&TEAM is a Japanese boyband that was created through the survival program &Audition – The Howling. The band consists of members K, MAKI, JO, Nicholas, YUMA, TAKI, Harua, FUMA, and EJ. They were the first boyband to debut under YX Labels, one of HYBE’s Japanese labels. The band consists of Korean and Japanese members.
&TEAM made their debut in December of 2022. Up until recently, they primarily focused on releasing Japanese songs and promoting in Japan. Through their promotions and album releases, they had already built a strong fan base in Japan and abroad. Much to the anticipation of K-pop fans, &TEAM made their official Korean debut last year. They debuted with the mini album, ‘Back to Life’ and promoted in Korea – attending music shows, etc.
As &TEAM has only promoted in Asia, many western fans were sad to not be able to see the group perform live. However, KCON LA 2026 will mark their first attempt at testing their popularity in the western market. The demand for &TEAM in the US can be seen by how fast tickets sold out and how many fans applied and participated in all the &TEAM fan events taking place during their upcoming trip to the US.
Below are some of the events &TEAM will be doing while on their US promotions for KCON LA 2026:
8.11.2026 (Tuesday) – HELLO82 82Summer with &TEAM & Fan Sign Event
One of HELLO82’s most popular events is their Employee of the Day event. In this event, a K-POP artist becomes a HELLO82 employee. They do things like help with the check out counters, help with directing fans, etc.
This even will also include a fansign. 30 lucky winners will get to do a private fansign with &TEAM. This is a raffle opportunity. The more albums you buy, the higher the likelihood that you will be chosen to attend the fansign. More information of the fansign can be found here.
8.12.2026 (Wednesday) – GRAMMY MUSEUM Performance – SOLD OUT
&TEAM will be holding a discussion and special performance with GRAMMY Museum. The even sold out before it was announced on social media. People subscribed to GRAMMY Museum were notified early of the upcoming event and it quickly sold out.
At KCON, &TEAM will be participating at the Artists Stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center and the M Countdown concert at the crypto.com arena on Day 1. They will also hold a special stage performance with Santos Bravos.
8.15.2026 (Saturday) – KPOP NARA Fansign – Winners Announced
The KPOP NARA fansign event was the first fan event announced for &TEAM’s upcoming trip to the US. The fansign required for possible attendees to purchase an album and submit a creative video explaining why they should be allowed to attend the fan sign. The 50 lucky winners were announced.
Those were all the events that have been announced so far. If any more are announced, I will make sure to update this post. Outside of these fan events, &TEAM recently announced on WEVERSE that they will be having their second Korean album comeback. This mini album is titled ‘Mark on Me‘ and is expected to be released on September 8th, 2026. Fans are already excited to see how this new comeback will turn out. Hybe released a video teasing the comeback. The video can be found below.
KEYVITUP is a five-member boy group that made their debut this year under the label iNKODE. Even though it’s only been a couple of months since their debut, they’ve already earned recognition for their steady vocal skills and strong live performances. The group is made up of Rukia, Hyunmin, Taehwan, Sena, and Jaein, and they launched their careers in April of this year with the tracks “KEYVITUP” and “LEGENDARY.” They initially drew attention in the industry as the first boy group produced by K-pop legend Kim Jae Joong, and since then they’ve kept busy promoting their music, appearing at numerous events, and taking part in a variety of TV shows. Most recently, they took the stage at KCON JAPAN 2026.
ARAISE announced that they will be having a FANNECT with KEYVITUP on Thursday, August 13th, 2026. The event will be taking place at The Eastwood Mainstage at Eastwood Performing Arts Center. The event allows for fans to purchase a silver, gold, or diamond tier tickets. Each tier allows fans to do different things with the artist. More information about the event can be found here. This event will be taking place the day before KCON.
The second event that KEYVITUP will have with ARAISE will be a fanmeeting in LA. The event will be taking place on Monday, August 17th, 2026 — the day after KCON LA 2026 at KPOP BESTIE. Fans can do many things with the artists. From taking polaroid photos, photo booth photos, to doing a fansign, this event will be more interactive. More information can be found here.
