A performer sings at Freebird in Hongdae during last year’s Rubber Seoul event in December.
The charity has been active in Korea for five years, and Rubber Seoul, its main event, raises around 10 million won ($9,200). It also runs photo scavenger hunts in the summer, and this year it was the charity sponsored by a Halloween Zombie walk from Seoul Forest to Hongdae, in a curious mix of the cute and the corpse-eating.
“It was really fun seeing all these zombies going round with these beaded dollies pinned on them,” said Maxwell.
The scavenger hunts have increased in popularity, with two teams applying for this year’s event before it had even been announced. The event was so well subscribed that they ran a second hunt, and another one for a company in return for a donation.
Maxwell said it was becoming harder to bring people to charity nights, as there has been a big increase in them in recent years, but their increased profile has helped them attract people to the event, as well as sponsors and bands.
“A lot of the bands have come back time and time again,” she said. “Even when we’re speaking to the bands, they know Rubber Seoul, and because people know us they want to help us.”
One of those bands is the Rock Tigers, who last year made a mad dash to play after a 10 o’clock slot in another city.
“They had their gig and got on the KTX and came up to Seoul for 1 a.m. and played a fantastic set,” said Maxwell. “They’ve played every year and we’re so happy to have them to come back this year.”
Maxwell said the event had been a good avenue for allowing people to talk and ask questions about AIDS and HIV in a country where it was often difficult.
“I have no real gauge on how much we’ve increased the public’s perception of it, but in Korea people don’t talk about it, they shy away for it,” she said.
“People occasionally will come up to us at our event and ask questions about it and getting tested here and how anonymous it really is.
“People are very afraid here to go and get tested because they are afraid they’ll be deported and shunned from society, and I think opening lines of communication about things like AIDS and HIV and getting tested and the importance of that (is useful),” she said.
She said they gave out information for organizations such as the Korea Federation for HIV/AIDS Prevention, which offers counseling and anonymous testing, and that people were often surprised to learn about it.
This will be Maxwell’s last event in charge as she is leaving Korea next year, but she was optimistic about handing over the reins.
“There are a couple of people interested and a lot of our volunteers have been involved for a while,” she said. “I feel that it will be a volunteer that has been with us for a while that will probably take over.”
Tickets are 10,000 won each and cover entrance to all the clubs plus a Little Traveller beaded doll.
For more information, a complete band line up and information on volunteer opportunities, see the Rubber Seoul Facebook page.
By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)
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