I have been attending conventions for many years now, small, medium, and big and sized ones all both around the PNW as well as all over the US. Then this year “cupsleeve” events started popping up around the US, outside of them being just for K-Pop.
A cupsleeve is basically something that wraps around a cup, to decorate or protect your hand from the heat of said cup (and what’s inside of it). A cupsleeve event is an event hosted mainly at boba tea shops, and there are special designed cupsleeves (centering around theme for the event) that you can only get if you purchase the drink made for the event. There also happens to be vendors at these events, games or other activities, and preorderable tiers you can purchase and pick up at the event. Most of the time there are multiple designs for the cupsleeves that you can either get from buying the multiple drinks (themed and made for said event) that they come on or in buying the tiers bundles before or during the event.
The reason I started noticing these this year and now more than ever, is because of a wedding cupsleeve I attended back in April. This was for Gojo and Geto from the Jujutsu Kaisen anime series, not an official wedding but a fan one. The event was held at Drip Tea in Kent, WA. They made three different custom themed drinks, and had little goody bags you could get after purchasing a drink. They also had official cosplayers there, and acted out a whole wedding. There were also vendors, photo opportunities with cardboard standees, and with the cosplayers.
It was a really fun and different event to attend, a lot less pressure then what you would feel or get when attending a convention. This was more intimate and people were able to go off to a table and meet new people, and gush about the JJK fandom and wedding.
But, more and more series are getting their very own cupsleeves and are seeing high attendance, such as Alien Stage, and Love and Deepspace. I know here in the PNW there are a few more cupsleeves (outside of K-pop ones) that will be coming up in the near future and many that are planned and in the works for next year as well. There is even one for Gojo’s (from Jujutsu Kaisen) birthday, on December 7th being held at Drip Tea in Kent.
I believe these cupsleeves are here to stay and are a good way for people who are taking a break from the convention scene, not wanting to spend money on a weekend pass (because cupsleeve events are free to attend), just starting slow with fandom events, and bringing their children to. I’m excited to attend more of these small events and to see what themed ones people come up in the coming months!
Have you attended a cupsleeve event? Would you want to? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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