{"id":430251,"date":"2026-05-03T13:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T13:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/430251\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T13:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T13:44:15","slug":"bts-army-takes-over-el-paso-for-highly-anticipated-sun-bowl-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/430251\/","title":{"rendered":"BTS ARMY takes over El Paso for highly anticipated Sun Bowl concert"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 Tens of thousands of fans descended upon the Sun Bowl as the highly anticipated BTS concert officially kicked off on Saturday, May 2.<\/p>\n

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While the vibes inside the stadium are what fans paid for, the excitement has been building all week long with epic pre-concert events taking over El Paso.<\/p>\n

The dedication of the BTS \u201cARMY\u201d was on full display in the days leading up to the show, with fans driving hours from cities like Dallas, Houston, and Austin to be part of the experience. Some fans didn\u2019t just come for the music \u2014 they stepped up to organize massive pre-concert meetups, giving dozens of fans the perfect spot to celebrate before heading to the stadium.<\/p>\n

Andrea Contreras, who drove in from Houston, organized a traditional BTS \u201ccup sleeve\u201d event at Weirdoughs Bakery and Cafe across from UTEP. The meet-up gave her fellow ARMY members a designated spot to hang out, trade freebies, buy merchandise, and hype each other up before the show \u2014 a staple tradition in K-Pop culture.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHonestly, I think it is really important in the fandom and really brings us together, especially right before the concert,\u201d Contreras said.<\/p>\n

Naomi Ramirez, a fan who traveled from Dallas, echoed the sentiment of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe K-Pop culture is very like one big family. We really like to show up for each other,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s kind of like you can meet people from all over the world and love them so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the meet-up, several mother-daughter duos were getting ready to experience the magic of BTS together for the very first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Suga and my mom loves Jimin, and we both love J-Hope, and we\u2019re hoping to hear a song called \u2018Airplane Pt.2,\u2019\u201d said Bethany McCleland, a fan visiting from Arkansas.<\/p>\n

For Audrey and Grace Murray from Houston, Saturday night was a long time coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were supposed to see BTS in 2020 and the concert got canceled because of COVID. So this is our redemption,\u201d they shared.<\/p>\n

Cousins Kristen Evans from Austin and Jenna Ramirez from Dallas \u2014 who were attending their second and fifth BTS concerts, respectively \u2014 shared what makes \u201cThe Boys\u201d so special, and why the ARMY is such a passionate fandom.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery concert is so different, and it just really gives you an impact of positivity, good energy, and they really just bring happiness into your world,\u201d they said. \u201cFor me personally, they came into my life at a time when I needed to be positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the massive crowds around the UTEP campus calmed down as fans settled inside the stadium to enjoy the show, the quiet won\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n

Both the concert at the Sun Bowl and the music festival in Downtown El Paso are expected to wrap up around 11 p.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n

Mesa Street, stretching all the way to Downtown, will once again be packed with tens of thousands of people. Drivers are strongly advised to steer clear of the area later tonight to avoid heavy traffic delays.<\/p>\n

KTSM 9 News will be back at the Sun Bowl tomorrow to cover Day 2 of the Arirang Tour in El Paso.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 Tens of thousands of fans descended upon the Sun Bowl as the highly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[6432,18513,93,61,60,187887,278,51743],"class_list":["post-430251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-bts","tag-dallas","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ktsm","tag-music","tag-tens-of-thousands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}