Seoul, South Korea
Seoul’s Hongdae neighborhood is legendary for its forest of cafés.
On any given day, the aroma of roasted espresso beans fills the air, with most of the shopfronts fronted by tall-as-trees banners bearing the picture of a glamorous-looking particular person.
Take three steps, and also you’ll see a glass door with one other poster of that very same smiling face; three extra paces, and there they’re once more, draped with ribbons and floral decorations.
People excitedly wander between these storefronts with their cell telephones, taking selfies and snapshots of the colourful scenes.
These will not be ads or paid promotions. These are “birthday cafés”— specialised venues devoted to celebrating the birthdays of Okay-pop idols. For only a few days round an idol’s birthday, these common espresso retailers rework into curated galleries dedicated to the celebrity.
Inside every café, the partitions are filled with pictures of the smiling celeb, whereas shiny streamers and balloons sway together with a playlist that includes songs by the idol. Visitors get pleasure from their espresso in adorned cups. They additionally get to take dwelling quite a lot of collectibles — together with photocards, stickers, and cups — that include their beverage.
Located in northwestern Seoul, Hongdae stands as essentially the most distinguished hub for birthday cafés in South Korea, with round 50 venues usually internet hosting these occasions.
It’s widespread for a number of cafés within the space to host them concurrently, typically with a number of totally different venues all devoted to the identical particular person without delay.
The visitor of honor hardly ever ever exhibits up. But no one will get upset about that. Despite the dimensions, neither the homeowners nor the followers count on the celeb to stroll via the door.
Yoo Ji-hye is the proprietor of Café E;You, which ceaselessly hosts all these occasions. She explains that it’s troublesome to count on extremely acknowledged celebrities or these with large fandoms to go to.
A prime star must cease by as much as 30 totally different areas in a single day, and native cafés lack the assets, like safety, that will be required to help such a go to.
Despite their absence, followers’ dedication doesn’t fade. Birthday cafés welcome “a massive number of visitors during peak periods,” she says.
Indeed, high-profile occasions over a single weekend draw a whole bunch of individuals. In streets the place greater than 10 venues sit aspect by aspect, discovering a vacant seat turns into not possible. For the most well-liked stars, the gang merely overflows, leaving lengthy queues stretching previous the storefronts.
Many followers go on “café tours” — the follow of visiting a number of venues devoted to the identical idol.
“This is my eighth stop,” says Hong Ji-ye, a fan of Wonpil of the Okay-pop band DAY6, shyly dismissing the concept that she has visited many venues.
Depending on the variety of cafés devoted to their favourite star, followers plan their excursions to expertise totally different themes. While some cafés showcase idea pictures from the star’s newest album, others characteristic stylized character representations, and even show childhood pictures, channeling the idea of doljanchi — a conventional Korean first-birthday celebration.
What precisely are these followers chasing in an area the place the star is extremely unlikely to look?
“It’s about having a space where everyone who shares the same love can gather,” Yoo says. There is “a sense of pure joy,” she provides.
The venues buzz with admiration as followers peruse the cafés’ customized merchandise, excited squeals filling the air as they take part in on-site raffles. Almost all dialog is centered on the idols.
While the espresso might not at all times be natural, the birthday cafés are, with occasions organized solely by the followers themselves.
Months earlier than the artist’s precise birthday, followers voluntarily step into the position of occasion planners — reserving venues, choosing ideas, designing the customized merchandise and adorning cafés in particular person. From preliminary planning to ultimate go to, your complete expertise is totally fan-created, fan-executed and fan-consumed.
It’s arduous to pinpoint when the birthday café phenomenon began, nevertheless it’s actually a product of the social media age, as platforms like Twitter — now X — first made it doable for followers to attach and arrange.
This community has since matured, with several platforms permitting followers to voluntarily submit and register their occasion particulars to databases. People can search occasion listings for particular artists, view merchandise particulars for every venue and work together with map visualizations spanning from Seoul to Busan — there are sometimes as much as 40 venues targeted on a single idol.
As a strong medium for admiration and help, birthday cafés are quickly breaking conventional boundaries.
The phenomenon has since developed far past Okay-pop idols; the format is now being embraced by varied Korean fandoms, spanning from actors to skilled athletes.
Walk via the bustling theater district of Hyehwa, and banners of actors line the streets outdoors cafés; go to the areas close to a serious soccer stadium, and the storefronts are plastered with photos of gamers for his or her birthdays.
Birthday cafés are even being held for figures who’ve completely zero probability of ever displaying up — like John Lennon.
A birthday café devoted to the late Beatles legend is scheduled to open in October in Hongdae district.
“Offline fan events for artists like the Beatles or John Lennon are so rare in Korea,” says Jeong Saet-byeol, a bunch of the occasion. There is a pure need amongst followers for “gathering in a single space to connect with people who share the same musical taste,” she says.
The pursuit of a shared communal expertise is driving the tradition to broaden into different fields, shifting the core function from a full of life social gathering to an act of collective remembrance.
Some would possibly say it’s additionally turning into a spiritual expertise.
Take this group. To mark Buddha’s birthday on May 24, a birthday café devoted to the Buddha opened close to the gates of Yeonhwasa Temple in northwestern Seoul.
Now in its third consecutive yr, this occasion has seen its period broaden with every iteration, stretching right into a month-long celebration this time round.
From the doorsteps, a banner encompasses a cartoon of the Buddha carrying a celebration hat and sipping a lotus latte. Inside, the identical character sits beneath alphabet banners studying “HAPPY BUDDHA’S DAY.” Visitors who order the signature latte obtain a customized cup holder together with a Buddha photocard.
“We wanted to take a culture that has belonged to celebrities and apply it to Buddhism,” a temple official explains. The occasions have allowed the temple to “engage with the local community in a positive way,” she says, drawing in a youthful inhabitants who would possibly in any other case hardly ever go to a temple.
As the birthday café tradition expands its boundaries, a number of celebrities are seizing these occasions as alternatives to work together with their followers.
Actors, sports activities stars and — although uncommon — main Okay-pop stars like aespa and NCT have visited their very own birthday cafés.
Yet the occasional celeb look doesn’t alter the elemental function of those areas: they continue to be occasions constructed by followers, for followers.
“Since birthday cafés allow fans to directly shape their own culture of support, it will continue to remain a steady trend,” Jeong says.