KCON to return to in-person events this year

CJ ENM's K-culture festival will resume offline this year, the company announced Thursday. [CJ ENM]

CJ ENM’s K-culture festival KCON will return in full force this year after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to CJ ENM Thursday, the event will kick off with the “KCON 2022 Premiere” in May, stopping in three cities: Seoul, Tokyo and Chicago. It will then host its main festival KCON in Los Angeles in August and in Tokyo in October.

The annual festival has been staged in nine different cities since it launched in 2012, gathering more than 1.1 million fans across the globe.

However, since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was moved online under the name of KCON:TACT for the last two years, attracting 22.45 million fans to five virtual events.

“[For this year’s event], it will be a hybrid format where offline and digital audiences can all enjoy the festival together,” CJ ENM said. “We took care to structure programs so fans and artists can connect, overcoming the limits in time and space, and to offer more diverse and entertaining K-culture experiences.”

“KCON 2022 Premiere” is scheduled to be held on May 7 to 8 in Seoul, May 14 to 15 in Tokyo’s Makuhari Messe and May 20 to 21 in Chicago’s Rosemont Theatre.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]