WEEK 21 | Party Party, Yeah?
May 20 - 24, 2024
Celebration.
BTS 2014 Festa photoshoot #1
The K-Pop industry is massive, highly competitive, and fast-moving. K-Pop Idols (groups and soloists) debut all the time. It’s not unusual to see a few new acts pop up every other month or so. Unfortunately, it’s also not unusual to see just as many groups disband that often either. Talent is not in short supply. Companies always have a roster of trainees working hard day and night, hopeful for their own opportunities to debut.
K-Pop artists often celebrate the yearly anniversary of their debut. They’ll go LIVE on social media to hang out with their fans, record special videos and commemorative photos, and sometimes even release special songs. This is not something we ever see artists do in the western music industry, except when they hit major milestones in their career, like ten, fifteen, or twenty-five year anniversaries. So why is there such a different practice in South Korea?
2014 Festa Release Schedule Poster
There is a well-known term in K-Pop called the “7-Year Curse”. It is used to refer to the common practice of Idol groups disbanding seven years after their debut. The reason this usually happens is that, since 2010, the maximum (and typical) length of a contract for a debuting Idol is seven years. A lot of groups run out of steam and don’t reach the level of success their company wanted for them, so their contracts don’t get renewed and they disband.
With this in mind, it’s understandable that Idols like to celebrate each and every year of their careers, as they know longevity is not necessarily guaranteed. BTS is no exception. They debuted on June 13, 2013, and every following June since then, they have celebrated that anniversary with ARMY. During the ten (or so) days leading up to the 13th, they release tons of content as gifts for ARMY, typically culminating in a large livestream and/or performance on the last day. They call this yearly celebration “Festa”.
For the next month we will take a trip through each Festa celebration throughout the past ten years. This will lead us all the way to this year’s (2024) Festa, and also to Jin’s return from his military service! Jin was the first member of the group to enlist, in December of 2022, so he’s also the first to return! (To say that we are excited is a MASSIVE understatement.) This week, we’ll cover their very first Festa in 2014, through their fourth in 2017. Get ready for some fun nostalgia, and maybe even some content you’ve never seen before! The AP529 Research Team dug deep for Festa content, going down rabbit holes in their old Fan Cafe, as well as translating videos only subtitled in Spanish to English! We hope you enjoy the celebration…
Playlists & Lyrics
ARMY PROJECT 529 WEEK 21 VIDEO PLAYLIST (all YouTube links)
DAY ONE:
No one was more excited about celebrating BTS’ 1st birthday, than the members of BTS were. There were plenty of times before June 13, 2013 when they had wondered if they were even going to make it to Debut. So when the next June came around in 2014, and they were experiencing a fairly decent amount of success, they were more than delighted to celebrate with their biggest supporters:
ARMY.
BTS celebrating their 1st Birthday with a meal Jin made himself.
At the time, Big Hit was still a small company and they were still struggling to stay afloat. So there wasn’t a lot of money for big celebrations, but they did a few photoshoots, released a song on SoundCloud, recorded a special edition of their Kkul (Honey) 0613 FM “radio” show, and threw themselves a birthday party.
While Jin worked hard preparing a meal for his fellow members, the others worked on cleaning their small dorm, and tried (keyword: tried) to decorate a cake. SUGA and Jimin’s losing battle against rapidly melting whipped cream is adorable. Compared to the celebrations we see for BTS today, this modest party feels even more intimate and special. There’s nothing more heartwarming than hearing the members singing “Happy Birthday” to themselves as they sit on the floor of their dorm, around the small feast Jin had made.
THROWBACK: BTS DEBUT DAY (LOOK HOW FAR THEY’VE COME!): (08:11, Baby Bangtan!)