There are a lot of announcements of K-POP artists holding fan events in Los Angeles. These artists will be in town for KCON LA — the biggest K-POP event in the US. The 3-day convention allows for K-POP Fans to see their favorite artists perform live. With many artists in town, this gives K-pop artists the opportunity to hold events and interact with their international fans. KPOP NARA had announced fan sign events with &TEAM,SANTOS BRAVOS, and TAEYONG of NCT. ARAISE announced their fan event with KEYVITUP. And just a week ago, MAKESTAR announced their fansign and fan event with KickFlip. MAKESTAR made another announcement, they will be holding a fansign and fan event with MEOVV. This event will be taking place on Monday, August 17th — the day after KCON LA.
MEOVV is under The Black Label (BLACKPINK’s Korean label). The band created lots of pre-debut buzz when it was rumored and confirmed that the band will include the famous child model Ella. Ella became popular online for her elegant looks and for looking like JENNIE of BLACKPINK. The band debuted in September 2024 with the song, “MEOW”. The band consists of members Ella, Narin, Sooin, Gawon, and Anna. Since their debut, they have been steadily building their fan base and releasing many popular songs with unique concepts.
Recently, they have released their EP ‘Bite Me’. The album features the title tracks “Ddi Ro Ri” and “Hit ‘Em”. The fun songs, iconic dances, catchy intro verses, and concept already has confirmed the EP’s uniqueness and popularity.
The MAKESTAR event will take place from July 13th to July 19th, KST. Fans can enter for a chance to be one of the lucky fans who get to do a fansign with MEOVV or take polaroids with MEOVV. More information of the event can be found here. The event allows for multiple entries and require fans to purchase albums to be entered into the event.
Outside of the fan event, this will be MEOVV’s second appearance at KCON LA. Last year, they participated in KCON LA 2025 by participating at the Artist Stage and performing at the M Countdown Stage. This year, they will be doing the same activities with their newly released songs.
KCON is the largest US Korean Convention that is held in Los Angeles every August. Thousands of people travel to LA to attend the event. The event brings some of the most popular and/or up-and-coming K-pop artists together. Fans can attend the convention during the day to check out Korean brands (cosmetics, food, etc.) and get freebies. Or they can also get the chance to attend close up stages to see their favorite artists live, participate in fan meetings, or interact with their favorite artists. In the evening, fans can go to the night concert at the crypto.com arena and watch the concert line up. With KCON LA 2026 quickly approaching, KCON and other organizers are finalizing their events in preparation for the big day and have been making big announcements on their social media. Check out what to expect and look forwards to for KCON LA 2026.
KCON Special Stages
KCON recently announced more special stages for this year’s M Countdown stages. The special stages are something that fans have always look forward to when it comes to big events like the end of year shows or KCON.
The new stages include a special collaboration stage with Park Gun Wook, Kyehoon, and So Jung Hwan. Park Gun Wook became a member of ZEROBASEONE from the popular survival show “Boys Planet“. ZEROBASEONE has been participating in KCON since their debut in 2024. Kyehoon is the oldest member of JYP’s up and coming boyband KickFlip. This will be their first time participating in KCON LA. So Jung Hwan is from Treasure. Treasure debuted in 2020. This will be their second US event. They held their first US tour last year. The collaboration song between the three groups has not been announced yet. Fan are excited about what kind of performance they will give.
ZEROBASEONE will be performing a special stage of ‘Exotic’ from their new mini album 「𝘼𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙-」.
Kim Tae Rae from ZEROBASEONE will be performing a solo cover stage of ‘Love Wins All’ by IU.
MEOVV will be performing a cover of BLACKPINK’s ‘뛰어(JUMP)’. MEOVV has been dropping hints about this special stage in their fan calls. And fans were excited that hey guessed correctly when the stage was confirmed this week. This will be MEOVV’s second time performing at KCON.
ALPHA DRIVE ONE (AD1) and Wing will have a collab stage for AD1’s pre-debut song, ‘Formula’. ALPHA DRIVE ONE was formed through “Boys II Planet” (the second season of Boys Planet). Wing is a well-known beatboxer who has produced viral songs like ‘Dopamine’. This will be both of their first time participating in KCON LA.
