The KCON festival has expanded to the East Coast as Korean music and culture continue to find new footholds in the United States. The event, which has been held in Los Angeles for four years now, will make its debut in the New York City area during 2015.
The East Coast event won't actually take place in New York City, despite the title. Residents of the Big Apple will have to travel an hour or so south to Newark, NJ, where KCON will take place at the Prudential Center on August 8. For the moment, the new rendition of the festival will only be one day but if history is any indication, it could see expansion soon. The Los Angeles version, the original KCON, was founded during 2012 and was just a single-day event. Now, as it approaches its fourth anniversary, the event has expanded to three days. Anticipated attendance for the 2015 KCON on the West Coast is in the 60,000 range.
The official dates of KCON 2015 in Los Angeles hasn't been announced yet but fans can be assured that it will once again be taking place at the Staples Center. Musical performances for the first New York event have yet to be announced.
New York is actually the second wave of expansion for KCON during 2015: The event went international earlier this month, when Tokyo hosted its first rendition. The Saitama Super Arena housed 15,000 K-Pop fans on April 22, and acts such as SISTAR, INFINITE and GOT7 were all in attendance.
Although we on the Eastern half of the United States are stoked to check out who will appear next to the Atlantic, all eyes are on the Los Angeles event to see who they can secure for entertainment this year. The 2014 event was as big as ever, featuring showings by G-Dragon and Girls Generation.
Stay tuned for details on both KCONs.
