HYBE, SM, JYP, YG Advance Joint Effort to Create Major K-Pop Festival “Fanomenon”

The four major domestic entertainment companies—HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment—announced on the 16th that they are pursuing the establishment of a joint venture to organize a large-scale K-Pop festival. This marks the first time leading agencies in the K-Pop industry have joined forces to create a global music festival.

The four companies are currently going through administrative procedures, including filing a merger report with the Fair Trade Commission. As the process is still at the stage of forming a legal entity, no specific implementation plans or detailed schedules have been finalized.

This project was initiated by Park Jin-young, CCO of JYP Entertainment. He outlined a vision to hold an annual large-scale festival named “Fanomenon,” which combines “Fan” and “Phenomenon,” in South Korea starting from December 2027. From May 2028 onward, the festival is planned to expand into a global event touring major cities around the world.

Fanomenon aims to grow into a global music festival that surpasses not only South Korea’s top music festivals but also America’s largest music festival, the “Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (Coachella).” The industry sometimes refers to it as “K-Coachella.”

Most industry professionals agree with the concept of a “global music festival led by K-Pop.” An official from one of the four major agencies said, “K-Pop artists are increasingly performing at overseas large-scale festivals, including Coachella. This shows there is strong demand. It’s strange that we, who own K-Pop, rarely see our artists at festivals in our own country. We would certainly welcome a large-scale K-Pop festival like Coachella to be held here.”

Ko Ki-ho, president of the Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association, also gave a positive assessment, stating, “If Fanomenon succeeds, it could greatly benefit not only the music industry but also South Korea’s economy.” However, he added, “There are challenges such as securing venues, transportation, accommodation, and supporting facilities—issues that private companies alone cannot resolve. I hope the government and organizations like the Cultural Exchange Committee will work together to prepare thoroughly for a successful event.”

Yet practical obstacles remain. A festival official pointed out that with only about 1 year and 8 months left until the planned December 2027 launch, the establishment of the joint venture has not yet been completed. This means there is essentially only around 1 year left to actually organize the event.

Finding a suitable venue is also a major challenge. It is impossible to build a large-scale venue and develop surrounding infrastructure such as transportation, accommodation, and restaurants in just one year. Therefore, existing venues would have to be used, but South Korea’s largest current venues or festival sites can accommodate only around 40,000 to 50,000 people at once. In contrast, Coachella attracted approximately 750,000 attendees over its 6-day duration in 2026, averaging 125,000 visitors per day. This makes it difficult to find a site capable of hosting a festival on a similar scale.

Moreover, there are many restrictions on holding festivals in Seoul due to various local complaints. Even determining “where to hold the event” could pose immediate difficulties.