Cup sleeve events, an offshoot of K-pop culture, are becoming popular. 

By Suah Cho

November 29, 2023

On the day before the 2023 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, K-pop fans poured into Mochi Dolci, a bubble tea and mochi donuts cafe on the Upper West Side. The air was filled with excitement as fans formed two single-file lines: one to order drinks and another to purchase fan-made merchandise of K-pop boy group Stray Kids. 

But this wasn’t just any K-pop merchandise, fans eagerly waited for hand-decorated cup sleeves. Bedazzled in a variety of colors along with their favorite K-pop idols printed in the center, the paper sleeves appealed to fans as collectables.

“There’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of chaos, but I’m having fun,” Ambir Kalthoff, a first-time attendee of the September gathering known as a “cup sleeve event” said, calling it “mildly overwhelming.”

“I’m getting to meet people that I’ve talked to online and meeting new friends,” she added. 

Cup sleeve events originated in South Korea as an economic spinoff of K-pop’s success – and just as the music has spurred a fandom in New York City, so too, have these events. At least 10 cup sleeve events were set up in the city in September. Events were organized to celebrate various occasions, including the 10th anniversary of BTS, birthday of boy group RIIZE member Sungchan and a new upcoming release of boy group SHINee member KEY’s solo album.

These events have become a staple in the city’s K-pop culture scene, providing a space for online fan communities to meet in person, help small businesses and collect limited-edition cup sleeves emblazoned with their favorite pop stars.

Mizani DelValle, 24, who organized the September cup sleeve event, said her motivation is two-fold: she gets to spend time with her fellow K-pop community and work on her entrepreneurial skills selling other products to fans.

“Since this is starting up, everything is just going back into the cup sleeves work and into the merch work. But I do see it being profitable in the future, once I have a following and a website running,” DelValle said. 

Mostly held in Asian venues such as bubble tea shops or shaved ice cafes, cup sleeve events encourage every visitor to purchase a drink from the venue to obtain a K-pop-themed cup sleeve. Venue owners and event hosts negotiate the cost of the venue, event hours and available menus. 

For DelValle’s event, her custom-made cup sleeves were provided exclusively for those who purchased larger-sized beverages. 

“I will see the receipt that you did in fact purchase from the cafe and then give you your cup sleeve to make sure that the cafe is getting what we agreed upon,” DelValle, who has hosted three of these events with her mother, said. 

She said some business owners are even willing to offer their venues at no cost, acknowledging the substantial revenue generated by the events. 

“They also know that it’s going to bring attention and attraction since they know the people who come to enjoy the cup sleeve events will hang out for a bit which will lead them to want something else over time,” she said. 

During the September “SKZ Get Lit Cupsleeve” event to celebrate DelValle’s favorite K-pop group visiting New York, fans perused DelValle’s variety of colorful merchandise, including Stray Kids-themed photocards – classic K-pop collectibles – along with holographic decals, button pins and memo pads. DelValle said she designed the products through digital illustration tools. 

Posters of DelValle’s “SKZ Get Lit Cupsleve” event indicate available gifts for tier donations. | Photo: Mizani DelValle

“I try to keep in mind certain looks that the fans really liked,” DelValle said. “I’ll keep that in mind and then design on Canva or Procreate.”

While DelValle received 27 RSVPs on Facebook and 13 on Eventbrite by the week before the event, far more people arrived within the first hour of the six-and-a-half-hour-long event. By the second hour, the queue extended beyond the cafe entrance. According to DelValle, well over 200 people showed up in total. 

Peregrine Donaldson purchased two button pins and a memo pad from the event. She started going to cup sleeve events in July and already attended 10 events so far. Discovering these events through social media, she said that there are way more events that are happening around the city, “I think I’m just missing a bunch, actually.”

In addition to merchandise sold on the day of the event, hosts arrange tiered donations weeks before the event date; those who donate receive special gifts. For her event, DelValle offered three tiers: $6, $15 and $25 and gifts ranged from sticker sets to sunglasses.

Growing up listening to music from different cultures, including Reggaeton, DelValle, who is Puerto Rican and Mexican, got into K-pop in 2018 as girl group BLACKPINK garnered international popularity. It was not long until she soon discovered that her true passion lied in another K-pop group, Stray Kids. As DelValle immersed herself in this band through videos online, she noticed one problem – she didn’t have anyone in her community to share this new obsession in person.

“I quickly realized that I didn’t have any K-pop friends,” DelValle said. “All my friends listened to different genres, and I really wanted to meet other people who also enjoyed K-pop.”

It was then when DelValle came to know about cup sleeve events held across the city. Hosted by individual K-pop fans with a flair for design and event planning, these events took place whenever a K-pop band “made it big” in New York, visiting the city for tours, performances or awards, or to celebrate an artist’s anniversary or birthday. It was one of the few opportunities for them to meet in-person for once, away from their main communication channels of X, formerly known as Twitter, Facebook, Discord and Instagram. 

As DelValle started making friends who enjoyed the genre as much as she did, she realized the value of cup sleeve events functioning as an offline convention for K-pop fans. DelValle convinced her mother, a fellow Stray Kids fan, to join her in organizing their own events. 

“I have always been very crafty, and my mom always makes gifts for people or do that for parties,” DelValle said. “We had decided that we could make our own stickers. Now we do stickers, we do magnets, we do decals that you can put on your light stick. We also do button pins.”

The duo sees great potential in the future of their family-run business. They hope to host a cup sleeve event tour across the country. “I’ve seen someone else do that, and I think that we could get there in the future,” DelValle said.