Fan rice
Fan rice, usually stacks of rice bags decorated with ribbons and photos, are gifts from K-pop fans to their favourite artists. The amount of donated rice can vary between a few kilograms and several tonnes.[1][2]
History
The first instance of fan-donated rice was at Shin Hye-sung's concert on 11 August 2007.[3][4][5] The trend started in the late 2000s when fans began to send food to their favorite music artists, and took off in 2011.[6] Today, there are entire businesses dedicated to the donation of fan rice in South Korea.[6]
Characteristics
Fans of K-pop buy bags of rice and donate them to their favorite artists. Before rice wreaths appeared, fans used to send flower bouquets. Rice is sorted out in 20 kg bags, arranged into 'towers' by dedicated companies who purchase the rice from local farmers and transport it to the venues according to the orders from the fan clubs. Fans often inscribe special or personal messages onto the bags or attach photos to them. Donating rice indicates that fans take greater social responsibility besides showing their respect and support to their favourite artists. Sending rice bags to venues have also appeared in Japan, as part of the K-pop wave.[1][7][2]
Largest fan rice donations
As of 2013, the record of fan rice donated for a celebrity event is held by the fan club of 2PM, where fans from different countries donated 28.088 tonnes of rice for their <What Time Is It> finale concert. [8]
For Rain's concert,The Best Show Tour, his Korean fan club "Cloud Korea" collectively donate 3.61 tons of rice to the hungry.
References
- 1 2 "South Korea’s Greatest Export: How K-Pop’s Rocking the World". Time Magazine. 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
- 1 2 "‘Rice wreaths’ indicate that K-Pop fandoms are becoming more mature". Allkpop. 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
- ↑ "신화 신혜성 다국적 팬, 6년째 쌀화환 응원". Daum Kakao. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- ↑ "신혜성 다국적 팬들, 쌀화환으로 5년간 ‘지극정성’ 응원". FNN StarN. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- ↑ "Shinhwa to Recruit Fans for 10th Fanclub After Seven Years". CJ E&M. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- 1 2 WOO, JAEYEON. "Seoul Food: Treating Your Idol to Lunch Is the True Test of Fandom". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
For a Contribution of Just $135, You Can Feed a Korean Pop Star
- ↑ "KARA’s Japanese fans the first to donate rice for a concert in Japan". Allkpop. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
- ↑ "2PM's fans donate a record amount of rice for their finale concert". allkpop. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
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