YONSEI UNIVERSITY has fervently cultivated school pride and passion for several years. Time-honored traditions maintain the institute’s larger-than-life spirit, and its campus culture transcends not only the school gates, but the country as well. Throughout the academic year, student clubs organize dynamic events that are visited by thousands—perhaps millions more online. These events include Mu-ak Dae-dong-je and the Yon-ko-jeon[1], but the iconic AKARAKA festival remains to be the most anticipated event by Yonseians.

Brief background

   AKARAKA began in 1986 as a school-wide cheering event for students. It is traditionally hosted in May—after the Mu-ak Dae-dong-je—and occurs outdoors at the Amphitheater[2]. The origin of the word “AKARAKA” remains unclear. One of the most accepted theories is that it derives from a victory chant shouted by Roman generals before their emperor. Chants are also common in U.S. universities, and Horace Underwood[3] was allegedly inspired by his alma mater Princeton University’s cheering slogan “rah-rah-rah.” Others believe that “AKARAKA” is the imitation of an eagle’s cawing while in flight, with the eagle being the official mascot of Yonsei.

   The event is jointly organized by the Yonsei University Cheer Squad and the General Student Council. Contrary to popular belief, AKARAKA remains entirely student-led. It does not receive funding from the school, so the event is subsidized by sponsors, ticket profits, and merchandising. The lack of financial support justifies ticket fees when most Korean university festivals have free admissions. Acquiring tickets for AKARAKA is notoriously difficult as the demand far outweighs the supply. Ticket purchasing windows are divided into three categories: group, club, and individual. Group ticketing is the earliest stage where students are able to apply for tickets through their college or department. As its name suggests, club ticketing allows select student clubs to obtain tickets for their members, and individual ticketing is the final stage for students to apply solely on singular luck. Department seat allotments for the event are randomized, but students are allowed to change seats following the festival’s official inauguration.

Previous productions

   In an interview with The Yonsei Annals, Park Ye-eun (Sr., Global Leaders College, Korean Language & Culture Education) shared her experience of the 2017 AKARAKA Festival: Hwa-yang Yon-hwa (In the Mood for Love). Park described the flood of blue between the campus and Sinchon station, commenting, “Everyone was wearing Yonsei colors; it was really amazing to see.” The streets were filled with students, and there was a general hum of excitement in the air. She was ushered all the way up to the Amphitheater by several dozen student staff—many of whom were members of department and college student councils—and the venue was packed by 3 p.m. “The host gave some opening remarks, then the Cheer Squad came to hype us all up,” she said before describing how she cheered with hundreds of fellow Yonseians in a “one-of-a-kind experience.” Park continued, “Most of us were strangers, but celebrating AKARAKA together made us feel an immense sense of unity and pride.” Feeding off of each other’s adrenaline, students were kept in high-spirits throughout the eight-hour event. Several A-listers came to perform at the 2017 festival, such as BLACKPINK, IU, and PSY. After the setlist, another round of school cheers were conducted before the event officially concluded.

   Most students who attended the 2017 AKARAKA festival had experienced it for the first time. When asked about how she hopes attendees will feel about this year’s event, Park advised students to embrace its wildness. Some students may speak poorly about school festivals, but Park believes making memories while having a great time is the only thing that matters. “The point of AKARAKA is not to cheer for the school, but to have fun with your friends and schoolmates,” she concluded.

   Due to COVID-19, several wide-scale school events were cancelled indefinitely. The first school event of the year where students are introduced to a segment of Yonsei culture and taught school chants, the Cheering Orientation, was put on hold; the 2020 and 2021 AKARAKA festivals were completely canceled. Fortunately with laxer government restrictions and the reimplementation of offline classes in recent months, holding offline school events has become a possibility. And the university’s urgency to bolster school spirit since the reopening of offline classes has motivated it to alter history—shifting the 2022 May AKARAKA to September.

