San Antonio K-pop stans may want to get their lightsticks and fan chants ready.
KPOPWORLD Festival & Worldwide Dance Competition will take over the Alamodome Oct. 28-31 for a four-day celebration of the Korean pop genre that will include shows by artists including Jay Park, The Rose, SB19 and Cravity.
Other artists booked for the event include Jessi, ARTMS, Xdinary Heroes, Wonho, Dean & Tabber, Heyoon and Dayoung, according to promoters, who unveiled the first names in the lineup Tuesday.
Organizers are billing KPOPWORLD as a first-of-its kind event for the region, saying they expect thousands of attendees from across Texas, the U.S. and international markets. The Alamodome, which boasts a capacity of 70,000, is South Texas’ largest concert, sports and events venue.
“Every element of this event has been designed with the fan experience at the center, from the lineup to the venue to the format,” KPOPWORLD CEO Ebe Kh said in a statement. “We wanted to build something that feels worthy of the talented artists and passionate fans coming through the Alamodome’s doors, and we’re proud to be the ones delivering it.”
Tickets for KPOPWORLD will go on sale this Thursday at prices ranging from $100 general admission to $1,200 two-day Super VIP packages. Single-day passes will roll out Tuesday, Aug. 4, according to organizers.
The gathering’s concert portion will take place Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31. Both will begin at 6 p.m., and each act is slated for a minimum 45-minute performance, a rarity in K-pop’s rapid-fire festival format.
In addition, the gathering will include a two-day dance competition that brings together 32 teams representing 29 countries to compete for cash prizes and a chance to perform on the main stage. Organizers bill it as one of the largest such competitions worldwide.
Attendees will also be able to wander an international vendor village stocked with Korean merchandise and interactive fan zones, according to details shared by organizers. R Entertainment will sponsor the vendor site in partnership with KPOPWORLD magazine.
Texas has emerged as a hotbed of K-pop fandom, and the genre has exploded in popularity over the past decade through music streaming services and social media, growing well beyond its early U.S. fanbase of Korean American youths.
In 2017, Korean boy band BTS won the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist, a fan-voted category, showing the genre’s wide U.S. appeal. Last year, the animated musical Kpop Demon Hunters became the most-watched original title in Netflix history. It subsequently won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.
$100 and up, Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 28-31, Alamodome, 100 Montana St., (210) 207-3663, alamodome.com.
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