How A Love For K-Pop Is Building Communities And Changing Lives

It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon – for many, a time allocated to unwinding and relaxing before starting a new week. But John Wilkinson, owner of K-Pop Nite TX, is hard at work outside Austin’s newly opened Purr-fecto Cat Lounge, scanning tickets and prepping a long line of eager attendees for their entry. Behind them sits an open parking lot area where tables featuring neat displays of handmade items fill the space. A faint stream of music is heard every time the lounge door opens. And glimpses of kittens darting past purple streamers and photos of Suga, a member of the global K-Pop sensation known as BTS, are visible through the lounge’s windows. For Wilkinson and the attendees, it is not a day for unwinding but for celebration– executed through what is known to K-Pop fans as a cup sleeve event.