specific artist I'm a fan of, but I do enjoy going with my friends," said a Kyung Hee University student surnamed Choi, studying in the Department of Media, on May 27, the first day of the university's festival. "I do know that it's expensive to book all the singers, but every university does it, and it's still a fun experience."

Although celebrity performances have become the focus, student councils are trying to keep the student element alive through sideline events.

Prof. Yang added that the key is to create a festival structure that encourages students to take part in community-driven activities, rather than simply attend performances.

"There is a tendency to evaluate student councils based on their ability to book high-profile celebrities, and that has further reinforced the focus on performance-centered festivals," said Prof. Yang. "But student councils also try to encourage student participation by organizing student-led exhibitions, hands-on activities, club performances and academic programs during festivals."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]