Exclusive – Get ready to celebrate more Korean culture next year with New York’s own KPEX: Korean Pop Culture Expo, heading to the Javits Center in May.
Led by LeftField Media, the people behind Anime NYC, Anime Frontier, Awesome Con, and Rose City Comic-Con, and event industry veterans – Greg Topalian (co-creator of New York Comic Con), Robert Khoo (co-creator of PAX), and Peter Tatara (co-creator of Anime NYC), KPEX will be a three-day celebration of Korean entertainment and culture, highlighting all K-content: K-Pop, K-Dramas, K-Comics, K-Games, K-Food, and K-Beauty.
“From Oscar wins and K-Pop stars performing during the World Cup, to record-breaking streaming success, Korean entertainment has become a beloved fixture in American pop culture with over 25 million fans all across the country,” Peter Tatara, Co-Founder of KPEX, said in a press release. “We hope we can now give its fans, creators, and the companies at the heart of K-Culture a place to call home in the center of New York City.”
From May 29- 31, 2027, KPEX will offer fans the opportunity to meet their favorite Korean stars and experience the latest and greatest in Korean entertainment. The event will feature panel discussions, premiere screenings, interactive workshops, meet-and-greet autograph sessions, and an expo filled with K-food and shopping treats for everyone. KPEX will also hold concerts each of the three nights, spotlighting music artists from Seoul.
With over 100 hours of special events created by leading companies in the K-content world, KPEX wants to give the fans the chance to experience their fandom head-on. The team is working with partners, sponsors, and participants, including the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), a government agency focused on expanding Korean content worldwide, and Ize Press, the US publisher of fan-favorite Korean comics and novels, including Solo Leveling and Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.
After working in the convention scene across the country with American and Japanese culture, the team behind KPEX is ready to showcase its own “revolutionary comic con for the Hallyu Generation.”
“KPEX hopes to create a space for fans to deepen their relationship with Korean culture, lifestyle, entertainment, and artists,” said Robert Khoo, Co-Founder of KPEX. “We want to uplift the community by giving it a home in NYC, build a destination which elevates the fandom all across the United States, and our long-term goal is to expand this cultural excitement into lasting international awareness and goodwill that more closely connects the US and Korea.”
In addition to celebrating Korean pop culture, KPEX will host its own B2B (Business-to-Business) experience, connecting industry professionals together and providing opportunities for small businesses to network. KPEX is looking to “build a path for companies and creators to debut projects and products, offering new media exposure and meaningful business connections.”
LeftField Media hosted its Anime NYC, a popular Japanese pop culture convention since 2016, this past month, hosting over 172,000 fans. The convention held world premieres and had special appearances by some of the biggest stars and companies in Japanese pop culture.
“KPEX looks to follow the same success as Anime NYC, which LeftField founded nine years ago, and we’re working with many of the same partners and team who brought Anime NYC to life,” said Kelly Comboni, CEO of LeftField Media and Clarion Connect. “We further want to make certain that KPEX is built authentically for fans of K-Culture. The KPEX team is made of K-Content fans, and we’re working with organizations and individuals across the Korean and Korean American worlds to craft the event in a genuine way, including partnering with Infinitize and IW Group, both award-winning agencies with tremendous experience in Korean culture, entertainment, and fandom, to help build the best, most fan-focused festival we can create.”
For those interested in attending KPEX, tickets will launch on September 18 at 9 am PST / 12 noon EST. KPEX will announce special guests and show features throughout the fall. For more information, clickhereor join thenewsletter.
This article was originally published onForbes.com
