Imagine that you decide to enter a cafeteria in search of a drink that will refresh or warm you on the coldest or hottest days and You find its walls full of posters of Aitana, Ana Mena or another music star from our country. Chances are you’ll end up rubbing your eyes to see if it’s a dream or not.
Well then. This is a very common practice in South Korea. And not only that, but also a nice way to pay tribute to your favorite artists. Yesand it is about the Birthday Cafescafes rented by fans of figures of the K-Pop to celebrate said artist’s birthday for a few days. Thus, whoever visits the place (completely decorated with photos and albums of the singer), will also celebrate the protagonist’s most special day of the year.
A few days ago I had the pleasure of visiting one of these Birthday Cafes in Seoul during the visit to the South Korean capital for the presentation of the new Coca-Cola Creations K-Wave flavor. Specifically, I moved to Sansu-dong Street, where fans of J-Hope, member of btsthey had dressed up a cafeteria to celebrate their birthday.
The Birthday Cafes They are usually decorated up to 3 or 5 days after the artist’s birthday. And the practice of this type of celebration is so common in Seoul that there is even a map where K-Pop fans can find the cafes that are currently set. The exterior of these places is usually decorated with banners, while the interior is decorated with photos, posters, albums and all kinds of elements related to the protagonist of the day.
Exterior of ‘Birthday Café’ decorated to celebrate J-Hope’s birthday
In addition, in these places you can find a wide variety of drinks and desserts. Precisely, when I asked for my coffee from the kind girl behind the bar at this cafe in the Hongdae neighborhood, she not only gave me the hot drink, but also some photos of J-Hope so I wouldn’t forget that I was present at these original celebration. This is also common to find in Birthday Cafesensuring that all your visitors take away a nice memory.
Interior of the ‘Birthday Café’
But that is not all. Sometimes, The artists themselves also visit these places to return support to their fans. This, without a doubt, becomes a very relevant event for its followers, who make sure not to miss the visit.
In short, having had the opportunity to visit a Birthday Cafe and celebrating J-Hope’s birthday in this very original way has been a different, unique and, above all, recommended experience for all those who want to delve even deeper into K-Pop culture. Maybe one day he will move to Spain and we will begin to normalize this practice, finding cafes decorated with posters of David Bisbal, Alejandro Sanz, Ana Mena or Lola Índigo to celebrate his birthday.
