Korea to launch massive global music festival next year

BigBang member Daesung sings his trot song “Look at Me, Gwisun” at Coachella, the massive music festival held last month in Indio, California. Courtesy of R&D Company

Korea will launch a major global music festival in Seoul in December 2027 that organizers hope will rival the U.S.-based Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

A civilian-government committee on pop culture announced the plan during a press briefing in the city Monday, aiming to boost tourism and expand the global reach of the country's cultural industries.

The "Fanomenon" festival will run from Dec. 2-12 at Seoul Arena — a 28,000-seat K-pop concert hall scheduled to open in May 2027 in the city's Chang-dong neighborhood — and at the KINTEX convention center in Goyang, just northwest of the capital.

The annual festival will feature large-scale concerts by leading domestic and international artists, a fandom-focused awards ceremony and exhibitions by companies associated with Korean culture.

The Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange said the initiative seeks to cultivate a global cultural event representing Korea by leveraging the resources of Korean culture-related firms and expand the brand's influence to boost tourism, the content sector and related industries.

The name "Fanomenon" merges "fan" and "phenomenon," underscoring the role of fans as active drivers of Korean culture's global expansion, according to the committee.

A preliminary event is scheduled for Dec. 2, followed by the main program Dec. 3-12. Concerts will be staged at Seoul Arena, featuring performances by major domestic and international artists over the two-week period.

The festival will also host a fandom-focused awards ceremony honoring the year's most influential fan communities, with artists or brands accepting honors on their behalf.

At an exhibition hall in KINTEX, organizers will stage festival-style music performances featuring multiple artists, alongside exhibitions and interactive programs allowing visitors to experience Korean culture firsthand. Participating companies will span sectors, including food, beauty and fashion, as well as the content industry, such as webtoons, films, television dramas and animation.

The government said it plans to support the festival's smooth operation by assisting with key areas, such as immigration procedures and safety management. It also aims to use the event to promote inbound tourism, expanding overseas marketing efforts and strengthening links with major national and regional events to attract as many foreign visitors as possible during the festival.

The committee approved the plan to launch the new festival at a plenary meeting earlier this month, presided over by co-chairs Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Chae Hwi-young and Park Jin-young, chief creative officer of JYP Entertainment.

"Fanomenon is a new attempt to create a large-scale K-culture platform where fans from around the world can directly participate and engage," Chae said. "We will strive to make it a memorable experience for global visitors and a new growth opportunity for content, tourism and related industries."

Park said the strength of Korean culture lies not only in artists and content but also in the fandoms that have helped cultivate and expand it.

"We will build a successful model that organically combines private-sector creativity with government support, enabling Korea to establish itself as a global hub for the fandom industry."