Since the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, Halloween in Seoul has moved. Itaewon has become a place for quiet remembrance, and most people who put on a costume and head out now go to Hongdae. That also makes Hongdae the place where Halloween crowd control is laid down most densely.
Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, October 31. Friday night (30th) and Saturday night (31st) are the likely peaks — and with the date and the weekend landing together, the crowd could pile into one night.
Status as of October 2, 2026: Seoul City and Mapo-gu (마포구) have not yet announced their 2026 Halloween plans. Everything below about on-site measures is based on 2025. In the last two years the city announced its plan about a week before Halloween, so this guide will be updated once the 2026 plans are out.
This guide covers only what is specific to Hongdae. The background of the 2022 disaster and how crowd management works across Seoul is in the companion guide, Itaewon Halloween 2026: crowd safety guide.
Why do Halloween crowds go to Hongdae instead of Itaewon?
Because Itaewon is no longer a Halloween party spot. After the disaster, partying loudly in Itaewon on Halloween came to be seen as disrespectful, and people who want a street party moved to Hongdae, where the clubs, bars and street performance already are.
These numbers come from Korean press reports. Each counts at a different time and over a different area, so they do not compare cleanly.
| Year | Date and time | Hongdae crowd | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Sat Oct 28, 20:00 | About 94,000 (Mapo-gu had expected up to 70,000) | Seoul Shinmun |
| 2024 | Sat Oct 26, 21:00–22:00 | About 84,000–86,000 | Seoul Shinmun |
| 2024 | Halloween period (time not stated) | About 120,000 (Mapo-gu figure) | Sijung Ilbo |
| 2025 | Fri Oct 31, night | About 110,000 (Itaewon at 21:00 that night: about 17,800) | Hankyung, Hankook Ilbo |
| 2025 | Oct 31, night peak | About 140,000 (Mapo-gu count) | Hankyung |
Press reports, not official statistics.
By the 2025 Hankyung and Hankook Ilbo numbers, Hongdae on Halloween night held more than six times as many people as Itaewon.
When is Hongdae busiest on Halloween 2026?
Friday night, October 30, and Saturday night, October 31. Most reported peak counts were taken between 20:00 and 22:00.
In 2025, a Friday, the crowd came on the night itself and the Red Road boards read “very crowded” from 21:00 (Hankyung). On September 22, 2026, the Minister of the Interior and Safety said that because October 31 falls on a Saturday, crowds were expected to be larger than in previous years, and that a “caution” level crowd-disaster alert would be issued in advance for the special period (as reported by News1).
How to do it with fewer people around you:
- Go early, leave early. Finish your walking and photos before the 20:00–22:00 peak.
- Check the crowd level first. On Seoul Real-Time City Data, choose “Hongdae Special Tourist Zone” (홍대 관광특구): four levels, relaxed to crowded, updated about every five minutes. How to read it: how crowded is Seoul right now.
- If Saturday night sounds like too much, try the previous weekend’s evenings or Sunday, November 1, in the daytime.
Hongdae’s crowd rhythm on ordinary weekends: Hongdae crowd times.
Which streets in Hongdae get the most crowded?
The Red Road (레드로드). Mapo-gu merged streets that used to have separate names — Walking Street (걷고싶은거리), Eoulmadang-ro (어울마당로), Festival Street (축제거리) and Hongtong Street (홍통거리) — into one brand. Seoul City describes it as a curved, red-painted street of about 2 km from Hongik Univ. Station (Line 2) to Sangsu Station (Line 6), with sections numbered R1, R2 and so on — roughly a 25-minute walk end to end.
