For two days, artists and fans came together to celebrate music and community at the Araneta Center.
Tagged as “the ultimate P-Pop fan gathering,“ this year’s first-ever Philippine Pop Convention (PPOPCON) was every bit a surreal dream come true.
The two-day affair consisted of a convention at New Frontier Theater in Araneta City, and a hybrid concert (in-person and streamed online as well as in real life) at Araneta Coliseum. It was the first live P-Pop event in two years.
New Frontier Theater was filled with fan and artist stalls alike, representing all the PPOP groups that had come together: the A-listas of CALISTA; the BULLETS of G22; the MNLOVES of MNL48; the PEARLS of Press Hit Play; the MAGILIW of ALAMAT; the A’TIN of SB19; the FOR.ONE of 1ST.ONE; the DREAMERS of 4th Impact; the Vixies of VXON, the ACES & BLOOMS of BGYO & BINI; the GENATICS of PPop Generation; the ALLIES of Ver5us; the RRULERS of RRULES and the ZAIA of KAIA.
What we saw at the PPOPCON convention hall
For a lot of the fanbases, it was their first time to meet in person as well! The booths all had various games and prizes, alongside official merchandise. Many of the booths included a look back at the journey of the groups involved.
Many of the participating P-Pop groups performed and made appearances at New Frontier Theater. This was a particularly delightful treat for the fans who weren’t going to the concert proper.
Aside from the artists and fans, there were also booths by Sony Music Philippines, realme, GCash, and SHEIN. Hungry convention-goers could easily purchase food from the Tender Juicy hotdog stand.
KMall was also present, with their inside booth offering exclusive Korean goodies and official KAIA merch while they had some Korean drinks & broth ham outside.
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A handful of P-Pop groups even had direct stage interactions with their fans through fun challenges. DAYDREAM held a dance battle; CALISTA had a “race”-themed game in line with their debut single, “Race Car.” Debut singles were a common theme; DIONE and RRULES also hit the stage with their own showstopping numbers.
Besides performing onstage, groups actually made their way into the throng of fans and visited the booths fans had worked so hard for. BGYO & BINI created quite the splash with their respective appearances too!
A huge announcement was made towards the end of day 1, too: G22 was added to the Araneta concert line-up, much to the delight of their BULLETS.
Many fans expressed that they hoped it would be a yearly event. It was certainly a P-Pop community gathering nobody will soon forget: a clear indication that P-Pop is indeed on the rise!
Featured Image Macky Arqilla