JUNE 3: 1ST ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS PHOTOSHOOT: 2013 (02:47 - shown below)
JUNE 4: 1ST ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS PHOTOSHOOT: GROWTH (02:23)
JUNE 5: SPECIAL CHOREOGRAPHY STAGE 1 - “ADULT CHILD” (03:01, RM, Jin & SUGA)
JUNE 6: SPECIAL CHOREOGRAPHY STAGE 2 - “BEAUTIFUL” (03:04, j-hope, Jimin, V & Jung Kook)
JUNE 7: 2ND KEYWORD TALK (01:16)
JUNE 9: MY SELF-WRITTEN PROFILE (BTS VER.) (00:51, Jimin, to BTS: I love you. I believe in you)
JUNE 10: BTS FM 0613 TEASER - “HOOKGAYO” (00:40, j-hope, Jimin, V & Jung Kook)
JUNE 11: 1ST ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS PHOTOSHOOT: COMMEMORATIVE PHOTO (00:34)
JUNE 12 BANGTAN BOMB: 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY (CHEF JIN) (11:20, This is so heartwarming.)
JUNE 13: KKUL (HONEY) FM 0613 - 1ST BTS BIRTHDAY FESTA 2014 (01:11:38, Sooooo cute. - as show above)
JUNE 13: “so4more” - 1ST ANNIVERSARY GIFT TO ARMY (05:56 - shown below)
Fun Fact
ARMY loves teasers and spoilers from BTS, right? It’s almost like they’re playing a little game with us by building anticipation.
With Festa, it’s even more exciting. Every year, a few days before the festa-vities (I’m not going to get tired of that joke, you’ve been warned) begin, BTS gives us an official Release Schedule.
The Release Schedule is like a road map to all things Festa. It lets us know the dates and times everything will be dropping for us, so we can make sure we’re ready. (Although, are we ever really ready? Sometimes we know what things are right away by the description, and other times they leave us with a few questions.
No matter what, it’s always exciting when the new Festa Release Schedule drops. And we’ll be getting 2024’s very soon—in about a week or so. Then Festa will begin… and then…
JIN WILL COME HOME!!!!
DAY TWO:
By the time BTS reached the end of their second year, their success had increased exponentially. In fact, just a month prior, they had finally gotten their first music show win with “I NEED U”, the title track from The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1. That win was something they had been longing for since the day of their debut. To receive it just before their second anniversary as a group made their celebrations even sweeter.
Festa 2015 was a little more planned out than the previous year’s festivities had been. There were of course scheduled releases planned leading up to the anniversary date, just as before. New photoshoots, and previously unreleased tracks like “We Are Bulletproof Pt. 1,” made their way to SoundCloud. Of course they also scheduled another amazing episode of Kkul (Honey) 0613 FM, where the members sang to themselves again, and blew out the candles on a cake that, thankfully, none of them had tried to decorate this time.
BTS FESTA 2015 photoshoot
They also reviewed the wishes they had made during their previous Festa broadcast and discussed whether any of them had come true. (Spoiler Alert: RM, j-hope, and Jung Kook’s wishes all came true… make sure you check it out below to see what they were.) They talk about how special it was for them to get that first music show win, and how in disbelief they were when their names were called. (A recurring theme with BTS and awards.) They all say they didn’t know how to act or feel afterwards, j-hope even admitting that he cried in the shower when they got back to their dorm.
They continue the tradition and make wishes for the following year—Jimin hopes that they’ll get to perform at a larger concert venue, Jung Kook wants them all to have solo songs on an album the following year, and RM and V both say they’d like for all of them to take a trip together. They also talk about how they moved to a new dorm and switched up roommates—which then leads to them complaining about and roasting each other about their living habits.
There was supposed to be one more special surprise for ARMY during this Festa, and it was the 2nd Muster Fanmeet. Unfortunately it had to be canceled at the last moment due to a MERS outbreak, and was rescheduled for the following January.
