Busking Season ... Busking at Gangseo Magok Cultural Street and Mapo Hongdae Red Road

The busking season has returned.

More people are enjoying street busking along with the cool breeze.

The Hongdae area is the birthplace of busking. In line with this regional characteristic, Mapo-gu held a nationwide busking competition on the 29th.

Gangseo-gu is also operating busking every Friday and Saturday until November 2nd at outdoor streets such as Magok Culture Street and Wondang Park in Gangseo-gu.

Team Recycling Band, the grand prize winner at the Hongdae Red Road Busker Festival, and Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District

Mapo-gu holds the first-ever ‘Red Road Busker Festival 2024’ at Hongdae Red Road R1 on the 29th

A total of 601 teams applied, 8 teams performed in the finals... The ultimate winner ‘Bunrisugeo Band’ received a prize of 10 million KRW

On the 29th, the ‘Red Road Busker Festival 2024’ heated up Hongdae Red Road R1, hosted by Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su), and concluded with enthusiastic responses from numerous spectators.

The ‘Red Road Busker Festival 2024’ was held for the first time this year to discover hidden talents in Mapo-gu, the cultural and artistic hub, and to provide various performance opportunities.

This competition received a total of 601 team applications and 1,718 participants, transcending age, nationality, and genre. Finalists were selected through a first-round video screening and a second-round on-site judging at Red Road.

Hosted by singer ‘Seven Us,’ the festival was attended by about a thousand spectators including Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, followed by a congratulatory performance by singer Kyungseo.

Eight teams competed on the final stage, captivating the audience with diverse genres such as fusion classical, dance, and magic.

After expert judging reflecting audience response, the winner of the grand prize of 10 million KRW was the busker ‘Bunrisugeo Band.’ The winning team will have the opportunity to perform at the ‘Mapo Naru Salted Shrimp Festival’ in October.

The grand prize winner ‘Bunrisugeo Band’ said in their acceptance speech, “We have been busking every week in Hongdae for a long time, and with the creation of the Red Road Busking Festival this year, it feels like busking is finally being recognized. We are truly happy and grateful,” adding, “We will never forget this Red Road busking stage.”

Besides the grand prize winner, the awardees of the competition were ▲Excellence Award (Team Funist), ▲Merit Award (Isback, One Shot Crew), ▲Popularity Award (String Band Momad, 828), and ▲Participation Award (Red Chair, Aftermath). All finalists received prize money and support for album production.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “I support all the buskers who made it through fierce competition to the final stage, and I hope the Mapo-gu ‘Red Road Busker Festival’ will grow into a dream stage for buskers worldwide beyond Korea.”

Mapo-gu announced that this year, through improvements to the Red Road infrastructure, the busking stage has been made more comfortable, and 24-hour open restrooms have been expanded, establishing Mapo-gu as a definitive K-busking hotspot.

Busking Performance

Gangseo-gu is colored by busking at Magok Culture Street

Busking performances every Friday and Saturday at outdoor streets in Gangseo-gu

Seoul’s Gangseo-gu (Mayor Jin Gyo-hoon) is hosting ‘Magok Culture Street Busking.’

The district announced that busking will be held every Friday and Saturday until November 2nd at outdoor streets such as Magok Culture Street and Wondang Park in Gangseo-gu.

Stages featuring various genres such as singing, performance, and instrumental music will be vibrantly presented.

This event was organized to support the challenges and dreams of local street artists and to provide residents with opportunities to enjoy culture.

Busking, under the theme ‘Try Everything!,’ features 30 local artist teams performing a total of 61 shows, none of whom are professional performers.

Among the talented performers selected through a competition with about a 7:1 ratio are ‘Fingerstarin,’ a guitarist with 11 years of experience who expresses all genres of music with a single guitar; ‘MIKmagicSHOW,’ who captivates audiences with magic and juggling; and ‘Oa,’ a singer-songwriter who has won four grand prizes at music festivals.

Performances take place at Magok Culture Street, a green corridor connecting Balsan Station and Magok Station on Line 5 (every Friday and Saturday from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM), and at Wondang Neighborhood Park in Deungchon-dong (every Saturday from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM).

Magok Culture Street events will be held at Balsan Station Plaza and two cafe street locations.

During the Heojun Festival period (October 5th, 12th, and 13th), special busking performances will be held at Heojun Neighborhood Park (October 5th) and in front of the LG Arts Center (October 12th?13th), offering even more diverse attractions.

Details such as performance schedules can be found on the district’s website notices or blog.

Mayor Jin Gyo-hoon said, “This busking performance aims to provide a more active stage for local artists and offer residents easy access to culture in their daily lives. We will continue to expand cultural spaces where artists and residents can harmoniously come together in various ways.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.