Star-Studded College Festivals: Are They Worth the Price?

With the arrival of May, universities nationwide are in full swing with festivals like Daedongje. This has brought attention to the fees for hiring celebrities. The practice of inviting celebrities to school festivals began around the 1970s. This period coincided with the economic development of Korean society and the activation of pop culture and the entertainment industry. The exact performance fee for the invited celebrities at the time was not disclosed, but considering the 1970s prices where a pack of ramen costs about $0.01 to $0.04, it can be inferred that a low fixed price was applied, which is incomparable to today’s standards.

After the long COVID-19 pandemic, schools are making efforts to invite celebrities and create impressive lineups. Particularly, Yonsei University and Korea University, which have been in a long-standing competition, have formed impressive lineups this year, as they receive a lot of attention each year for their celebrity lineups.

This year’s Yonsei University festival Akaraka will take place on May 26, and the participating celebrities include PSY, Rain, Zico, RIIZE, Park Jin Young, ITZY, ATEEZ, IVE, Kwon Eun Bi, and MeloMance, making it seem like a major concert. On the other hand, Korea University has announced that it will not disclose its artist lineup due to concerns about large crowds at specific times.

Celebrities also seem to welcome university festivals. Veteran singers can feel the youth and energy of college students, and for younger singers, the festival becomes a place where both the singer and the audience can have a good time due to the camaraderie with their peers. In addition, the response such as group singing at school festivals is good, so celebrities prefer them, and for idols, it is often referred to as a gateway they want to pass through after their debut.

So, how are the fees for celebrities performing at university festivals determined? According to the university student councils, there is a trend to evaluate the success or failure of a festival depending on the invitation of celebrities, and universities are racing to invite celebrities. According to the industry, a performance fee of around $8,900 is set for one team of celebrities, and if they are popular celebrities, it costs $44,500 to call them once, raising concerns about the financial situation of universities.

There was a debate over whether the festival budget for Busan National University was for students vs excessive spending. Busan University is holding its Daedongje from the 28th to the 30th of this month. The budget for this event has doubled from last year’s amount of about $133,500 to $294,000. This amount is used from the student activity support budget classified as school expenses. Busan University pours over 60% of the annual budget of $418,500 for student activity support into the festival.

The massive investment has sparked a heated online debate among students and the public. A representative from Busan University stated, “The 2024 festival is particularly grand as the current president pledged to invite famous singers to the festival, making it more spectacular than last year. We have prepared so that students can enjoy the festival in the front row, and residents can also safely enjoy our school festival.”

Not only Busan University, but almost all universities allocate a festival budget of $89,000 to invite celebrities. According to the Public Procurement Service, Pukyong National University spends $169,100 on its festival, Daegu Catholic University spends $160,200, Soonchunhyang University spends $151,300, Seoul National University spends $98,000, and Dongseo University spends $89,000.

A university official revealed, “To invite a top-tier celebrity team, it usually costs between $26,700 and $44,500 in appearance fees.” In particular, it is speculated that the fee for PSY, who always brings the heat to university festivals, would have been set at around $35,600 to $44,500

Also, trot singer Kim Ho Jung, who recently caused a social controversy, is known to have been set an appearance fee of around $35,600 for four songs at an event. In response, online users have reacted by saying, “It’s a festival for students, but it seems too focused on performances,” “They earn tens of thousands of dollars for just a few songs,” and “The school must be worried about the festival budget.”