As Coachella inches closer, K-Pop fans in Los Angeles will have the chance to visit a pair of pop-ups centered around their favorite artists. Among them is 82Valley, a Coachella-themed pop-up for K-Pop groups ATEEZ and LE SSERAFIM hosted by L.A.-based media company and store hello82.
ATEEZ, an eight-member boy group from South Korean entertainment company KQ Entertainment, will be the first K-Pop boy group to perform at Coachella. The five-member girl group LE SSERAFIM, formed by high-profile entertainment company HYBE’s subsidiary Source Music, will also be making its Coachella debut when the festival kicks off this weekend.
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With a focus on both ATEEZ and LE SSERAFIM, the store is offering fans of the groups — collectively known as ATINY and FEARNOT, respectively — the chance to connect with fellow fans and take part in Coachella-adjacent festivities without the trip to the desert.
“Even if you can’t go to the desert, we want to make sure that fans feel connected, wherever they are,” Kelly Shin, hello82’s head of community and marketing tells The Hollywood Reporter.
82Valley – held at hello82’s L.A. fan space and store and the store’s new brick-and-mortar in Atlanta – features a message booth for fans to write notes to their favorite artist, raffles and games, a watch party, themed photo booths and DIY bracelet making.
In addition to the events, hello82 has released exclusive merch that can be purchased in store and online. The store launched the ATEEZ Desert Survival Kit — a full line of merch meant for fans to take with them to see the group perform at Coachella. The line includes the typical merch offerings of a t-shirt and a sweatshirt with the addition of Coachella-geared items such as a windbreaker, sun cap, bandana and a water bottle holder. The store also released a new retro themed LE SSERAFIM t-shirt design for fans.
For fans of ATEEZ, the store is also hosting an “ATINY Zone,” where members of the group’s official fan club can get two of eight random photocards. Meanwhile, hello82 is handing out exclusive LE SSERAFIM photocards at their “FEARNOT Zone” to anyone who joins the group’s community on the Weverse – the fan-artist communication platform owned by their label’s parent company HYBE.
Akin to sports trading cards, photocards have become a massive part of K-Pop fan culture. Included in albums and merchandise and released during special events like 82Valley, the approximately two-inch-by-three-inch cards are an increasingly hot commodity.
For hello82, everything comes back to how the company can create a connection between fans and artists. “We always think about fans, and we try to bring access to fans,” says Shin. The company uses its L.A. fan space to regularly hold pop-up parties for new albums, fan sign events where fans can try to win a chance to meet their favorite artist and other out-of-the-box events often featuring the K-Pop groups themselves.
Across town, the Grammy Museum has kicked off a two-year long commitment to showcasing exhibits and programming surrounding K-Pop. Just in time for ATEEZ’s Coachella performance, the exhibit features the group and its labelmate, xikers.
Titled “KQ ENT. (ATEEZ & xikers): A Grammy Museum Pop-Up,” the exhibit is being held in the museum’s red carpet gallery, opening to the public on Wednesday. The exhibit features outfits and props from both ATEEZ and xikers, including the main look from ATEEZ’s recent album, THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL. The album earned the global stars their first Billboard No. 1 in December.
“The global spread of K-Pop is truly remarkable, and it is a great honor to see ATEEZ and xikers represent K-Pop music at the GRAMMY Museum,” KQ Entertainment CEO Kyu Wook Kim said in a statement. “Witnessing our artists’ hard work and dedication being recognized on such a large scale by the GRAMMY Museum is truly a privilege and fills us with so much pride.”
“Korean pop music is one of the greatest phenomena in the history of recorded music and culture,” Grammy Museum president and CEO Michael Sticka said in a statement. “The Grammy Museum plans to celebrate the world of K-Pop, its much-deserved success, and worldwide chart-breaking artists by curating dedicated exhibits and programming over the next two years.”
The Grammy Museum’s exhibit will be open through June 10. The 82Valley pop-up at hello82 will run through April 21.