KCON also announced that NCT 127 will also have a special stage at M Countdown. They will be performing one of their new songs for the first time at the evening concert. NCT is an evolving group formed by SM Entertainment. This year, many of the member’s contracts have expired/will expire. Members Mark, TEN, and WINWIN have decided not to renew their contracts with SM Entertainment and have chosen to start their own solo journeys. NCT 127 performed at KCON LA last year. They will be performing again this year with the return of members TAEYONG and JAEHYUN from their military service. Taeyong will be dropping a new solo album and NCT 127 will be releasing a new album to celebrate their 10 year anniversary.
A new announcement is the inclusion of Wanna One as a special performer for the M Countdown Stage on Day 1 of KCON. Wanna One was the first boyband produced by the popular survival program, “Produce 101”. The band debuted in 2017 and had many hit songs like ‘Energetic’ and ‘Boomerang’. Their contract ended in 2018 and they have been pursuing solo careers in music, variety shows, and acting since their group contract ended.
This year, they recently held a reunion variety show. Members Kang Daniel and Lai Kuan-Lin will not be participating in the special stages and comeback as Daniel is currently serving his mandatory military service and Lai Kuan-Lin is currently focusing on his new career path. Lai Kuan-Lin was able to make a short appearance in their comeback variety show and fans were thankful to see him and get an update on how he has been.
Outside of the special stages, KCON has also announced that the “X-Stage” will be referred to as the “Toyota Music Den Stage” this year. They added new line ups to the previously announced lineup. The X-Stage was the stage where smaller or up and coming artists could perform. The performances were filmed and later broadcasted on YouTube. The stage is strategically placed in the convention so it could attract passerby and introduce the bands to a larger audience. The new lineup for the stage can be seen above. H//PE Princess, K01KEYZ, cosmosy, MODYSSEY, and NEXZ were added to the lineup.
Artists will also be participating at the dance stage this year. KCON announced a dance stage sponsored by SANRIO. Artists stopping by this stage include H//PE Princess, Cosmosy, MODYSSEY, and RESCENE.
KPOP NARA Fan Sign Events
This year, KPOP NARA has partnered with many K-pop artists to bring a fan sign event to fans visiting LA for KCON LA 2026. The artists they have announced collaborations with include &TEAM, SANTOS BRAVOS, and TAEYONG of NCT.
The &TEAM fan sign event allows for 50 lucky winners to attend a fan sign with &TEAM and get a ‘We on Fire’ album signed. The event entry runs from June 24th, 2026 – July 7th, 2026. The winners will be contacted and announced on July 20th. The event is expected to take place on August 15th, 2026 in LA. To enter for the &TEAM events, fans must:
Purchase one of &TEAM’s ‘We on Fire’ albums from KPOP NARA. There is a limit of 1 entry per person. The event page can be found here.
Fans must create and upload a public video explaining why they should be chosen for the fan sign and also include the necessary tags: #andTEAM #KPOPNARA #KPOPNARASUMMERFANTASY
Submit the video on the video submission form.
There is also the possibility that KPOPNARA may invite 50 more participants to be viewers and watch the fan sign event take place.
The SANTOS BRAVOS fan sign is similar to the &TEAM fan sign. Fifty lucky fans will be able to attend the fan sign and get their album signed. Entries can be submitted from June 24th, 2026 until July 7th, 2026. The luck winners will be announced and contacted on July 20th, 2026. The event will be held in LA on August 12th, 2026. To enter for the SANTOS BRAVOS fan sign, fans must:
Purchase one of SANTOS BRAVOS – Dual deluxe album. There is a limit of 1 entry per person. The event page can be found here.
Fans must create an original drawing and publish it publicly online with the tags: #SANTOSBRAVOS #KPOPNARA #KPOPNARASUMMERFANTASY
Submit the drawing using the drawing submission form.
The TAEYONG fan sign event is scheduled to take place in LA on August 16th, 2026. Different from the &TEAM and SANTOS BRAVOS entry, it allows for multiple entries and has different ways for fans to participate. It is a raffle system. The event runs from July 1st, 2026 until July 14th, 2026. Winners will be announced on July 23rd, 2026. To enter fans can:
Purchase a TAEYONG – The 1st Album ‘WYLD’ OR participate in the “Free Entry” option. For the Free Entry option, fans MUST purchase the album on-site upon arriving for the fan sign OR bring their own copy of the exact album. More information can be found here.
