KCON LA 2026 was as large and extravagant as ever. Held from August 14th to 16th, under the theme K-SOUL CITY, KCON LA 2026 garnered 142,000 fans and 36 acts across three days at Crypto.com Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center. As the world’s largest K-Festival, it featured everything from music and beauty to food, story and lifestyle.
All three days were met with lines wrapping around the Convention center and spanning past the Crypto.com Arena. Community umbrellas were passed around to shield attendees from the heat as they waited to enter the 3-story K-pop experience.
As you step into the Convention center main room, you’re met with an immense Olive Young booth, the title sponsor. There, attendees could complete different challenges for a chance to win different products. This was the case for several booths at the convention. K-COLLECTION with KCON LA 2026 showcased 40 Korean small businesses across beauty, lifestyle, and food. And across the room was the Toyota Music Den Stage where artists like Rescene, H//PE Princess, One Pact, from20, etc took the stage to perform and play games.
At the very same time as all the above, the Artist stage performances were also underway. Artists like Yeonjun, &TEAM, Izna, p1Harmony, ILLIT, Alpha Drive One and more graced the artist stage with interactive games for K-Coners and high-energy performances. Here, selected participants gather early in the morning to audition for Dream Stage as well. Dream Stage has become a staple of KCON and many fans of different backgrounds tune in and turn up for a chance to perform on stage with their idols. This year's lineup included NCT 127's "Kick It," ILLIT's "It's Me," and TOMORROW X TOGETHER's "I'll See You There Tomorrow.”
While a plethora of performances and beauty booths await upstairs, the downstairs experience consisted of K-food vendors, dance team stages, Random Play Dances, and one thing very different from previous years. This year, Mnet held auditions for their upcoming GIRLS PLANET 2027 on KCON grounds. Many faces disappeared into the audition booths in hopes of emerging with a “golden ticket” that would propel them to the next stage.
As the Convention portion of the day comes to a close, fans make the short walk over to the Crypto.com Arena for a night of production.
As the M COUNTDOWN stages went by there were notably two highly anticipated stages for two completely different reasons. One was a group reuniting after almost a decade apart. Another was a soloist making his main-stage debut after shifting paths with his former group. WANNAONE reunited to the KCON stage after 9 years and EVAN took the stage and his position and passion as a solo artist was made clear.
Another awaited performance was TOMORROW X TOGETHER - although they have attended KCON before, this was their very first time being a part of the KCON LA lineup as they usually grace the KCON JAPAN stage. They met their fans, MOAs, with a high energy performance filled with classics and fan favorites from their discography.
Alongside TOMORROW X TOGETHER, several other artists made their KCON LA debut this year as well. Examples being &TEAM and Santos Bravos, who were also the talk of the town. The convention was buzzing in excitement to witness their solo and collaboration stages. Others, such as NEXZ, made their first ever U.S. debut in general.
From influencers, fan booths to Kpop idols, several different talents and products took part in KCON LA 2026 and wrapped fans with the full K-CONer experience.
KCON LA will return next year on Aug 13-15, 2027 at Crypto.com Arena and Los Angeles Convention Center.
