The birthdays of idols have long gone beyond being merely personal anniversaries; they have become special moments of great significance for fans around the world. Over the years, alongside the flood of congratulatory messages and heartfelt wishes shared across social media, K-pop fandoms have increasingly expressed their affection in more direct and large-scale ways—ranging from gift-giving and offline events to the execution of symbolic birthday projects.
Among them, ARMY is widely recognized as one of the most prominent fandoms, renowned for producing birthday projects of an unrivaled scale. As BTS has long declined receiving physical gifts from fans, ARMY instead carefully plans and allocates substantial funds to birthday initiatives—spanning charitable activities conducted in the idols’ names to city-wide decorations featuring billboards and banners. In recent years, these celebrations have even expanded to unprecedented realms, from “beneath the sea” and “in the sky” to “on the highest snowy mountain in the world” and “in outer space.”
V’s birthday each year stands as one of the most representative examples. On one occasion, fans organized as many as 200 birthday projects worldwide, prompting netizens to call it a “global festival.” V’s fans also deeply moved the public by building an elementary school named Taehyung Hope Primary School. Another landmark event was a space-themed birthday project in which a satellite named Ladybird-1 orbited the Earth on V’s birthday.
Netizens likewise cannot forget the moment when the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, was illuminated with images and birthday messages for V—not once, but twice in succession. This event sent ѕнσ¢кwaves across the globe, as it was considered one of the most spectacular birthday tributes ever dedicated to a кσяєαn artist.
This year, as December 30 arrived, fans around the world once again eagerly anticipated the projects commemorating V’s 30th birthday. Living up to expectations, a series of grand-scale projects and events—no less impressive than those of previous years—were prepared. Most notably, V became “the first international personality to receive special recognition at Trianon, part of the Palace of Versailles complex.”
Specifically, on December 30, multiple media outlets reported that V had officially come to “own” a part of the prestigious Palace of Versailles. This meaningful gift was organized by global fan support teams through the palace’s heritage conservation campaign. Fans contributed financially in V’s name to the “Adopt a Bench” project, launched in 2014, which supports the preservation of benches within the Trianon grounds. Through this initiative, V’s name will be permanently recorded at a site that once served as a French royal residence and now welcomes over 15 million visitors annually.
In a response letter from the Palace of Versailles, it was also confirmed that, aside from V, “Since 2014, the year when the ‘Adopt-a-Bench’ campaign at Trianon was launched, there have been no other adoptions carried out in the name of or in honor of international personalities or artists,” underscoring the exceptional and one-of-a-kind nature of this birthday gift from V’s fans.
In response to this news, netizens around the world expressed their amazement, commenting: "This is so amazing. A historic first. An enduring tribute. The Premiere Corner", "How extravagant. Happy Taehyung Day", "Kim Taehyung has the best fanbases! And yes, there are also significant donations in his name", "Wow! this is truly fantastic!", "The most clαѕѕy and symbolic birthday gift ever" and "This gift is so V-coded. Elegant, meaningful, and completely on another level"
Beyond this “one-of-a-kind” project, numerous other large-scale support initiatives prepared by fans worldwide for V filled streets, skies, and city centers across many countries. Birthday projects stretching from Asia to Europe truly showcased the “V-clαѕѕ” standard, both in scale and execution.
In ¢нιиα, V’s fan club Baidu V Bar drew significant attention with a unique support project that utilized an entire aircraft. For the first time in ¢нιиα, a regional airline—¢нιиα Express—operated a flight fully decorated with V’s images, from overhead luggage compartments and seat covers to tray tables, demonstrating the astonishing power of the fandom economy.
Additionally, in InTime City (Hangzhou), a large-scale offline event was held, centered around a 6-meter-tall installation, accompanied by themed photo zones featuring music, cartoon art, and flower walls.
In South кσяєα, at Yeouido Hangang Park, a mαѕѕive 6-meter installation was erected alongside an outdoor panorama screen displaying birthday celebration videos, capturing public attention. On roads near the agency’s headquarters, 100 birthday banners were displayed in succession, while five fully wrapped buses lined up together became a new “check-in spot.”
In Thailand, the fanbase “BTSV_TH” has been operating two wrapped buses throughout Bangkok for an entire month to promote V’s birthday. At the iconic Siam Paragon, V’s birthday advertisements have been displayed consecutively for three years since 2023, while at the major transportation hub Interchange 21, congratulatory videos have also been broadcast for three consecutive years.
As support projects prepared by fans from various countries continue to be unveiled, V’s birthday has truly been completed as a global festival—one celebrated by the entire world together.
