Since last year 2019, the portuguese BTS fandom has become more dynamic, both in terms of charts and projects/events, either in and out social media.
In the present year of 2020, Portugal has already shown itself to be equal to other major countries in whats concerns official charts (e.g. "Map Of The Soul: 7" has shown great success by remaining in the Top 5 of the Top 30 Albums in Portugal for 24 consecutive weeks) and, more recently, it hosted a special event that had not yet been organized in our country before.
'Happy Jungkook Day' was the name chosen to announce the first cup-sleeve event in Portugal. For those unfamiliar to it, a cup-sleeve event is well known in the kpop world for being a fan meeting, usually in a cafe or tea house that will be decorated according to the reason of the event, to celebrate the anniversary of a particular group or member. In the case of the cup-sleeve event organized in Portugal, the intention was to celebrate Jeon Jungkook's birthday, the youngest member of BTS, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on September 1st.
Over the past weekend (August 29th and 30th), many reactions and photos of the event have emerged on social media, which made us curious about its organization, especially in times of a pandemics, with all the restrictions imposed and which must be fulfilled.
Marie (owner and creator of the @BTSMagicShopPT) recently moved to Portugal from Japan and was one of the great minds of this cup-sleeve event, which was full of surprises and didn't exclude those who were unable to travel to Cascais (Lisbon). She was very kind in answering some of our questions and providing us with some pictures to share with you!
We casually asked Marie why she decided to organize a cup-sleeve event in Portugal, to which she replied: "My main goal was to bring BTS and awareness of the Asian culture to Portugal through friendships and events that bring happiness to PT-ARMYs. This cup-sleeve event is also my gift to PT-ARMYs for being so welcoming to my family and me as temporary guests in their wonderful country” then, she added “I actually got this idea to bring BTS and Asia to Portugal while I was still living in Japan".
It's already a common practice for PT-ARMYs to organize meetings on each member's birthdays or BTS', something that involves a lot of teamwork and good planning. When asked if she had organized this event all by herself, Marie said she had the help of some PT-ARMYs who became her friends: Ana (@armymum1) and Andreia (@Drins), mainly with communication and translation into the portuguese language. Marie also told us that she learned a lot about Portuguese culture from them!
The announcement of a cup-sleeve event was a surprise for PT-ARMYs in general. On reason was because it had never been done before; on the other hand, due to the COVID-19 pandemics that emerged in Portugal earlier this year.
“Planning the cup-sleeve event was actually very stressful amid the times of COVID. I first had to get the cafe to trust me since holding an event in their location comes with risks and liabilites. I was turned down by other cafes and I am so grateful for Maggie at Melody Cafe for her trust in me and my co-coordinators”, revealed Marie. 'Happy Jungkook Day' event took place at Melody Coffee Shop, in Cascais.
In addition to the traditional tea and/or coffee cups with personalized designs to celebrate Jungkook's birthday, the cup-sleeve event also had a specific area for taking pictures (with a beautiful full-size cardboard of Jungkook!), a merchandise area and also goodies. Many, many goodies.
"I created a Google website because it's so hard to communicate on Twitter with limited characters. I wanted a one stop shop for all the information about the event. Also, I wanted the event to be multi-faceted so that people had things to do and to look forward to. That's how we came up with having a photo zone, a birthday card zone, an area to get merch that they would normally not see in physical stores". Marie also told us that both the designs and some gifts came from some of her coordinators. “I was initially working with a fansite, but it didn't work out since the shipping timeline to get the goods from Asia to Portugal did not align at the last minute. I'm so thankful that when my ARMY friends from all around the world learned of this, they stepped up and wanted to do everything they can to make it a special event for PT-ARMYs. My friend Millie (@houseoftaegguk) from the UK spent all day designing the cup-sleeve and poster. My friend Judy and jungartshop.com from the US donated some giveaway items and a lottery prize items. My friend, Rikako, from Japan donated a lottery prize item as well as US-based artist Maggie.geee (IG), who donated custom postcards of her digital art of Jungkook. Just in case I was able to pull this event off, I had purchased some things for this event while I was still living in Japan".
The cup-sleeve event had a different organization than what would be expected in normal times, however, considering the situation that Portugal is currently facing because of COVID-19, Marie and her co-coordinators had to be extra careful. One of the ways they found to respect the safety measures of social distancing was to create specific shifts for small groups, who had limited time to circulate inside the Melody cafe.“It really took a lot of careful thought in order to do this event. I had to explore available and free apps/online services to determine how we can do sign-ups while limiting how many people and slots we can have to abide by covid regulations. Also, I had to make sure that we managed everyone's expectations about the event, how to stay safe, and make it easy for the cafe to track the orders. I took into account the hardships the cafe staff and owner may experience. We had to find a way to make it organized and simple for them too".
When we pointed out that this event took a lot of effort and care to organize, Marie confessed “Yes, and there was pressure too. When I found out that this was the first ever cup-sleeve event, I knew that I could make or break other people's chances of having future events if it didn't turn out well. I wanted this to open doors for others who want to coordinate future events”.