OPENING CEREMONY: “HUG ME” BY V & J-HOPE (04:04 - shown above)
JUNE 5: SPECIAL CHOREOGRAPHY STAGE 1: “WAR OF HORMONE” DANCE PRACTICE (REAL War version) (04:30 - as shown)
JUNE 6: SPECIAL CHOREOGRAPHY STAGE 2: “BLANKET KICK” (04:11)
JUNE 10: 2ND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS PHOTO SHOOT: FAMILY PICTURES (01:20, Awkward JC Penney photo studio vibes for days, lol. - as shown)
JUNE 11: “TOMORROW” DRESS REHEARSAL (RED BULLET TOUR) (04:18 - as shown)
JUNE 12: KKUL (HONEY) FM 0613 - 2ND BTS BIRTHDAY FESTA 2015 (59:10 - shown above)
JUNE 13: NAVERCAST - BANGTAN NEWS (BTS FAN ART CONTEST) (34:16)
JUNE 13: TEASER FOR THE 2ND MUSTER (02:55, Orig. supposed to take place during 2015 Festa, was canceled and rescheduled to to a MERS outbreak. - as shown below)
Bangtan Bubble: What’s your favorite “funny version” BTS dance practice?
Let us know your answer in the comments below or on social media (include #BangtanBubble)!
DAY THREE:
BTS’ third year brought them even more success than the two years prior. They released the rest of the albums in their The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Series, earned more music show wins, and headlined their third tour: “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage”, followed by its extension, “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue”.
BTS FESTA 2016 photoshoot
Determined to make up for the previous year's 2nd Muster cancellation during Festa, BTS planned an even more epic event to top off their 3rd anniversary celebration. The Festa releases for ARMY in the days leading up to the 13th were a lot of flashback videos, new photoshoots, and practice footage for what was to come.
Jin also hosted a special episode of Eat Jin on VLive, with the other members as his guests. While they shared their meal, Jin, complete with his windshield wiper laugh, told dad jokes to entertain everyone (SUGA remained unimpressed), they teased V for how often he eats hamburgers, and Jung Kook impersonated a fish. We also got to hear j-hope’s first mention of what would eventually become his “Hope on the Street”—he talked about maybe having his own show eventually (like Eat Jin) where he could dance with guests.
JUNE 1: OPENING CEREMONY - “I KNOW” BY RM & JUNG KOOK (02:43 - shown above)
JUNE 2: SPECIAL CHOREOGRAPHY STAGE - “BAEPSAE” (FUN VERSION) (04:36, Yes, it’s THAT dance practice.)
JUNE 3: PHOTO ALBUM (01:36)
JUNE 4: 3RD ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS: REAL FAMILY PICTURE (02:09 - as shown)
JUNE 5: SPECIAL CHOREOGRAPHY STAGE - J-HOPE DANCE PRACTICE FOR 2015 BEGINS CONCERT (01:02)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 1 - JIMIN & V SELF CAM (00:48)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 2 - RM SOLO CUT SHOOT (00:53)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 3 - J-HOPE & JK AT M/V SHOOT (01:09)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 4 - SUGA SOLO CUT SHOOT (01:15)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 6 - JIN’S PRACTICE BEFORE SHOOTING (00:54)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 7 - JIMIN IS OLDER, BUT JUNG KOOK IS TALLER (00:22)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 8 - PLAYING THE GUITAR (00:51)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 9 - RM & JK LIP-SYNCING BIG HIT CHRISTMAS CAROL (01:00)
JUNE 7: BANGTAN BOMB SPECIAL COLLECTION 10 - WE ARE BULLETPROOF (2:24 - as shown)
JUNE 9: OUR WRITTEN PROFILE 2016 (00:27 - as shown)
JUNE 11: BTS EAT JIN LIVE - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BTS! (21:12 - shown above)
DAY FOUR:
Our coverage of 2016’s 3rd Festa wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t talk about the Kkul (Honey) 0613 FM broadcast. DJ SUGA hosts again (naturally), and he discusses his ongoing agenda to one day become an actual DJ on a radio program. The other members ignore this suggestion, as per usual.
They talk about their recent highlights—Jimin’s wish of performing at a larger venue came true! They are excited as they reminisce about performing just a month prior at the Olympic Gymnastic Arena in Seoul. They mention—still with a little bit of disbelief in their voices—that “Fire” had been sitting at #1 on the Melon charts since its release at the beginning of May. “Who knew BTS could get this big? No one knew that,” SUGA says. “My parents were worried at first.”
