Hongdae has become an area known for its diverse and indie oriented art culture, including independent clothing stalls, vintage shops, art studios, trendy cafés and clubs. Additionally it has also become home to dancers, musicians and even aspiring independent
K-Pop groups who perform as
Buskers or
Street Performers. Busking helps performers improve their skills, get exposure and even make a little money from their performances. In 2016, Hongdae was ranked as one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world.
Clubbing Hongdae is also known colloquially as one of the top places to go clubbing in Seoul. The Hongdae clubbing scene can be traced back to the 1990s and originated from studio cafés and bars in the late 1980s; it has since evolved into a diverse culture of its own. Clubs have become an important place for people to gather and share music, dance, as well as to communicate with one another. These clubs have also created a space for numerous aspiring DJs and musicians to perform in as well as provide a wide range of music genres for visitors to enjoy such as
dance,
techno,
rock and
hip-hop. Though many clubs are open to anyone over 19 years of age, there are some clubs who still strictly enforce unwritten rules such as dress codes and banning of foreigners.
Cafés In the late 1990s this artistic culture extended into the creation of trendy cafés, which have now evolved into the famous themed café culture known to be found in Korea today. Some popular cafés include the 943 King's Cross Café, which is
Harry Potter themed, animal cafes, where patrons can visit and play with various animals such as cats, dogs, and even sheep. Character cafés are also quite common and include characters such as
Sanrio's Cinnamoroll as well as
Line Friends cafés and
Kakao Friends cafés.
Street Food Hongdae is also home to many
street foods and food vendors. Foods offered range from
tteokbokki and rice cake skewers to
hotteok and
tanghulu, or skewers of sugar coated fruit.
Beauty Shopping Hongdae has become a popular destination for younger shoppers and foreign tourists seeking out
Korean beauty products. Major K-beauty brands present in the area include
Innisfree,
The Face Shop,
Etude House, and
Tony Moly.
Olive Young, a popular Korean cosmetics retailer, has opened a second flagship store there in 2024 that caters to foreign tourists. == Tourism ==