These four spots come up in Mapo-gu’s Halloween safety plans year after year.
| Spot | What it is | Why it matters on Halloween |
|---|---|---|
| Red Road R3–R5 | The central stretch in front of Hongik University | In 2025, fences here channeled people one way (Kukinews) |
| Club street (R9) | Jandari-ro (잔다리로) via Wausan-ro (와우산로) toward Sangsu Station | Sidewalks widened from 3.1–3.5 m to 4.1–4.4 m in 2024 (News Seoul) |
| Hongik Univ. Station Exit 9 | The gateway into the Red Road | People coming out and going in tangle here; run as exit-only in 2023 (Seoul Shinmun) |
| Hongik-ro and Wausan-ro alleys | Narrow alleys feeding the Red Road | 2024 reports named Hongik-ro 3-gil and Wausan-ro 17-gil and 21-gil as crowd spots |
On-site control manages flow on the wide Red Road and keeps people from pouring into narrow alleys. The easiest safety rule: when an alley is packed, do not take it as a shortcut. Which exit leads where on a normal day: the Hongik Univ. Station exit guide.
What safety measures will Hongdae have for Halloween 2026?
As of October 2, 2026, Seoul City and Mapo-gu have not released their 2026 plans. The city announced about a week before Halloween in each of the last two years (October 25, 2024; October 24, 2025), and the framework has not changed since 2023, so 2025 is the best guide. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has not published its 2026 special period dates or priority areas either. This section will be updated when the 2026 plans are announced.
In 2025, Seoul City named two measures for the Hongdae Special Tourist Zone: large disaster-alert display boards along the Red Road showing real-time congestion, and more than 200 safety fences to keep people walking on the right. If warning signs appear, the control room broadcasts instructions by mobile loudspeaker, siren and emergency text message.
Mapo-gu’s measures below are from press reports; the district office’s original releases could not be accessed.
| Year | Period | Main measures |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Oct 27–Nov 1 | Plan for 2,850 police, district, fire and civilian staff; AI crowd analysis at 6 spots; Exit 9 exit-only (Seoul Shinmun) |
| 2024 | Oct 25–31 | Control room and first-aid station at Red Road R4; AI analysis at 9 spots; 5 new display boards; about 200 fences (Edaily, Seoul Shinmun, Sijung Ilbo) |
| 2025 | Oct 24–Nov 1 | 226 officials, 120 safety staff, 270 civilians; daily 20:00–01:00 focus on the club street, Exit 9 and Red Road R3–R5 (Boan News) |
Halloween night 2025: according to Hankyung, the Red Road boards showed “very crowded” from 21:00, and police and safety staff blew whistles and asked people stopped for photos to keep moving. Mapo Fire Station ran a special control room on the Red Road from 19:00 with paramedics on standby (Kukinews). The night ended without a major incident.
What you will actually run into:
- Fences and one-way flow. Walk the way the fences point. Going around a block beats pushing against them.
- Display boards. At “very crowded,” do not push further in — choose the way out.
- No stopping. Stop to film in a narrow stretch and you will be moved on, fast.
- No e-scooters. Since April 2025 the Red Road has been Korea’s first “kick-scooter-free street” (Seoul Shinmun).
Will Hongik Univ. Station be closed or skipped on Halloween?
Possibly, but no case of trains skipping Hongik Univ. Station on Halloween was found. In Seoul’s 2025 plan, the no-stop review at “very crowded” was spelled out for the Itaewon area — and Line 6 trains did skip Itaewon Station from 23:00 on October 31 that year (Seoul Shinmun). Under a 2023 government standard, once subway congestion hits “serious” (170% or more), the operator must review skipping the station (Seoul Shinmun).
At Hongik Univ. Station the more realistic scenario is exit control — like 2023, when Exit 9 was exit-only. If the station is blocked, walk to one of these.
| Station | Lines | When it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Hapjeong (합정역) | Line 2, Line 6 | Catching Line 2 from the club street or the south end of the Red Road |
| Sangsu (상수역) | Line 6 | Straight from the Sangsu end of the Red Road; toward Gongdeok and Itaewon |
| Sinchon (신촌역) | Line 2 | Walking east from Hongik Univ. Station to catch Line 2 |
| Sogang Univ. (서강대역) | Gyeongui–Jungang Line | When the Gyeongui–Jungang platform at Hongik Univ. is packed |
Check walking directions in Naver Map or KakaoMap. Their estimates assume an ordinary night — on Halloween, it takes longer.