Although most of the 'Happy Jungkook Day' event needed people to be physically present, Marie also thought of those who were unable to attend it, either because they lived far away and had no possibilities, or because they were afraid of going to a coffee shop during a pandemics. “Although I was surprised at how many people traveled so far to come to the event, I knew that many wanted to participate but couldn't travel. So I thought of another way for them to stay engaged and participate. That's when I created the online bday messages for JK. In fact, right before I began responding to your questions, I was cutting out all the messages we received and I'm attaching it to a birthday card to mail out to BigHit tomorrow". In addition to the birthday messages, PT-ARMYs were also able to participate in the solidarity project that was part of the event. Marie organized a fundraising to donate to Unicef on behalf of the birthday boy, Jungkook. “I've always donated to UNICEF even before BTS were involved with them. They've done so much for children in need all around the world. When BTS started a campaign with them, I was so touched. Since so many on social media wanted to participate but couldn't for one reason or another, I decided to open up donations for Unicef and in exchange, I would send them the giveaways from the event. It's a win-win situation". Regarding the participation in the fundraising, Marie said “Only a few donated but it's understandable. In times of COVID, where many have been financially impacted, it's hard sometimes. When someone DMs me and tells me they really want to be a part of the event but can't because of financial obligations. I immediately offer to send them the freebies. If they made the effort to message me, it already meant a lot. I sold merch through 'BTSMagicShopPT' at the event. To be honest, I don't make much from these sales considering how much shipping and customs are here. However, a percentage of anything I did make (albeit little) will also be donated to UNICEF. The donation will be made at the end of this week and will be posted on Twitter and Instagram".
Like any good newspaper (even if it's an amateur one, like us), Bangtan Express had reporters in the field who gave a brief review of what they saw and what they thought about this unique experience. We confided to Marie that the feedback was entirely positive.
"It was an amazing day! Everything about the cup-sleeve was beautiful. The space was very well decorated, the photo area was fantastic and the drinks were very good !! A huge thank you to @OmelasV, @armymum1 and @Drins for the fantastic organization and for all the work and dedication they had on this project!! Thank you also for letting me be part of this event, even though it was not a great help " (@jjk_portugal)
"Thank you so much to @BTSMagicShopPT for organizing this cup sleeve event! It was so amazing! Thank you so much to @armymum1 and @Drins. They all did an amazing job, we’re in love with the place!"
(@ineslpjm)
"This cup sleeve was for sure one of the highlights of 2020! Everything was so beautiful and I’ve spend the day with my fav people. Thank You @OmelasV, @armymum1 and @Drins for all the hard work to give this experience. Everything was perfect"
(@97cris)
"Jungkook's cup-sleeve was an incredible event and very well organized! Due to the situation we live in today, the organization of the event took care that no one was against the safety rules! It was the first event of its kind in Portugal and I thank Marie and the rest of the staff who organized it because it gave us the opportunity to celebrate Jungkook's birthday in a different and super cute way! I personally loved it, I was able to spend the day with friends I met through BTS and it was amazing! I hope there will be more of these events in the future!"
(@vbts182)
"It makes me so happy to hear that your friends thought that everything was pleasant. I thought that the event went well! However, my co-coordinators and I did talk about what went well and what we could have done better and I took mental notes. The safety measures were for the most part respected, but of course there were times where we had to tell groups to disperse and split them up between different areas when it got too crowded. We did sanitize the whole area with lysol spray. We wiped down all hard surfaces and sprayed the air with lysol before the next group was let inside. After the event, if people wanted to come back because they ran out of time, we let them. But there was a time when it did get a little crowded and people took their masks off for the pictures. We had to tell them to put their masks on and disperse. They happily listened and apologized and went outside to allow us to sanitize. They were really polite and understanding".
Throughout the weekend, there were many memories shared on social media by the people who attended the event, and Marie shared with us some moments that warmed her heart. “There were two defining moments at the cup-sleeve event. On the second day of the event, a parent came up to me and gave me flowers. She said that her daughter went to the event the day before and she expressed how much the event meant to her and her daughter. That she is so happy that ARMYs are there along with BTS to spread positivity and love. I almost cried. The other moment was when a group of young girls (maybe 8-9 years old) came to the cup-sleeve registration table just out of curiosity as the parents ordered drinks at the cafe. They were not there for the event. One little girl asked, "Who is this person?" We explained. She began to say, "He's a boy? He looks like a girl!" We explained that no matter how people look, they are special in their own way. He has to be an amazing person for all these people to celebrate his birthday. She then started explaining that to her other friends and mom. Then we saw her dancing with the other girls to 'Dynamite' and 'Idol' at the outside seating. One of my co-coordinators, Andreia, went up to their parents and asked if it was ok to give them freebies. They accepted! We later joked that we should have made a sign saying "Recruiting ARMYS Here!"
As a final comment, Marie said “I'm really, really proud to have played a role in the first cup-sleeve event here in Portugal, but it was a shared vision and effort. There were a lot of people in and out of Portugal that made this happen. This was PT-ARMY's event. They made it happen. If they didn't show up and without their support, before, during, and after thee event, none of this could have materialized”.
When asked if it's in her plans to organize another cup-sleeve event in Portugal, Marie replied“I would love to coordinate another cup-sleeve event after some time to rest. I actually have a regular job too, so it was a little hard to juggle everything. Maybe I will have enough energy by December for a TaeJin event. For now, I will be supporting and cheering on those who plan to have an RM or Jimin event".
Melody Coffee Shop surprised the organizers with a birthday cake for Jungkook at the end of the event. This was Marie's insight from 'Happy Jungkook Day', the first ‘cup-sleeve’ event in Portugal.
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