The 2022 AKARAKA Festival: Ro-man in Yonsei

   From August 10, the Cheer Squad began to upload a succession of announcements regarding the 2022 AKARAKA festival’s guidelines, which included concise explanations of entrance schedules, bathroom routes, and behavioral rules. There was a large buildup of anticipation leading up to the event as several students discussed the possible guest performances on social media. Unlike other university festivals, AKARAKA does not reveal the guests beforehand—opting to make every performer a surprise appearance. Expectations were high on August 24, the day of the event, as thousands flocked uphill to the Amphitheater. Yonsei University was bathed in its iconic shade of blue with students lining up from the main gates of the campus. The venue opened at noon and was quickly filled with eager attendees by 2 p.m.— AKARAKA’s scheduled start time.

   The Amphitheater was packed with people; it was a surreal sight for everyone to see so many students gathered in one location. This year’s AKARAKA, along with Mu-ak Dae-dong-je, is one of the first large-scale school events to be revived since the COVID-19 outbreak. Excitement was at an all-time high as the emcee made his entrance onto the stage. After setting the tone for the afternoon, he encouraged students to stand up and sing along to all the Yonsei cheers, as one of the members of the Cheer Squad came up to begin teaching the songs. Unlike previous school years, the pandemic-induced online school setting has made many students unaware of the lyrics and choreography of school cheers. To solve this, the Cheer Squad provided an hour-long intensive for students to familiarize themselves with iconic Yonsei songs such as the “AKARAKA Cheer” and “Sa rang han da Yonsei (I Love You, Yonsei).” Once the songs rang around the Amphitheater, everyone eagerly put their arms around each other’s shoulders and sang at the top of their lungs; school pride was at an all-time high with thousands of students cheering at deafening levels. This year’s AKARAKA symbolizes the beginning of a fully-offline university experience—the experience we were promised before the pandemic. Students that have yet to see festive campus activities were given unparalleled access to the heart of Yonsei, and everyone in attendance was able to share similar sentiments of passion and joy. 

   Later on, the emcees began to prepare the attendees for the most anticipated portion of the event: the guest performances. At exactly 5 p.m., the first performer—NewJeans—entered the stage with the introduction of their hit song, “Attention.” The group of five were given a warm welcome by the crowd, and they sang several other songs including an encore performance. Other fourth-generation idol[4] groups similar to NewJeans, including LE SSERAFIM and IVE, graced the stage. They provided a youthful balance to the long-established artists that also came to perform on the AKARAKA stage. 

   Singer-songwriter 10cm—otherwise known as Kwon Jung-yeol—returned to his alma mater and performed many of his hits such as “What the Spring??” and “Americano.” He even brought out rapper BIG Naughty as a special guest for two of his songs, one of which was a newly released collaborative single titled “Just 10 Centimeters.”

    Another heavy-hitter in the entertainment industry that performed was YG’s popular boy band, WINNER. Their highly interactive performances included both older and newer tracks from their discography, most notably “REALLY REALLY”—a song to which the audience sang along till the end. The last artist of the night was three-time AKARAKA veteran, Zico.

    The energy of his performance was amplified by a group of backup dancers and a stationed disc jockey, giving AKARAKA a concert-like atmosphere. Zico’s stand-out songs from the night included “New Thing” and “Any Song.” His rap hits were especially well received by the crowd, and the audience went wild as the intense bass of his music vibrated across the venue. Everyone seemed to be fully immersed in the moment all the way to the end of the festival. 

   After all the performances, the Cheer Squad returned to host a final round of cheers from the audience. The “2022 AKARAKA Festival: Ro-man in Yonsei” concluded with a succession of large fireworks. Students were then ushered out of the Amphitheater and to the center of the campus where various food stalls were made available to the public. It was an exhausting day for all the attendees, but there was a sense of school unity and pride that filled the streets of Sinchon several hours after the festival.

[1] Yon-ko-jeon: Otherwise known as the Yonsei-Korea Games, it is a yearly sports festival between Yonsei University and Korea University.

[2] Amphitheater: An outdoor theater originally built in 1933, listed as “Building 401” 

[3] Horace Underwood: The first president of Chosun Christian College (currently known as Yonsei University)

[4] Fourth-Generation Idol: Idols that debuted during or after 2018