What should you do if you get caught in a crowd?
The moment your walking speed drops and your body keeps touching the people next to you, get out. That is the core of Seoul City’s crowd-accident guidance. The most dangerous thought is “it will clear if I wait.”
- Before you go: check crowd conditions and routes, and agree on a meeting point in case you get separated.
- On the street: if walking slows or you keep touching people, move away immediately. Keep right; no phone while walking.
- If you fall: curl up to protect your body. If someone else falls, help them up right away.
- Going home: follow safety staff, and use other transport if it is packed.
In Hongdae, that means: set your meeting point outside the Red Road, turn on location sharing, and bring plenty of phone battery. If you are hurt, ask safety staff for the on-site control room. In 2024 and 2025 it was at Red Road R4 with a first-aid station (per press reports); the 2026 location had not been announced as of October 2.
| Number | For | Languages |
|---|---|---|
| 112 | Police (danger, crime, a missing member of your group) | English and Chinese interpretation, 24 hours (since March 18, 2024) |
| 119 | Fire, ambulance | Interpretation support |
| 1330 | Tourist hotline (directions, interpretation) | Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese 24 hours; other languages 08:00–19:00. From a foreign number: +82-2-1330 |
Crowd-related emergency alerts may arrive in Korean only — if your phone blares, run it through a translator. Hospitals and ambulances: the 119 and emergency room guide.
How do you get home if you miss the last train on Halloween?
Saturday’s last trains leave earlier than on weekdays. Seoul’s 1 AM subway extension applies on weekdays only — not Saturdays, Sundays or holidays. For the Chuseok return days, September 26–27, 2026, the city added trains so the last ones reached their terminals at 1 AM, but as of October 2 there is no announcement of a similar extension for the Halloween weekend.
Hongik Univ. Station is served by Line 2, the Gyeongui–Jungang Line and the Airport Railroad (AREX), each with a different operator. Last trains differ by line and direction, and your transfer station’s last train may leave first. Check your route home in Naver Map or KakaoMap using the “last train” setting before you go out.
If you miss it:
- Owl buses. Late-night buses have an N before the route number. Several have run through Hongik Univ. Station, but routes have changed often — check “N” routes in your map app.
- Taxi. Hard to catch in the middle of Hongdae. Walk 10–15 minutes out of the crowd and call one from a main road.
- Wait for the first train at one of the places actually open late in Hongdae.
More on this: missed the last train in Hongdae · Seoul late-night transport.
Where should you leave your luggage on Halloween night?
If you will be out past 22:00, use a 24-hour self-service spot — and collect your bags before the crowd and the last train, not in the middle of them. The Red Road side on Halloween night is no place to drag a suitcase.
The trap: the reported crowd peaks fall between 20:00 and 22:00 — exactly when the staffed counters close. A 21:45 pickup means walking against the crowd with a deadline. And Exit 9 has been run as exit-only on Halloween, so a pickup routed through Exit 9 is the riskiest plan.
(On-site check: 2026-06-29)
| Type | Examples | Pickup deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Staffed counters | TLUGGAGE, Jimcarry (drop-off until 15:00) | 22:00 |
| Staffed, flexible close | KPLANZ (direct underground link to Exit 3) | From 10:00; open later with an advance reservation, up to around midnight |
| Musinsa lockers | Inside the Musinsa store | 20:30 |
| Station lockers | TLUGGAGE Lockers, Airport Railroad lockers (06:00–24:00); Yellow at Exit 9 (07:00–23:00) | 23:00–24:00 |
| 24-hour self-service | Annyeong (Exit 7), Cocoon (Exits 5 and 7), Exit 7 coin lockers (₩500 coins only), LuggageQ (near Exits 6 and 7, up a flight of stairs), Welcome Center (Exit 5) | 24 hours |
Work backwards from two deadlines: the storage pickup and your last train.
