At this point, it goes without saying that the Philippines as a country is a big consumer of Korean culture. Our support for it varies—we enjoy eating Korean food like Samgyupsal, Odeng, and even raw marinated crab. We watch and tune into K-Dramas, whether through online streaming or in the older days, waiting for each dubbed episode to come out on primetime TV (big throwback to the My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho days). And, of course, we stan K-Pop groups across generations. Filipinos might not know it, but consuming K-pop has been so ingrained in us ever since Shim Mina's "Answer The Phone" trended here (which many Filipinos initially mistakenly thought was a Spanish song) and maybe even long before that.
It's no surprise then that the Hallyu wave continues to take the Philippines by storm. In fact, in 2022, the Philippines was the second highest consumer of K-pop supergroup BTS' music on Spotify following the United States. Both K-pop idols and K-actors continue to express their appreciation for the warmth they receive from their Filipino fanbases. This is exactly why stars like INFINITE's L got inspired to pursue a career here in the country, as he explained in his exclusive contract signing earlier in 2024. With all that said, it makes you think the Philippines deserves a really big treat for K-pop fans, right? Well, after their successful world tour, D'Festa, the ultimate K-Pop experience is finally in the Philippines and Cosmo had the opportunity to be one of the first to see it.
ICYDK, Disptach is a top Korean online media outlet and on its 10th year, they aimed to celebrate with the K-pop community around the world with D'Festa. You might have also probably heard of Dispatch thanks to the new year dating exposés they do. But let's talk more about the different parts of the exhibit.
Here's what you need to know about D'Festa BGC
Ok, I already know what you're gonna ask first. Where and 'til when is it? D'Festa BGC officially opens to the public on December 20 and the immersive exhibit will run until March 19, 2025, at BGC Immersive, which is located on the 3rd Floor inside One Bonifacio, Bonifacio High Street. Tickets have been sold online from November 15 and patrons who booked tickets online will be prioritized. Although there will still be walk-in tickets sold, availability will depend on the slots left for the day. Tickets range from P1,200 from Friday to Sunday and P1,450 from Monday to Thursday. PWD and Senior Citizen discounts will be honored when IDs are presented upon purchase. Now, I'm not gonna lie, that price point is pretty steep, especially if the fan is still a student or just starting in the workforce and has other expenses to think about. So, is it really worth visiting?
D'Festa's exhibit in Manila has the three main parts.
Well, we got to check it out before it opens to the public—twice, actually, and here are my thoughts. The event has three main parts: The Exhibition, The Movie, and The Experience. All feature never-before-seen content from eight of the biggest K-pop groups right now: BTS, Seventeen, TWICE, TXT, NCT 127, NCT Dream, Stray Kids, and ENHYPEN. If you're a multi-stan, it would already be an exciting experience for you to see not just one, but eight groups in one exhibit. Plus, you're paying for Dispatch-exclusive content of these groups, and that alone is pretty premium.
The Exhibition
The Exhibition is the first section you'll see immediately once you enter D'Festa BGC. It alone has three sub-sections. The first sub-section under the Exhibition features the different colorful portraits of all the members of the eight aforementioned groups (except Jeongyeon from TWICE who was on a hiatus when the content was filmed and taken).
The second sub-section features high-resolution black-and-white photos of all the featured idols. They were hung altogether beautifully, enough to make a grown 25-year-old woman like myself, cry. Personally, my ult group is BTS, and seeing my bias Jungkook's portrait was really an overwhelming experience.
The last section made me the most emotional. It was a photo wall that featured Dispatch-exclusive photos of all the members and the groups throughout different eras in their careers. It was especially heartwarming to see some of their earliest photos there alongside some of their later ones. To see how much their career progressed and how they grew up throughout the years was a feast for the eyes and pinches your heart a little bit (ok, or maybe a lot) as a fan.
The Movie
The movie, on the other hand, features never-before-seen performances of each group. Personally, this was my favorite part of the whole exhibition. I had so much fun singing, dancing, and even jumping along with my workmate, Kate, who is also a K-pop stan. We may bias different groups (she's a Carat), but the whole experience ties together different fandoms and bonds us all as fans who are just having fun. No room for fandom wars here. While we were not allowed to take clips from this portion of the exhibit, getting to focus on watching the performances for the first time with a group of people who share the same excitement was enough for me. It was like a personal concert just for us.
On our second lap around the exhibit, when there were fewer people, we got to enjoy the movie more. I think we stayed for a good thirty minutes there, watching almost all the performances that were played.
The Experience
The last part of the exhibit is called The Experience and I think it integrates the fans the most. It's a room that has a 3D LED stage and a mirror, where fans can dance along with the performances from the movie that are playing. Since it's an immersive room, the visuals played also make a really good background for mirror photos.
After going through the different sections of the exhibit, fans can leave a message for the groups on a wall and South Korea-based Filipino boy group HORI7ON, who graced the ribbon cutting of D'Festa BGC were among the first who wrote on it.
But that's only what happens on the third floor. After enjoying the exhibit, fans can enjoy refreshments from the cafè on the fourth floor, which features cup sleeves of your favorite idols. Their menu includes Americano (a.k.a. the signature K-pop idol drink), Spanish Latte, Ube Dalgona, and more. I got the Spanish Latte and it was the perfect refreshment after going around such a massive exhibition.
This is also where the merch store and photobooth are located, so prepare your wallets. Their merch store includes sticker packs, photo cards, calendars, temporary tattoos, D'Festa tote bags, and even shirts.
Personally, I had a really good time that I didn't even notice hours had already passed. So do I think it's worth visiting? Of course! It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enjoy such an immersive display of exclusive content from these K-pop groups that I really would have hated to miss. It's more enjoyable when you visit with friends. Maybe some you've met from your stan account, perhaps? Or even a friend like Kate who may stan a different group but you're sure you'll have a good time with anyway.
You can visit D'Festa BGC's official social media accounts and official website for more details.
