I know I’ve been quiet for a while and I apologize. It was the end of the school year and I was swamped with paperwork, graduations and of course, KCON NY 2017. If I ran into you while there, yay! If not, I really hope to see you in LA (more about that later). This year KCONUSA announced that they would triple its size at KCON NY. I will admit I was skeptical. Where would they put everything? I really had nothing to worry about, however, because not only were they successful in having a fantastic convention/concert, they also broke some records!

KCON 2017 NY drew an audience of more than 43,000 attendees – the highest number for the NY Metro area leg of the event which was added to KCON USA in 2015. Over 70% of KCON attendees are ages 13-24.  Now you know that I’m nowhere near that age bracket but I like to believe that I (and my friends) could hang without any problem, lol.

photo credit: CJ E&M

For those who couldn’t attend the entire festival in person, KCON.TV featured live streaming from the events, including the first-ever Mobile Masters Invitational (M2), two days of eSports tournaments hosted by the Amazon Appstore.  The first time an eSports competition has been featured at KCON NY, the M2 tent – which also featured live music and entertainment – drew a substantial live crowd.  Additionally, it attracted more than 20,000 concurrent viewers who tuned in to watch the tournaments on Twitch and KCON.TV.

photo credit: CJ E&M

Viewership on KCON.TV peaked at 27,000 concurrent live streams, topping last year’s number. Fans can re-live KCON 2017 NY and other past KCON events via video content being made available on-demand at KCON.TV and its social channels.

The number of KCON NY sponsors and partners also grew, topping 100 for the first time – with booths spread out over a new footprint at the location that was triple the size of last year’s convention.  In addition to presenting sponsor Toyota, brands supporting KCON 2017 NY this year included new sponsors Amazon, AT&T, Innisfree, and State Farm, new partner iHeartRadio, and returning sponsors included Asiana Airlines, Bibigo, Com2us, DramaFever, and McDonald’s to name a few. The Korea Tourism Organization & Gangwon Province were also on-site promoting PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games.

KCON 2017 NY bolstered the event series’ reputation as a tastemaker of international talent presenting a blend of multiple chart-topping acts and fresh faces playing in the United States for the first time. This year’s line-up included CNBLUE, GFRIEND, HIGHLIGHT (formerly BEAST), KNK, NCT 127, SF9, TWICE, UP10TION and ZION.T – a KCON NY record nine acts. KCON also featured as more than 120 special guests and experts appearing on panels, workshops, and special programming. These included singer and actor Kevin Woo, chef and restaurateur Chef Edward Lee, famous Seoul-based dance crew 1 Million Dance Studio, and more.

photo credit: CJ E&M

On August 18-20, KCON 2017 USA will continue as it returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center and Staples Center. Combo tickets go on sale on July 7, and additional details are being announced in the coming weeks.

I’ve decided to throw care to the wind and go to LA for KCON. Please let me know if you’ll be traveling to the west coast with me. Who are you excited to see? And don’t worry, my photos and footage of KCON NY will be up ASAP!