"We have five dance crews performing, three DJs, and eight vendors," says Miami K-Pop Night cofounder Zacharie Mantha-Ware. "It's our second anniversary, so we really wanted to pull out all the stops."
What started as a birthday party for Mantha-Ware's partner and cofounder, Nik Rodman, has since snowballed into a monthly K-pop night.
"We wanted to create a space for people that don't often have one," Mantha-Ware explains. "When someone's listening to K-pop, typically they're doing it in their car, in their headphones, or in their house. We wanted them to have somewhere to listen to their music in the club, just like they could hear reggaeton or anything like that."
The upcoming anniversary celebration will see various performers, including Kisu, formerly of the group 24K, and vendors take over ZeyZey on Saturday, September 7. The event costs $25 a head, $30 if you buy at the door.
Vendors will include those selling clothing and jewelry, tarot readings, and records, including the popular Wolf of Tacos. Mantha-Ware himself, along with Marumixes and ImYoonNotYou, will be among the DJs headlining the event.
"This is our first ticketed event and our first all-ages event," Mantha-Ware adds. "For the past two years, we've only been able to do 18 plus and 21 plus, but this time, it's super family-friendly."
Nik Rodman and Zacharie Mantha-Ware (left) are the founders of Miami K-pop Night.
Miami K-Pop Night photo
"It really is quite a risk because there hasn't ever been a large-scale K-pop-themed event in Miami like this," he says. "But ticket sales are doing very, very well at the moment, and I'm very hopeful."
Interest permitting, Mantha-Ware says the anniversary celebration only marks the start of the party's continued expansion.
"Just with this event, we got two or three other artists from Korea personally messaging us or having their manager message us, 'Hey, love, what you're doing? We'd love to be a part of it.'" he says. "And that shows me that if this does well, we could bring more Korean artists to Miami at different venues like this."
If the night goes over well, Mantha-Ware said, bimonthly mini-concerts may become possible. "Now we're kind of at that level where we're getting those requests," he adds.
Still, despite upcoming changes, Mantha-Ware says they plan on staying true to the event's original purpose — providing people with a safe place to have a good time. "We're just two guys trying to make the best event possible," he says.
Miami K-Pop Night Second Anniversary. 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, September 7, at ZeyZey, 353 NE 61st St., Miami; zeyzeymiami.com. Tickets cost $25 to $30 via shotgun.live.
