Hongdae Buzzes Again... Why?

[Seoul District News] Mapo-gu and Seoul Geo Artist Cooperative Sign MOU to Revitalize Hongdae Festival Street Culture, Arts, and Tourism ... Providing Performance Stages and Discovering Quality Performances for Artists

Mapo-gu - Seoul Street Artist Cooperative Business Agreement Ceremony (from the fifth person on the left, Yudonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, and Choi Nagyeom, Chairman of Seoul Street Artist Cooperative)

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Hongdae is buzzing once again.

Following the resumption of busking performances on April 1st after 1 year and 4 months since COVID-19, at Hongdae Walking Street (around 348-40 Seogyo-dong), performance teams affiliated with the Seoul Street Artists Cooperative are heating up the Hongdae Festival Street (around 365-28 Seogyo-dong) with their shows.

To this end, Mapo-gu and the Seoul Street Artists Cooperative signed a business agreement on the 14th to “revitalize Hongdae Festival Street and local cultural arts tourism.”

The signing ceremony held at Mapo-gu Office was attended by Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, Choi Na-gyeom, Chairman of the Seoul Street Artists Cooperative, and affiliated artists.

The Seoul Street Artists Cooperative (hereafter the Cooperative) is a group of artists specializing in street performances, with about 250 affiliated performance teams. They conduct over 1,500 street performances annually, including volunteer performances for culturally vulnerable groups and charity performances supporting children with cancer and other incurable diseases, spreading positive influence.

At the ceremony, Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “I hope this occasion marks the beginning of active performance activities for cultural artists,” and added, “Mapo-gu will spare no effort to support local artists so they can continuously perform diverse content on Hongdae Festival Street.”

Based on this agreement, the district will provide opportunities to expand the stage for young cultural artists who lost their place due to COVID-19, and the Cooperative will discover content such as performances and exhibitions to revitalize Hongdae Festival Street.

Additionally, starting in July, the Cooperative plans to form performance teams composed of artists selected through its own public auditions to provide high-quality busking performances on Hongdae Festival Street.

Merchants near Hongdae Festival Street, upon hearing the news of the agreement, expressed expectations, saying, “If cultural artists enliven Hongdae Festival Street, it is natural that tourists will increase,” and “We hope the increase in diverse attractions will also invigorate the tourism industry.”

The district established “Hongdae Festival Street” in June 2020 to foster cultural and artistic projects in the Hongdae area and was designated as a cultural arts tourism special zone in December last year.

Building on this tourism infrastructure, the district is continuously discovering cultural and artistic content such as “street artist performances,” the busking group “Mapo Yulangdan,” and the “resumption of busking venues” at Hongdae Walking Street, preparing to leap forward as a global tourist city.