'KCON: TACT 3': Live stream, airdate, concept and all you need to know about week-long K-pop festival
CJ ENM has announced their highly-anticipated global K-pop event KCON with airdates. Titled 'KCON: TACT 3', the exciting festival will be held virtually once again for fans to watch from their homes.
KCON is an annual Korean wave convention, which used to be held in locations across the world, but is taking place virtually this year. Created by Koreaboo and organized by CJ E&M, it was first held in Southern California as KCON and has since expanded into eight countries as of 2018. In 2015, KCON took place in Japan and expanded into Abu Dhabi, Paris and Mexico in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
An online replacement of KCON, due to the onging Covid-19 pandemic, titled 'KCON:TACT' began on June 20 until June 26, 2020, and aired via YouTube, AISPlay and Shopee. Now, here's all you need to know about 'KCON: TACT 3'.
Airdate
Fans can enjoy the festival for over a week, spanning eight days from March 20 to March 28, 2021.
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Concept
The third succession of KCON will traditionally follow the same concept of previous events: featuring a bevy of popular K-pop artists, online influencers, and a variety of contributors from different genres through a medley of live and recorded content.
Content will be customized to what is popular in different regions, planned according to the time zones and languages of each region. Such features include workshops with local influencers and fan meet-and-greets, which have been popular in previous offline KCON events in Japan and the US, according to Soompi. There will be a program that offers real-time participation from fans around the world, who participate in content and influence the spread of Korean popular culture. The event hopes that this will contribute to the significant promotion of offline music fests once they return.
Additionally, Mnet will direct special concert stages that will help fans and artists feel like they are part of an offline festival. From the opening stage to the special ending stage, the concerts will feature a world tour style and storyline. Using the aid of technology, a variety of offline concerts will be recreated so that viewers can feel as close to a world tour and K-pop idols as possible.
A source from CJ ENM said, "A huge strength for KCON: TACT 3 is being able to meet various artists who represent the present and future of K-pop in one place. As it is currently difficult to meet with foreign fans in person, we have prepared diverse content in order to recreate the offline experience. We will continue to work for the spread of global K-pop that transverses time and space."
The artists will also perform in spin-off shows to showcase their musical versatility further. One of the KCON highlights, the popular meet-and-greets will also enrich the festival experience, where fans and artists can create content together, communicate with the artists safely and comfortably, or the artists will share the music they listen to with their fandom.
What is KCON?
For those needing a brief explanation on what KCON is all about, it is a special convention that celebrates K-pop and Korean culture. It was first held in Southern California as 'KCON' and has since expanded into eight countries as of 2018, including the United States, France, Australia, Mexico, and Japan. After the Covid-19 outbreak, KCON turned to digital versions of the event named 'KCON: TACT', held in both the summer and fall of 2020.
Who will perform?
While the event is yet to announce its musical line-up, fans can expect some of the most high-profile guest performers in K-pop music. The summer KCON: TACT featured performers from the likes of Monsta X, LOONA, The Boyz, GFriend, AB6IX, Golden Child, Pentagon, IZ*ONE, and more. We will update this space once further details are confirmed in the future.
How to live stream?
'KCON: TACT 3' is coming to multiple platforms for easier accessibility for K-pop fans across the globe. Korean viewers can tune in to their TVs (most likely via Mnet), and fans abroad can watch on YouTube through KCON Official and Mnet K-pop channels.