BTS SUGA with Jungkook in 2016 FESTA photoshoot
SUGA goes on to reminisce like an old man about their three years together, recalling how Jung Kook was just a shy, 15 year-old at the beginning, but now has grown up. (Jung Kook adds that his chin, especially, has become very mature.) He reads aloud the stories members “anonymously” wrote about each other—they’re honestly just an excuse for them to pick on each other’s habits, V spends the majority of the broadcast nursing a cold and sneezing into a roll of toilet paper, and they laugh hysterically as they read the profiles they wrote about themselves to release to ARMY. At the end, they lose their minds while lip-syncing to “Fire”. It’s peak Bangtan chaos.
The group finally got to host a performance for Festa in 2016 also. Their “3rd Birthday Party” included some amazing performances of songs like “Cypher Pt. 3”, “Attack on Bangtan”, and “Fire”, not to mention the epic dance cover of “Coming of Age Ceremony” performed by Jimin and Jung Kook. That’s one for the ages—check out today’s Fun Fact for more info.
JUNE 12 - KKUL (HONEY) 06.13 FM 3RD BTS BIRTHDAY (FESTA 2016) (01:06:43 - shown above)
JUNE 13: BTS 3RD BIRTHDAY PARTY PT. 1 (49:52, not in YT playlist)
JUNE 13: BTS 3RD BIRTHDAY PARTY PT. 2 (50:54, not in YT playlist)
JUNE 13: “THANK YOU” TWEET VIDEO (00:06, not in YT playlist)
JUNE 13: 2016 3RD BIRTHDAY PARTY PHOTO ARCHIVE (01:27 - as shown below)
JUNE 13: “YOUNG FOREVER” UNPLUGGED VERSION (FMV) (02:55 - shown below)
Fun Fact:
All the way back in Week 11, in another Fun Fact, we talked about the song “Coming of Age Ceremony” by First Gen Idol, Park Ji Yoon. Covering the song, originally released in 2000, has become a rite of passage of sorts for K-Pop Idols once they reach the age of majority in South Korea.
In our previous coverage, we gave several examples of other artists performing dance covers, and mentioned that it would soon become relevant for BTS. Well… the time has come.
During the live “Happy BTS Day” 3rd Birthday Party Show, Jimin and Jung Kook performed their own dance cover to “Coming of Age Ceremony”, in honor of Jung Kook’s upcoming 19th birthday. (Nineteen is the age of majority in South Korea since 2011.)
The original choreography was created for a girl of course, but when has that ever stopped the members of BTS before—Jung Kook especially. He and Jimin attack the dance with everything they’ve got and it’s… something special.
The actual performance is contained within the birthday party event itself, which we have linked above in two parts. But we also wanted to show you the Bangtan Bomb behind-the-scenes, which shows them practicing, and even the other members reacting to the dance. It’s very entertaining. Enjoy!
DAY FIVE:
2017’s Festa saw ARMY more spoiled than ever before. BTS released several songs as gifts (Including V’s “4 O’Clock”, born from a fight he once had with Jimin over eating some dumplings—a truly amazing story), photoshoots, and they held the “BTS Home Party”, a performance event even bigger than the one from 2016.
BTS FESTA 2017 photoshoot
And, of course, they upheld their yearly Kkul (Honey) 0613 FM tradition. At the start, DJ SUGA mentions that it’s the “lucky” 7th broadcast of the show. But when had they ever relied on luck before?
As they review the goals they’d listed from the previous year (Jung Kook’s “Let’s All Do Better” certainly was easy enough to accomplish…), j-hope’s wish—to win a daesang—becomes an immediate hot topic of conversation. Because, of course, they HAD won a daesang… two, in fact. One for “Album of the Year” for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, and then another just a couple weeks later for “Artist of the Year”.