- Arriving or leaving by AREX that night? Sort out your bags before 19:00, then go out empty-handed.
- Staying out late? A 24-hour self-service spot removes the deadline. Collect after the crowd thins, or the next morning.
- Several bags or a group? Lockers are first come, first served, and smaller spots can fill up in peak season — a staffed counter takes everything at once.
Details: Hongdae staffed luggage storage compared · weekend luggage storage in Hongdae.
Do you need ID for Hongdae club Halloween parties?
Yes — you need ID that proves your age, so foreigners should bring their passport. Most clubs follow the youth definition in Korea’s Youth Protection Act: under 19, excluding anyone who has already reached January 1 of the year they turn 19. Accepted IDs can vary, so check the club’s official social media.
Halloween schedules and entry fees are announced club by club, with no compiled official source for 2026 yet — check the club’s official Instagram for advance tickets. If the street crowd sounds like too much, a club party with a pre-bought ticket is the simpler plan. To pick one: clubs Seoul locals actually go to in 2026.
Where can you get a costume, and what should you not wear?
Nothing that looks like a police or military uniform. According to Segye Ilbo, a member of the public wearing a police uniform or something similar can face up to six months in prison or a fine of up to ₩3,000,000 under Korea’s law regulating police uniforms and equipment. On October 29, 2023, on Hongdae’s Festival Street, a man in his 20s in military fatigues carrying a replica gun was referred to summary trial and seven others were given warnings (Seoul Shinmun). Leave police, military and paramedic costumes and realistic replica guns at home.
- Rent one. Korean school uniforms and themed outfits — see Seoul school uniform and costume rental.
- Props only. A headband, a mask, some makeup props. Easy to carry.
- Makeup only. The easiest way to move through a crowd. Big props, long capes and hard-to-walk shoes get caught and stepped on.
Bottom line
- Halloween 2026 is Saturday, October 31. Friday and Saturday nights peak, mostly 20:00–22:00.
- The crowd is on the Red Road (R3–R5), the club street and around Exit 9. Do not cut through packed alleys.
- 2026 plans are not out yet (as of October 2). Expect 2025-style fences, one-way flow and congestion boards — this guide will be updated.
- No 1 AM subway extension on Saturday. Hapjeong, Sangsu and Sinchon are your fallback stations.
- Collect your bags before the peak and the last train, or use a 24-hour self-service spot.
- 112 / 119 / 1330. No police or military costumes.
Sources
- Seoul City — Halloween special safety measures, 14 crowd areas (2025-10-24, Korean)
- Seoul City — crowd-accident safety steps (2025-09-25, Korean)
- Seoul City — Hongdae Red Road, about 2 km (Korean)
- Seoul City — 1 AM subway extension on weekdays only (Korean)
- Seoul City — Chuseok 2026 last-train extension (2026-09-22, Korean)
- Seoul Open Data Plaza — Seoul Real-Time City Data guide (Korean)
- Korean Culture and Information Service — 112 interpretation 24 hours (May 2024)
- Yeongdeungpo-gu — 1330 tourist hotline hours and languages
- News1 — Interior minister on 2026 Halloween crowds (2026-09-22, Korean)
- Hankyung — Hongdae 110,000, Itaewon station skipped (2025-11-01, Korean)
- Kukinews — Red Road on Halloween night 2025 (2025-10-31, Korean)
- Seoul Shinmun — military costume referred to summary trial in Hongdae (2023-10-30, Korean)
Figures and measures are from public information and Korean press reports as of October 2, 2026. Seoul City and Mapo-gu had not announced their 2026 Halloween plans at the time of writing — on-site measures above reflect 2025 and will be updated once 2026 plans are released. Last trains and club rules change — check Naver Map or the official site before you go.
Luggage storage details on-site check: 2026-06-29