CJ ENM(035760)'s global festival "KCON LA 2026" opens on the 14th (local time) in Los Angeles.
KCON LA 2026 runs for three days through the 16th at the LA Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena. A total of 36 teams of artists and actors will take part, presenting performances and hands-on content. Following the city of LA designating "KCON Day" last year, this year the cultural event combining K-pop with Korean food and cosmetics
expanded in scale.
KCON began in 2012 in Irvine, United States, and has been held in 14 regions across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. It has drawn an on-site cumulative audience of about 2.35 million to date. This year's event features Olive Young Festa as the title sponsor.
This year's theme is "K-SOUL CITY." The "festival grounds" set up at the LA Convention Center will be designed to evoke a Seoul night market and key landmarks. Visitors will be able to experience Korean culture and food.
The newly created "K-STORY ZONE" will feature an open-air screen modeled after an outdoor screening space on the Han River Police. Audience sing-alongs, a "Watch Party" and "Beyond the screen," with participation by Park Eunbin, Lee Jun-hyuk and Lee Sang-heon, will also take place as interactive programs.
The performance program includes an artist stage, showcases and a dance stage. At the "M COUNTDOWN STAGE" held at Crypto.com Arena, NCT 127, ZEROBASEONE and TOMORROW X TOGETHER will serve as headliners on different dates and each perform for about an hour.
Stages unveiled exclusively at KCON are also planned. Appearing at KCON LA for the first time in nine years, Wanna One will premiere "Again Spring Breeze" and perform "Energetic" and "Boomerang." ZEROBASEONE will give the first performance of "Exotic," a track from its sixth EP.
The event will be broadcast worldwide via Mnet Plus and KCON's official YouTube channel, and can be viewed in Korea on Tving.