Fill out the required entry form for the entry type you are making.
Arise recently also announced that they will be holding a fan connect for new rookie boyband KEYVITUP. KEYVITUP is a 5-member boyband under iNKODE — the company created by famous TVXQ member Kim Jae Joong. They recently debuted this year and has already made waves with their stable live vocals. They recently participated at KCON Japan. The fan connect will take place at The Eastwood Mainstage at Eastwood Performing Arts Center on Thursday, the day before KCON begins.
Are you excited for KCON? Every year, KCON changes a little bit. This year, it seems like it will be bigger than ever. With reunions of Wanna One, the first performance for many artists like &TEAM and TREASURE, and the big fan events taking place in the same weekend.
KCON recently announced their KCON LA 2026 lineup and fans were not disappointed. Many K-pop fans announced their excitement at this year’s line up. KCON is a yearly 3-day event in LA where some of the biggest K-pop artists come to the US to perform. In the day time, KCON hosts a convention that gives fans an opportunity to interact with K-pop idols, discover Korean brands, and see their favorite artists perform. In the evening, the fans can attend a popular K-pop music broadcast called M Countdown.
For this year’s line up, fans can see many returning artists (ex. TXT, NCT 127, izna, ALLDAY PROJECT, JO1, MEOVV, from20 & HELLO GLOOM, and P1HARMONY) and some new artists (ex. &TEAM, So!YoON, ONE PACT, KEYVITUP, RESCENE, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, and KickFlip). &TEAM has performed at KCON Japan before but this will be their first time performing at KCON LA. It will also mark their first official performance in the US. Usually more artists are announced as the date draws closer. So, if you are disappointed because your favorite artist has not been announced, don’t give up! There may still be a chance that they may attend KCON LA.
The official schedule has yet to be released. Usually, this is released a week or two before the convention begins. However, KCON did announce their first round of artists which stages they will be performing at.
This year, it looks like KCON has three stages. The three stages are the X Stage, Artist Stage, and M Countdown. Last year they had the Busking Stage outdoors. They have not announced the stage so their may be a possibility that there is no Busking Stage this year.
The X Stage is a stage in the convention where newer artists can perform. This stage is meant to give exposure to newer or up-and-coming K-pop bands. Strategically placed in the heart of the convention where attendees are walking around and waiting in line at the booths at the convention, this stage allows fans to find and see new artists. The artists rotate to and from this stage.
The Artist Stage is usually for artists from bigger companies. This stage is more like a festival stage where artists perform the entire day in ~45 minute sets. With upgraded tickets, convention attendees can go to the front stage access area. With GA, convention attendees can watch the stages from behind the premium ticket holder’s location. Artists like &TEAM, YEONJUN, P1HARMONY, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, ILLIT, izna, etc. will be performing here.
And lastly, the M Countdown Stage is held at the Crypto.com Arena (right next to the LA Convention Center). It is the celebration that ends the day. Fans can watch their favorite artists perform live on a big stage. There are various types of seats available for all fans to watch and enjoy the performances. From standing pit to sitting sections, fans from all ages can watch and enjoy the performances of their favorite artists.
Which artist are you excited to see at KCON LA 2026 this year?
KCON has officially announced the LA dates for 2026. This year, KCON LA will be taking place on August 14th– 16th. KCON is one of the most exciting K-pop events of the year. The three-day festival allows US fans to see the music program M Countdown live, interact with their favorite artists, and introduce K-pop fans to Korean brands. KCON usually brings some of the hottest artists in town so fans are always excited to see whom will be attending and performing each year. Artists for KCON LA 2026 have yet to be announced.
KCON Japan will be taking place on May 8th-10th. Some of the hottest and up and coming artists like &TEAM, CORTIS, Heart2Heart, and TWS will be performing. This year, ZEROBASEONE, JO1, and INI will be the headliners for KCON Japan 2026.
