KCON LA 2024 crowd at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CaliforniaCJ ENMWith 2026 set to be a milestone year, judging by Korea’s packed music release calendar for the year, KCON wanted to ensure fans could plan and take part in its annual celebrations of all things K-culture.ForbesKCON LA 2026 Lineup: NCT 127, TXT, ZEROBASEONE HeadliningBy Jeff BenjaminRevealed via KCON’s official social media, the world’s biggest K-pop festival announced it will return to Japan from May 8-10, while hitting Los Angeles on August 14-16 in 2026.The KCON Japan 2026 lineup has been slowly revealed throughout January, February and March. The full lineup for KCON JAPAN 2026 was confirmed on March 16 with the festival’s first-ever headliners announced as INI, JOI and ZEROBASEONE. See the full list of performers below:KCON Japan 2026 Lineup - Friday, May 8:Headliner: INIEVNNEHearts2HeartsKISS OF LIFEP1HarmonyTWSDXTEEN‘PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SHINSEKAI’ TraineesCHOI YU REEKeyveatzKEYVITUPRESCENE8TURNM Countdown Preshow:MORE FOR YOUCHOI YU REEKeyveatzKCON Japan 2026 Lineup - Saturday, May 9:Headliner: JOIALPHA DRIVE ONEIS:SUEKickFlipMODYSSEYNiziUCHUEI LI YU & KANG WOO JIN8TURNAxMxPBaby DONT CryCHOI YU REEEVNNEH//PE Princesshrtz.wavKEYVITUPRESCENEM Countdown Preshow:Baby DONT CRYRESCENEKCON Japan 2026 Lineup - Sunday, May 10:Headliner: ZEROBASEONECORTISiznaKIM JAE HWANME:I&TEAMGAN (Takanori Iwata)H//PE Princesshrtz.wavAxMxPCHUEI LI YU & KANG WOO JINDXTEENKEYVITUPMODYSSEYM Countdown Preshow:AxMxPKEYVITUPAs shared in its captions, KCON promises “a next-level, immersive K-experience awaits” leaving many fans eager to see how the festival will level itself up once again after big moves like bringing more than 30 artists to LA last year.A reported 110,000 attendees came through KCON Japan 2025 last year, hitting an attendance milestone of more than two million since its Japanese debut in 2015. Held at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, KCON 2025 Japan hosted more than 20 artists across its convention and M Countdown stages through the weekend. BIGBANG’s Daesung, JO1, BOYNEXTDOOR, CRAVITY, DXTEEN, EVNNE, HIGHLIGHT, INI, IS:SUE, izna, Jo Yuri, Kep1er, KickFlip, KiiiKiii, ME:I, P1Harmony, QWER, Taemin, tripleS, TWS, Yena, and ZEROBASEONE all attended the Japanese event.Meanwhile, the 2025 Los Angeles date held at the Crypto.com Arena and LA Convention Center took place from August 1-3, bringing more than 30 K-pop acts to the West Coast. Those performers included aespa, Jackson Wang, Choi Hojong, CRAVITY, from20, Hello Gloom, HITGS, Hwasa, i-dle’s YUQI, ifeye, IS:SUE, IVE, izna, JO1, Kang Yunchan, Kep1er, Kik5o, Lee Young-ji, Lim Sejun, MEOVV, Monsta X, NCT 127, NEWBEAT, NMIXX, NOWZ, P1Harmony, RIIZE, Roy Kim, SEVENTEEN’s HxW, SHINee’s KEY, So Soo Bin, ZEROBASEONE, and 82MAJOR.ForbesKCON LA 2026 Lineup: NCT 127, TXT, ZEROBASEONE HeadliningBy Jeff BenjaminDespite the massive musical star power, CJ ENM’s Head of Music Entertainment, Harry H.K. Shin, spoke in 2025 about how KCON aims to share all areas of Korean culture through a fun, fan-focused experience.“We’re continuing to redefine and recreate what a K-pop festival can be,” Shin said in a press statement. "KCON isn’t just another K-pop festival – it’s the only global platform that brings together every aspect of Korean culture, while creating a truly immersive fan experience. What makes KCON unique is our holistic approach to K-culture. We’ve built an ecosystem where fans can fully immerse themselves in K-pop, K-food, K-beauty, while providing a global stage not only for K-pop artists but also for innovative small and mid-sized businesses.”Further KCON 2026 details, including the 2026 artist lineup, venues, and ticket sale dates, will be announced soon to help fans prepare for this milestone year.