Tenth Anniversary of BTS’s Debut: Hues of Purple to Bloom Throughout the City of Seoul This Week

Messages of Support from Fans: Messages of support from fans celebrating the tenth anniversary of the band BTS’s debut are displayed near the HYBE building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News

On June 12, the Seoul metropolitan government and the Seoul Tourism Organization announced that they will hold a 2023 BTS Festa to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the band BTS’s debut on June 13. The event will begin Monday and continue until Saturday, June 17.

First, popular attractions in Seoul will be dyed purple. Purple lights will illuminate Seoul City Hall, the Namsan (N) Seoul Tower, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Some Sevit (Sebitseom), and the Banpo, Yangwha, Yeongdong and World Cup bridges. A media façade will be displayed at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Some Sevit and N Seoul Tower.

A Seoul BTS Tour will be provided guiding people to places where the BTS members frequented as trainees before their debut and sites where the band shot The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and other promotional videos. The tour will stop at thirteen locations including Sungnyemun Gate, Geunjeongjeon Hall and Gyeonghoeru Pavilion in Gyeongbokgung Palace, the HYBE building in Yongsan, the Yeouido Hangang Park, Nodeulseom Island, and Hakdong (Neighborhood) Park. The map of the Seoul BTS Tour includes QR codes, which allows visitors to listen to BTS songs according to each location.

Purple bean bags and umbrellas will be placed at Seoul Plaza, and purple lights will come on at the Gwanghwamun Lounge inside Gwanghwamun Square. On June 17, there will be a lecture on K-pop and a decade of BTS at Seoul Plaza, and various events will be held throughout Yeouido. BTS member RM will meet with fans in “5 p.m. This is Kim Nam-joon” at the Yeouido Hangang Park, and fireworks will be displayed at 8:30 p.m. A large crowd is expected to gather in Yeouido on Saturday, so traffic will be blocked from the south end of Mapo Bridge to the 63 Building from 2 p.m. The Seoul Metro will assign more trains on lines five and nine as well as on the Sillim line and the city will assign more buses around the time the events end. The Seoul metropolitan government plans to prepare safety measures including traffic control with cooperation from HYBE, the Yeongdeungpo-gu office, the police, and the fire department.