K-pop emerged from South Korean youth culture in the ’90s, with musical acts that draw from hip-hop and teen pop. It has since grown into a worldwide sensation that encompasses dance, fashion and culture.

Last year’s “KPop Demon Hunters” found such a rabid audience it now stands as Netflix’s most-watched original film. The band BTS is currently selling out stadiums on a tour that spans some 88 dates in 34 cities across 23 countries. Local fans swarmed to St. Paul’s Grand Casino Arena in April to witness Twice, the first K-pop act to headline a local arena.

This weekend, St. Paul’s RiverCentre hosts the second annual KPOP MINNECON event, which gives the curious a peek at the action.

The two oldest sons of Andrew Melendres, COO of MNKPOPCONNECT, turned him on to the genre.

“We started flying to the East and West Coast to attend more and more of these K-pop events. And what we realized is that there was not much K-pop activity going on here in the Twin Cities. My wife said we should really try to bring this community here to Minnesota,” he said.

The first KPOP MINNECON last August drew a crowd of more than 2,000. Some 5,000 are expected this year, as the event expands from one day to two.

Expect to see dancing. Lots of dancing.

“A lot of the K-pop dances and the choreography is derived from hip-hop culture,” said Shawn Vue, director of St. Paul’s Elite Family Dance Company, whose dancers will both perform and act as judges this weekend.

In addition to featured dancers, the festival also features what they call Random Dance Challenges for fans. They submit the song they want to dance to and organizers create a playlist. Then the amateur hoofers surround a stage and jump on to it when they know the number.

“You’ll have 300 people who all know the exact same choreography dancing together for 30 to 45 seconds, and then the song will end,” Melendres said. “Then it repeats that process for the next three hours. It’s fascinating to see how these kids can remember 150-plus dances all at once.”

K-pop celebrities, including a voice actor and a vocalist from “KPop Demon Hunters,” will be on hand for panel discussions and meet and greets. There will also be an open mic area and a marketplace with K-pop collectibles, albums, apparel, beauty products, artwork and fan merchandise.

“We also have photo card trading,” Melendres said. “Trading is a whole other community of people who love K-pop but don’t love to dance. They do have photo cards of each of their favorite artists, and they’ll trade cards all day long.”

Both days of the convention wrap with live performances in Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Saturday’s lineup features Justin Park, Hohyun, Jjang.E, Ramiro Brave, Toshi and Aiden. ICHILLIN’, Hohyun and Aiden close things out Sunday.

Melendres called K-pop a unique community of kindness.

“The fans are always incredibly kind,” he said. “I’ve never been to other concerts where fans create gifts for other fans. I can’t tell you how many times people come to one of our events and enter as strangers and then leave as friends. That is also pretty unique and uncommon. It’s the shared love that creates this instant bond and friendship to build and develop from there.”

KPOP MINNECON 2026

When: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
Where: St. Paul RiverCentre
Tickets: Start at $34 via seatgeek.com