{"id":113882,"date":"2025-08-02T20:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T20:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/113882\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T20:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T20:44:11","slug":"kcon-draws-k-pop-fans-to-downtown-l-a-for-festival-and-concerts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/113882\/","title":{"rendered":"KCON Draws K-pop Fans to Downtown L.A. for Festival and Concerts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tK-pop fans of all ages are flocking to the Los Angeles Convention Center this weekend for KCON<\/a>, the annual three-day festival celebrating Korean music and culture.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe festival consists of all-day activities, including a vendor market of various Korean beauty and food brands, multiple stages showcasing rookie acts and meet and greet sessions. Fans then migrate over to the Crypto.com arena each evening for the M Countdown, the main concert event in which multiple K-pop artists and groups perform.<\/p>\n

\n\tKCON, which is run by Korean media giant CJ ENM<\/a>, is held in several countries, with the Los Angeles edition serving as the flagship event. The convention, presented by CJ\u2019s Korean beauty products brand Olive Young, continues through Sunday.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Friday, fans sported white, pink and green Olive Young totes from a large pop-up space promoting the beauty retailer\u2019s upcoming U.S. storefront and some of the top brands it carries. They stopped by different booths throughout the convention hall to pick up free samples of products ranging from skincare to the popular spicy Buldak sauce, as well as coupons for a free cake slice from the bakery chain Tous Les Jours and tastings from the food brand Bibigo. Often, the samples had to be acquired through an initial step, like downloading a brand\u2019s app or spinning a raffle wheel or playing games.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe performers found themselves up against game rules as well. At the X Stage, artists like So Soo Bin sang and played challenges to help win prizes for audience members. At the Dance Stage sponsored by Jollibee, the group Newbeat competed against a Jollibee mascot to correctly match their dance moves to fast music cues. <\/p>\n

\n\tFor attendees like Prescilla Cobieye, the numerous things to do made for a distinct experience. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty different from your typical kind of concert,\u201d Cobieye, 18, said. \u201cYou could see different booths with a bunch of different sponsorships and stuff like that, and you could even see the idols walk in\u2026you can\u2019t get that at a regular Kpop concert.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCobieye is a fan of NCT127 and Zerobaseone, specifically, and attended a meet and greet for the latter band. The meet and greets allow fans to see their favorite artists more up close on a smaller stage within the convention center. \u201cIt was something, it was really packed,\u201d Cobieye said.<\/p>\n

\n\tMany families also navigated KCON together like Karsen Lechner, who attended the convention with her daughter in celebration of her sweet 16. \u201cShe\u2019s pretty much been at the barricade in Artist Stage for most of the day today,\u201d Lechner said. The artists Cravity, Lee Young Ji and izna performed on that stage Friday.
KCON includes a mix of established and newer acts throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne buzzy subject that was much-discussed among KCON attendees: \u201cKpop Demon Hunters,\u201d the animated movie that bowed on Netflix in June featuring numerous K-pop stars in the voice cast. The success of the film, produced by Sony Music Animation, on Netflix\u2019s global platform is seen as a sign of K-pop\u2019s enduring strength and a validation of the fandom that engrosses millions of fans who reside far outside the boundaries of South Korea.<\/p>\n

\n\tPark Chan Uk, who is VP of live entertainment for CJ ENM, said KCON strives to curate different genres and artist types. Fans will see new idol groups but also solo artists for example. \u201cK Con\u2019s main purpose, primary purpose, is to introduce and provide a platform for a global success for K-artists, especially the rookie artists. And I think that aim and that target will continue no matter what,\u201d he told Variety through a translator.<\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, the M Countdown is a crucial draw for fans. Melanie Phoutthavong, a 19-year-old fan, traveled from Seattle to attend KCON with her friend. Attending that concert alone makes the whole experience worth it for Phoutthavong: \u201cI know we saw a lot of groups in here, but that concert, it\u2019s like the big event. So I\u2019d be happy just to be in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFriday night\u2019s concert included the acts like NCT127, Zerobaseone, P1Harmony, Baby DONT Cry, Lee Young Ji, NOWZ, IS:SUE and IVE. There was also recognition of Korean film and TV, through the special appearances of actors Lee Byung-hun (\u201cSquid Game,\u201d \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d and Park Chan Wook\u2019s upcoming \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d) and Yim Siwan (\u201cSquid Game\u201d).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cK-pop, K-movies, K-dramas, K-beauty, K-food. We\u2019re always falling deeper in love with K-culture and at the center of it, all this, is KCON,\u201d Lee said in his remarks, which opened the concert. \u201cFor 13 years, since 2012, KCON has connected artists and fans across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYim, who began as a K-pop singer before transitioning to acting, acknowledged his K-pop roots when he appeared later on during the show. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s why the stage still gives me butterflies,\u201d he said. He shouted out the night\u2019s many performances, including the group izna\u2019s rendition of the song \u201cGolden\u201d from the Netflix film \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d which occurred soon after Yim\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n

\n\tNCT127, whose performances were incorporated throughout the concert, closed it with the song \u201cFact Check.\u201d They were joined by fans who had competed earlier to be able to dance alongside the group.
For K-pop fans, the genre remains a way to be open about one\u2019s favorite artists. \u201cI would say it\u2019s very comforting being in a community where you can just express your love for music and just your interests in general. And there\u2019s no shame here,\u201d Phoutthavong said.<\/p>\n

\n\t(Pictured: Posters of K-pop stars outside the Los Angeles Convention Center)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"K-pop fans of all ages are flocking to the Los Angeles Convention Center this weekend for KCON, the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":113883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,58188,70235,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-113882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-cj-enm","11":"tag-kcon","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114961125431089513","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}