Korea to launch massive global music festival next year

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 n ...