RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Los Angeles officially belongs to K-pop this weekend with KCON LA 2026, but the city has been deep in K-pop all week.
This year’s KCON festival officially opened Friday (Aug. 14) at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena. Under the theme “Walk in SOUL CITY,” a play on the South Korean capital, festival producer CJ ENM is stretching 2026’s convention across K-pop, K-beauty, K-food and K-story programming, including the first-ever Olive Young Festa K-Beauty Playground, which boasts 55 different Korean brands. But by the time doors opened on day one, the city had already been running on K-pop culture for days.
HYBE America started things Wednesday with an industry party under the theme of “K-Pop’s Biggest Weekend.” The U.S. branch of the Korean-entertainment giant had a red carpet, photo booths, cotton candy machines and members of its global roster — boy bands &TEAM and Santos Bravos, as well as their pre-debut girl group SAINT SATINE — alongside Eric Nam, Ji-young Yoo and other cast members from K-Pop: The Debut , the Paramount and HYBE America film due in theaters in February 2027. The same night, YEONJUN of TOMORROW X TOGETHER played a special showcase for Billboard Live while &TEAM held a session at the GRAMMY Museum, where EVAN also appeared this week.
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Running underneath it all has been the retail circuit, which has quietly become a parallel festival of its own. Retailers like hello82, KPop Nara, Makestar and Araise have staged near-daily signings and fan events with artists like Wonho, ZEROBASEONE, izna, MEOVV, KickFlip, KiiiKiii and more, allowing them to meet local fans directly.
The KCON festival grounds opened at 10 a.m. P.T., with the Artist Stage, Dance Stage and Toyota Music Den Stage all featuring multiple artists throughout the day before the night’s M Countdown concert next door at the Crypto.com Arena. And KCON’s centerpiece concert arrives with a structural change this year. For the first time in its history, the daily headliners are performing full hour-long sets rather than the abbreviated, TV-ready festival runs the event has always utilized.
Since launching as a one-day event in Irvine, Calif., in 2012, KCON has served as an important American proving ground for acts including BTS , TWICE , SEVENTEEN and ATEEZ well before they were selling out stadiums and arenas on their own. Last year, the city officially designated Aug. 1, 2025 as “KCON Day.”
Billboard is on the ground for KCON LA 2026. Here are the best moments from day one — and check back for more highlights throughout the weekend.
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