July, it may be said with confidence, is the season of out-sized fan conventions 'round Southern California.
Comic-Con International springs first to mind, and D23 Expo, the Disney fan celebration that returns in July 2017. But few entertainment festivals have grown over a notably short period of time like the extremely popular KCON, the "world's largest Korean culture and music festival."
Consider that it began in Irvine just a half decade back (right about the time the mega phenom "Gangnam Style" by PSY was capturing our shared fancies). Some 12,000 convention goers attended that year, but look the 70,000+ people who joined the fan-based fun in both New York and Los Angeles in 2015.
It's time again for KCON LA, where tens of thousands of K-pop, K-drama, and K-food mavens will gather for three days at the Staples Center. Those dates? Friday, July 29 through Sunday, July 31, and a bevy of television stars, music idols, and creative makers of watchable, eatable, wearable, danceable good things will meet with their fans.
Meet with their fans, and host a flurry of concerts, panels, signings, and presentations, too. Seonkyoung Longest, the winner of Food Network's "Restaurant Express," will lead a delicious demo of food-makery, while DramaFever is going with K-drama screenings, and workshops.
Video gaming, beauty tips, a vendor-cool night market, and the dance-ready KLUB KCON further fill out the mega three-day roster.
As for the stars of K-pop? Look to the M Countdown Concert, and a full slate of choreograph-rich, razzmatazz-y song-sharing. It's big, and the legions of fans who turn out lend the event oodles of enthusiasm.
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July is wrapping, and our mondo month of colossal conventioning. But not before KCON LA enters the scene, with all of the drama, dazzle, and delectable foods that bring the dedicated fans of Korean pop culture out to dance, socialize, and get to know what's new in movies, music, television, fashion, and more.