All of them had (except Jin—who only had the small goal of filming more food commercials) listed a goal of becoming even better than the year before—more beloved. Those daesangs were the proof in the pudding. Not to mention the release of both the WINGS and You Never Walk Alone albums, and the hugely successful tour that they were still in the midst of while celebrating this Festa. And they announced during this 0613 FM broadcast that they would soon be traveling to America to attend the Billboard Music Awards, where we know they would win the award for “Top Social Artist”.
FESTA 2017 photoshoot - BTS’s future looks so bright they have to wear shades.
No, luck wasn’t something that BTS particularly needed—they were clearly working hard enough to meet their goals year after year. They mention that none of their peers had ever attended the Billboard Music Awards before and that they were in completely uncharted territory now. They’d continue to rely on ARMY always as they moved forward.
JUNE 3: “WE DON’T TALK ANYMORE” COVER BY JIMIN & JUNG KOOK (03:43, Orig. by Charlie Puth. - as shown)
JUNE 4: EXCLUSIVE STAGE - “OUTRO: WINGS” BTS FOCUS (05:17, selfie-stick wackiness)
JUNE 5: INTRODUCING BTS (01:07 - as shown)
JUNE 8: STAGE CHOREOGRAPHY B - “I LIKE IT PT. 2” (03:54 - as shown)
JUNE 9: “4 O’CLOCK” BY V & RM (03:52, The song that resulted from the “Dumpling Incident”.)
BANGTAN BOMB: RECORDING “4 O’CLOCK” (06:16, V, very sweetly, demands RM perform on the song with him.)
JUNE 12 - KKUL (HONEY) FM 06.13 4TH BTS BIRTHDAY (FESTA 2017) (01:23:40 - shown above)
JUNE 13: BTS HOME PARTY (FESTA 2017) (01:45:30 - shown below)
BONUS: BTS HOME PARTY PRACTICE - “SIN” UNIT STAGE (08:41, Jin & SUGA)
BONUS JUNE 14: “SO FAR AWAY” JIN, SUGA & JUNG KOOK VERSION (05:26)
Bangtan Bubble: What is your favorite BTS Festa unit collaboration?
Let us know your answer in the comments below or on social media (include #BangtanBubble)!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
What did you think about the first four years of Festa celebrations? Were there any songs you’d never heard, or videos you’d never seen before? Which year had your favorite content? Let us know in the comments below.
Next week we’ll continue on our Festa journey, covering the absolutely massive years of 2018 and 2019. Stay tuned!
Side Quest
It’s that time again—time for fun in the sun, BTS style! It’s time for the “2017 SUMMER PACKAGE”!
2017’s destination was the Philippines. BTS spent more than six days in Jeonju, filming the content for the dvd. Fun fact: if you travel there, you can stay in the same Korean-style house hotel they did, and visit all the same areas they did!
BTS 2017 Summer Package photoshoot
2017 SUMMER PACKAGE (1:20:48)
CREDITS:
YouTube/Web
HYBE LABELS, BANGTANTV, Bangtan Subs, ARMY Project 529, BTS Live Archive, Tutut Yulianti, JUNGKOOK THIGHS, BTS Live Archive, Koo Gyeom Fairy Baby, Ann Yuan, Run BTS, ashleygold25, BTS BEING BTS, dailymotion.com (Purple vibes, Drama Heals), kimmy.trans.tumblr.com, twitter.com (@bts_twt)
ARMY Project 529 Volunteers
Research Team: Angel (TikTok: Lilangel2828), Leslie Day (TikTok: Leslie Day), Merry (TikTok: merryj67), Sam T (TikTok: samt_26), Shelley (TikTok: shels167), Trudy (TikTok: theeducationmommy), Viv (TikTok: VivEliz); Video Team: Leslie Day (TikTok: Leslie Day); Editing Team: Kendra (Discord: Mudskipper); Website Team: Colette (TikTok: voicesinmyhead2)
Join us on TikTok every Sunday evening at 8pm ET for #the529live, a wrap up of each week's The 529 Connection. It’s hosted by AP529 Founder, Stefne, on her channel (@StefARMYProject529). If you can't watch live and want to watch later, Lives will be recorded and posted to our YouTube (@ARMY Project 529).