Korea to launch massive global music festival in LA in May 2028

Korea will launch a major global music festival in Los Angeles in May 2028 that organizers hope will rival the U.S.-based Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as well as a new K-pop awards show in Seoul and Goyang in December next year.

A civilian-government committee on pop culture announced the plan during a press briefing in Seoul on Monday, saying the series of events under the "Fanomenon" brand is intended to boost tourism and expand the global reach of Korea's cultural industries.

The "Fanonmenon" program comprises a fandom-focused annual awards ceremony featuring performances by K-pop artists and an overseas music festival modeled on Coachella, according to the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange.

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.

"We'll start with the Fanomenon Awards in December 2027," Park Jin-young, co-chair of the committee, said.

"We'll then launch the Fanomenon Festival overseas, beginning in Los Angeles in May 2028." The gove ...