KCON 2017 USA presented by Toyota celebrated its 6th anniversary this year under the banner “Let’s KCON,” drawing a record-breaking 85,000 fans to KCON 2017 LA, which took place over three days this past weekend in downtown Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Staples Center. Combined with the record breaking total from New York, KCON 2017 USA attracted its most attendees ever at 128,000. With KCON now being a worldwide event, also having a presence in Mexico City, Tokyo, Paris, Abu-Dhabi and more, KCON USA is still the most attended event internationally. The first-ever KCON in Oceania, KCON 2017 Australia was recently announced and will take place in Sydney on September 22 and 23.

The live stream via KCON.TV and Mwave this past weekend saw its largest number of viewers of all time with just Sunday night’s concert feed with over 130,000 total viewers. When combined with Saturday, the KCON.TV live stream totals hit 180,000, dwarfing all previous tallies for the platform. KCON.TV is a short form video platform and onset records line community that is dedicated to all things Korean entertainment, which made its official launch at last year at KCON 2017 LA.

photo credit: CJ E&M

Programming expanded this year to include more workshops, panels, and booths than ever before, with more than 250 local merchants, businesses, and food vendors showing off the latest in K-beauty, K-food, and K-drama. KCON Food Street offered both classic and innovative twists on Asian cuisine, with over 100 food choices curated by KTown Night Market; and the diverse roster of events included everything from K-drama screenings to K-pop auditions. Sponsors helping make the festival happen included first timers like AT&T and State Farm and returning supporters Toyota, Asiana Airlines, Com2us, and McDonald’s.

KCON continued its run as a destination for those interested in checking out the hottest Korean beauty trends and products. This year’s event featured an expanded Beauty Block on the convention floor, with leading Korean beauty brands such as SEP, Olive Young, innisfree, and The Face Shop. KCON also included more programming and workshops on beauty than ever before featuring influencers such as Joan Kim, Edward Avila, Charlotte Cho, Sunny, and punctuated with a surprise special appearance from Michelle Phan.

photo credit: CJ E&M

Pre-registration for KCON 2017 LA doubled from last year, while also selling out both nights of concerts. This year’s concert featured top K-Pop artists Astro, Cosmic Girls, Girl’s Day, GOT7, Heize, KARD, NCT 127, Seventeen, SF9, Super Junior – D&E, VIXX, and WannaOne. Special Guests included veteran singer Kim Tae Woo, multi-talented performer Kevin Woo, and eight-member girl group Oh My Girl.

For more information and the latest KCON news, we invite fans to visit www.kconusa.com and follow @KCONUSA on Twitter, where more information will be announced. Fans can also join the conversation with #KCON17LA. Links to the official logo, trailer and recap videos for KCON 2016 presented by Toyota are here: Logo and Trailer. Recap videos of both LA and NY events can be found on its Youtube channel.

I cannot believe that KCON LA is over already *sobs* I had so much fun with my roommates and everyone that I only get to meet once or twice a year. Be prepared for videos (though I didn’t really vlog) and lots of recap articles on it. It’s nice to know that KCON continues to grow bigger each year. Let me know if you were in attendance and if you went to any of my panels!