Cupsleeves 101: An Ultimate Survival Guide to Korean Birthday Cafes

Perhaps one of the more niche parts of Korean fan culture is the birthday cafe, or “cupsleeve event” (named for the customized cupsleeve you receive with the purchase of a drink at the event). It is a collaborative event between fans and small shops to throw a party in honor of their favorite idol, actor, or even animated character’s birthday. 

The shops will team up with a dedicated fan to produce the cupsleeve event and fans attend the decorated cafes during or around the subject’s birthday (or group anniversary, concert, enlistment discharge, or other occasion), purchase a drink or dessert package from the cafe, and receive fan-made goods in exchange. The cafes get foot traffic and the fans get a dedicated space to celebrate. Artists are even known to stop by their own events, greeting fans and signing autographs. 

Nowadays, many fans broaden their creativity, hosting events not only in coffee shops, but also in flower shops, manga cafes, photobooths, or perfumeries, so you may not even be limited to buying a coffee to participate. These cafes feature lavish, detailed decorations, galleries and beautiful graphics and themes, alongside cute charms, dolls, slogans, or other fan goods. Cupsleeve events are a fun way to celebrate fandom and friendship.

While visiting cupsleeve events in Korea as a foreigner can be intimidating, this guide will help you find, navigate, and make the most of a birthday bash. Here are some tips to get you started.

Finding an Event.

First and foremost, tracking down a cupsleeve event can be quite daunting. The easiest way to locate information on where and when an event will be held is via X (formerly Twitter). To locate an event, type your bias’s name plus “생일 카페” or “생카” (two terms for birthday cafe).

If you’re looking for a more unique reason to celebrate, like an anniversary or welcome home event, try searching the name of the artist or group with “카페” on X – typically, this will still take you where you want to go. If you know the fan-determined event hashtags for the celebration, try those as well, alongside “카페”.

Typically, fan sites or fan pages will also have their hosted events pinned on their social media pages, with information on where and when they will be held. Be sure to confirm the dates, hours, and location, as many events don’t open until 11 a.m. or noon at the earliest. 

If you’re looking for tools to compile events, fans post Naver guides of all the birthday cafes for more popular groups, with locations pinned on a map. Additionally, fan-specific apps like Ducksroad (덕스로드) offer a dedicated free service to find, map, and list birthday/celebratory events (although this app is region-locked to those outside of Korea).

If All Else Fails: Wander Hongdae.

The winding roads of Hongdae and neighboring Sangsu are the de facto cupsleeve event hubs. While many artists have events across all of Seoul and Korea, the vast majority of them are concentrated within the winding cafes of Hongdae and Sangsu. If you wander around, you're guaranteed to see one, even if it's not who you were originally looking for. 

Certain streets are filled with cafes that frequently collaborate with fans for events. On one July afternoon, after our tenth SEVENTEEN Wonwoo cafe of the day, arms loaded with Americanos, my friends and I stumbled across a “Welcome back WOODZ” event, celebrating the soloist’s end to military enlistment. So, of course, we grabbed a milk tea, a cupsleeve and stickers, and listened to “Drowning” as a quick reprieve. 

Welcome Back WOODZ! Cupsleeve Event Diorama.

Order Your Set.

Once you’re at the cafe, do note that a purchase is necessary to attend. If you have a friend who isn’t interested, they may have to wait outside. Cafe events typically offer gift sets (특전), usually between 8,000-12,000 KRW, of either only a drink or a drink plus dessert. The tier 1 set (only a drink) typically gets you a cupsleeve and a few fanmade items. Extra goodies are included in the larger tier purchase of the drink plus dessert. Select your drink, your dessert, and you’re off to enjoy the cafe, which might include a photobooth, lucky draw events, a photo area, or a message zone for you to write a message to the artist(s). If you’re at a more niche event, like a manga cafe or flower cafe, the host will explain to you on entry, or via sign, what is available to purchase to receive the event goodies. 

If you’re confused on set options, which typically involve some combo of an Americano, milk tea, or fruit-based drink paired with a cookie or macaroon, you can always ask the host. You can even whip out Papago if there’s a language barrier. Cupsleeve event hosts are often excited (if sometimes bewildered) about foreign attendees. I once eavesdroppingly heard one host at a cupsleeve event remark to her friend, “So many foreigners are here, from Japan, Thailand, even America! It’s incredible. How did they even find us?” Well, this guide might just be how.

A typical birthday cafe set: one drink, with two themed cookies.

Bring Cash, if you’re feeling lucky.

While it’s true that Korea, and the rest of the world, is trending towards being a cashless society, this is not true if you are a foreigner attending cupsleeve cafes, if you want to try your luck. Many cafe hosts offer bonus “lucky draw” events, where for 1,000 or 2,000 won, you can try a gacha game to win special goods. Every attempt will win you something, from postcards to keyrings, but the extra lucky numbers might win you a more expensive item, like a cute custom T-shirt or a cereal mug. 

However, since hosts tend to accept only Korean bank transfers, which require a Korean bank account, you might be out of luck (literally) if you’re not a local and don’t have cash. 

Come thirsty!

If you plan on attending many cafes throughout the day, come thirsty and bring a large tote for all your goodies because every cafe will require a drink purchase. Fortunately, most are delivered as sealed cans or bottles, so even if you set some aside for later, they won’t spill in your bag. Just be prepared to lug around a lot of Americanos, and take note of the nearest cafe with a bathroom if you need to excuse yourself due to all the liquid intake.

A TAEMIN 2023 Birthday Cafe in Seoul.

And for those of us on the other side of the world…

For many of us international fans, who often aren’t lucky enough to find ourselves in Hongdae on a particular day, many local fans host their own cupsleeves across the world, listing them via events pages on X (Twitter) or Instagram, via hashtags like #KpopCupsleeve or #KpopEvents. Some hosts will even offer online events, where fan goods can be purchased and mailed to participants for those from rural or distant areas from the event. 

No matter where you are, wandering Sangsu or Vancouver, the fun of fandom often lies in the friendships and connections you make with like-minded people who love the same thing you do. But it does tend to be extra special when that connection comes with a nice cold coffee, a macaroon, and a paper cup with the face of a beloved artist on it. 

A birthday flower cafe event for xikers’s Sumin.

All photos courtesy of Anya Heaton. 

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