If you are like me, and always dreamed of dancing to your favorite K-pop songs in a club full of people who like the same music as you, this review might be very useful to you! I will tell you about my experience at the “Korean night” in Stuttgart last Friday (the 21st of April).
About the event
The event was hosted by Jin Entertainment. Created in 2018 with the goal to “spread K-pop and blend cultures”, Jin Entertainment is currently planning K-pop related events in 5 European countries in 17 major cities (source: jin-ent.com).
As I have only attended parties organized by Jin Entertainment in Stuttgart so far this review will focus on their parties in Stuttgart. If you are interested in joining an event in your city, check out their Instagram for more information on future events.
Personally, this was my fourth time going to one of their events.
The event officially started at 10pm and went on until 5am, with admissions required until 3am. The entrance fee was 18€, but you could get a 3€ discount if you followed Jin Entertainment’s Instagram and reposted their post about the event. Payment by card was possible.
Location
Korean nights in Stuttgart hosted by Jin Entertainment are usually held at the Vivally Club. The club is located 8 Kilometers away from the central station and easily accessible by public transportation (subway (U-Bahn), bus and metro (S-Bahn) stations are all close to the club). I wouldn’t recommend walking there alone at night though, since there aren’t many houses around. There is a free car park next to the club as well, if your prefer driving yourself.
The entrance is easy to spot, and you will pay and get checked by security directly at the entrance of the building.
The party itself takes place on the upper floor. So after paying you can either take the elevator up or walk the stairs (up to you, it’s only 3 floors).
The club itself is relatively small, the bar is quite big and taking up a lot of space near the entrance. There are lots of tables and chairs for the people wanting to enjoy a drink or just take a break from dancing. The dancing space is pretty small and can get quite crowded when the club is full. But there are also tall tables on the side, which offers people the possibility to take a quick break and rest without getting pushed around by the other dancers.
It can get quite hot inside (DJ played Hot by Seventeen), but you can go outside any time you want to get some fresh air if you start feeling unwell and you will be let back in.
Disclaimer tough, it is allowed for smokers to smoke inside, and some people even smoke on the dance floor while dancing, so if you are sensitive to that, take it into consideration.
Arrival
The party officially starts at 10pm. This time I arrived at 10:30pm and it was honestly still quite empty inside.
Most big groups arrived later, and the club only started feeling full after 11:30pm.
The positive side of arriving so early is, that you get a lot of space to showcase your best dance moves, which you might not be able to do later when there is a huge crowd on the dance floor. On the downside, if you are more of shy person, it might just feel very awkward to dance when there is almost no one there. I would say, it’s really up to you to decide when best to arrive.
Don’t forget to bring your ID, since security will check your age before you enter (the minimum age to get in is 18 like in most German clubs).
Dress code
First of all, there isn’t an official dress code to get in. So don’t stress too much about having the coolest fit (it’s definitely not Berghain and security will let you in regardless of what you are wearing). But I will say, people do dress up for the occasion (I mean, to be honest, what else did we expect from K-pop fans?! Looking at people’s outfits, you can definitely tell, a lot of them are interested in fashion!). So, to not feel out of place, I would recommend wearing something a little bit more special than everyday clothes. But be careful to still wear something you can comfortably move in. You will probably dance and jump around a lot, so it would be a pity to have an outfit that doesn’t allow you to move freely.
There is a possibility to give away your jackets at the entrance and get them back when you leave so you don’t have to worry about them. The fee is 2€. So think about bringing some loose change.
You can’t give them your bags tough. So you will have to take it inside with you if you bring one. Think about either bringing a small bag you can dance with, or try to always stay near a table when dancing, since a lot of people just put their bags on a table and as far as I know people usually don’t take other people’s things.
Drinks
Before you enter you will be given a card that you will use to pay for all your drinks inside so that the staff at the bar doesn’t have to handle that. Don’t lose your card since you will be asked to pay when you leave.
You have a minimum drinking fee, which means that you will be asked to pay 7€ when leaving, no matter what. If you don’t drink anything you will therefore still have to pay the 7€ (so think about that before you decide to not drink at all because you want to save money).
The drink prices are pretty much the same as in other clubs. You will pay around 3€ for a shot of your choice, and 9€ if you take a long drink. The available drinks are pretty standard, but you will definitely be able to find something you like, whether it be Sprite or Vodka Red Bull.
Starting 12am, you can also get limited Soju shots.
Music
Jin Entertainment works with different DJs, which means you won’t have the same DJ attending the same city every time. This time DJ Phyma was playing.
Don’t expect any crazy mixing or transitions, since most of the time the DJs will just play one song after another. This time was pretty much the same, expect for a few songs where the next song was teased while the other was still playing.
I was pretty satisfied with the songs at first. There was a good balance between new and old songs. As a huge K-Hip-Hop fan I got very excited when a few of my favorite artists got played (DPR Live’s “To Myself” and BewhY’s “Gottasadae” being my highlights). Once the club started getting fuller the music started to be a little bit more BTS and Blackpink heavy.
Some song choices felt kind of questionable to me, since I would not describe them as being club appropriate, like “My Universe” from Cold Play ft. BTS. The DJ also randomly played non-K-pop songs like “Unholy” by Sam Smith.
What I liked though, was that he played iconic old K-pop songs, like “Hands Up” by 2PM and “Bang Bang Bang” by BIGBANG, which are definitely big party hits.
Dancing
It really doesn’t matter how you dance. Some people are going all in and do the official choreography while others just dance and vibe in their own style. If you are a good dancer people might even come up to you and compliment you. So overall the atmosphere is really uplifting.
Staff
The staff was really really friendly! At the entrance the security had a female staff present as well, which I really thought was nice, since majority of the guests are woman. The bar staff was really nice as well (my friend and I even got a shot for free!).
Jin Entertainment also has a photographer present, who takes pictures of the people who attended, which you can later look at on their website.
Attendees
A huge part of the people attending are women, which I personally enjoyed, since that creates a safer environment. People are usually in their 20s. A lot of people are K-pop fans, but there are a lot of Korean people coming as well. I even think I spotted a few non-K-pop fans, who probably got taken with by their friends and still seemed to have a good time.
Even if you come alone or in a small group, I would say it’s pretty easy to connect with new people there if you are outgoing.
Safety
Personally I felt really safe. It has happened before that men started to talk to me and my friends and wanted to buy us drinks, but no boundaries were ever overstepped in my case.
Departure
This time I left pretty early (2:30) since I had another important event the next day. But I have stayed until the very end once and I really enjoyed it. So again departure time is totally up to your personal preference.
No Kpop Parties near your home?
Since K-pop parties are only hosted in big enough cities I had to go to Stuttgart, which is nearly 200 kilometers away from where I live. Luckily, I have a friend who lives nearby and offered me a place to sleep and even accompanied me to the event. If you come from further away as well and aren’t as lucky as me (lol), I would recommend booking a hotel for the night, because trust me (I did it once), planning to just not sleep and go home after the end of the party shouldn’t be underestimated, since you will probably be dancing the entire night and not realize how tired you are until the music stops playing.
I would say it’s definitely worth it though, so if you have the opportunity go for it!
Great information! Thank you, Zofy! This makes me want to visit the next event. 😀