August 27 and 28 were officially chosen as "BTS Day in Illinois". The decision was made by Governor J.B. Pritzker before the group's two performances at Soldier Field Stadium, Chicago.
In the statement, the state government acknowledged BTS's influence not only in the music field but also through social activities. The group contributes to spreading messages about self-love, mental health care and participating in charity activities.
BTS's message is considered to be similar to the community values that Illinois aims for, and at the same time inspires fans around the world to implement many social projects.
In 2017, BTS coordinated with UNICEF Korea to launch the "Love Myself" campaign. The project focuses on preventing and combating violence against children and adolescents, while raising awareness about mental health.
In 2020, the group and management company donated $1 million to the Crew Nation campaign, supporting workers in the live performing industry affected by the pandemic.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the decision to honor BTS was driven by the Chicago BTS Army community and the HANA Center, an immigrant support organization in Chicago. The city is also preparing activities to welcome fans, in which Willis Tower is expected to be lit in purple on the two evenings of the program. Purple has long been associated with BTS and the ARMY fan community.
Two music nights of BTS's "Arirang" world tour, taking place at 8 pm on August 27 and 28 at Soldier Field. The organizers said tickets for the two nights of the show were sold out. Illinois expects the event to attract a large number of tourists to Chicago, thereby contributing to tourism, accommodation and services in the locality.
This is the first time after more than 7 years that BTS has returned to perform at Soldier Field. Previously, the group had organized two performance nights in the "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" tour at this stadium in May 2019.
The fact that Illinois spent two days honoring BTS continues to show the group's influence in the North American market. During the tour, BTS was also welcomed by many localities with videos, routes named after the group in a short time or community activities organized by fans.
