KCON LA 2026: Three-Days in Review

All images courtesy of CJ ENM

Every year, KCON takes over the Los Angeles Convention Center for a three day whirlwind of K-Pop, K-Culture, K-Beauty and more. Now in its fourteenth year, it was once again August 14-16 marked, once again, the season of KCON LA, with 142,000 fans taking over Los Angeles in yet another KCON LA to remember.

This year, KCON’s three-day 36-act lineup, featured a blend of all things Korean culture. Unlike prior years, the exhibit hall was broken up into various K-Chunks, or as they affectionately named it, K-SOUL CITY.

First, there was K-Beauty. OliveYoung Festa dominated the convention floor, a hodgepodge of K-Beauty booths exploding with freebies, and chronically stilting lines to match.

Next, K-Story, a dedicated space for showcasing all things K-Drama and K-Film, featuring daily talks by stars including actor Sangheon Lee and Director Yoon Youngbin alongside watch parties with a relaxing ambiance.

The K-Food Zone offered a section of the convention center where guests snacked on tasty street food in their own personal tasting corner while learning tips and tricks from the greats of Korean cuisine.

Alongside the exhibit hall zones came the staples of many KCON’s prior: the Artist’s Stage, where the stars of KCON LA’s studded line-up performed dedicated, lengthier sets for fans and KCONers alike.

A separate, isolated wing of the Festival Grounds this year, additional vendors, artists booths, food offerings, Random Play Dances, and sponsors were located in Kentia Hall, adjacent to the main grounds. While a switch-up from prior KCON LA's, the added space gave everyone room to breathe, helping manage lines (because, at KCON LA, there will always be lines) and open up space.

Of course, no KCON LA is complete without the M!COUNTDOWN stage three-day concert series in Crypto.com Arena. This year’s lineup featured standout performances by groups including izna, TREASURE, NEXZ, KickFlip, ALLDAY PROJECT, RESCENE, Evan, and JO1, with longer-than-ever-before headliner stages by NCT 127, ZEROBASEONE, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT). Every group took the stage, eager to make a name, make music, and, of course, to “KCON…NOLJA!” as was this KCON’s voluntold earworm catchphrase. (“Let’s KCON, it seems, has entered retirement.)

But, I want to start with WANNA ONE. By far the most surprising addition to the line-up was the reunion of long-disbanded, and long-beloved, record-smashing boy-group WANNA ONE, formed on the 2017 survival show Produce 101 Season 2. WANNA ONE, who dissolved following contract expiration in 2018, took to the stage to perform in front of their fans for the first time in seven years. There was an air of timelessness to KCON LA Day 1, glimpsing fans in their KCON 2018 WANNA ONE jerseys. After a tearjerker nostalgic compilation fresh out of 2017, the whole room held their breath watching the eight performing members get into piano-shaped formation for their timeless debut song, an objective classic of K-Pop, “Energetic.” The yells shook the walls.

And while WANNA ONE offered crystalline nostalgia, the rest of the performers played their aces too. In quintessential KCON cover stage material, ALPHA DRIVE ONE poured angst and sharpest moves into their cover of BTS’s “Fake Love.” SANTOS BRAVOS and &TEAM, too, paid homage to BTS with their brotherly collab stage, flipping from hip-hop “Hooligan” and “2.0” to sugar and friendship in “Permission to Dance.” RESCENE performed every hit in their arsenal, including their beloved rework of “Pretty Girl” by KARA. And, for the most unpredictable cover this KCON LA, Day 2 headliners ZEROBASEONE did, in fact, bring sexy back.

KCON was full of firsts this year. &TEAM howled their way on the scene in their first ever North American concert debut after four years as artists. Crisp choreography and their trademark wolfish energy made a short set a precious one. Having completed his military service, TAEYONG made his first return to the U.S. since 2023 (also at KCON LA), with a new album under his belt, and YEONJUN likewise offered up solo stages never-before-seen this side of the Pacific Ocean. KO1KEYZ charmingly made their debut on the DAY 1 M!COUNTDOWN Stage. EVAN returned to the spotlight for his first U.S. performance since going solo. SANTOS BRAVOS lit up the stage, in their first LA performance, a homecoming for member Drew. The KCON staging offered firsts too: a staircase mainstage allowed artists to walk up to the crowd, jumping up and performing closer than ever for those on floor, while MC’s and artists alike also popped up in the stands. Who wouldn’t be dazzled by P1Harmony performing “ICE (VVS)” inches away?

As always, the KCON performers never missed a beat (just ask MEOVV who crushed their infamous HHIT-workout type dance break in “Hit ‘Em”). Rookie groups like KEYVITUP, H//PE PRINCESS, and MODYSSEY sought to win KCONers’ hearts over, who were meeting them for the first time. And crowd-pleasers like TXT pulled out true discography gems like “LO$ER LOVER,” or, in the case of NCT 127, “Summer 127.” WING opened with beatboxxing that was so convincingly delivered I mistook it for a bassline.

As the confetti pittered to the ground on the last day of KCON LA, KCONers trudged home, a bit battered, ears ringing, phones on 2% battery, but with another successful KCON LA under their belt, and another precious three days and three nights forever embedded in their memories. But do not dismay KCONers, for KCON LA, in one final plot twist, announced to the crowd that 2027 is already in the bag: August 13 to 15, 2027. Be there or miss the fanfare. Let’s Nolja.

For more information visit Kconusa.com.