The Fanomenon event, centered around large-scale concerts and fandom awards ceremonies where visitors can experience diverse genres of K-culture, will be held in December next year.

The Popular Culture Exchange Committee announced its implementation plan for the "2027 Fanomenon," aimed at elevating the global influence of K-culture and leapfrogging South Korea into the center of the fandom industry.

Fanomenon is a newly coined term combining "Fan" and "Phenomenon," designed as a private-led festival combining K-pop-centered concerts, fandom awards ceremonies, and exhibitions of K-culture-related businesses in fashion, beauty, and food.

It also incorporates interactive programs.

The committee stated that the event's name, meaning "phenomena created by fans," embodies the intent to view fans not merely as consumers, but as partners in the spread of K-culture.

The 2027 Fanomenon festival will run for a total of 11 days from December 2 to 12 next year, kicking off with a pre-festival event.

At Changdong Seoul Arena, scheduled to be completed in May next year, artists with global fandoms will take the stage consecutively over two weeks. At the fandom awards ceremony, awards will be presented to the fandoms that have shown the most passionate enthusiasm and influence throughout the year, featuring a special format where artists or brands accept the awards on behalf of the fandoms.

At KINTEX Exhibition Center II in Goyang, festival-style music performances featuring numerous artists will be held alongside large-scale exhibition and experience events where visitors can directly view and experience K-culture.

The exhibition and experience spaces are planned to feature not only lifestyle sectors such as food, beauty, and fashion that connect K-pop fandoms and consumer bases, but also companies from various other fields rooted in K-pop and fandoms, such as games, webtoons, films, dramas, and animation.

To ensure the stable hosting of the event, the government plans to actively support key operational areas such as immigration and safety management, and expand tourism promotion for visitors to Korea leveraging the hosting of Fanomenon.

The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute analyzed that hosting the "Fanomenon" could attract a total of 520,000 visitors, including 200,000 inbound foreign tourists, and generate an economic impact of approximately 1 trillion won.

Co-Chairperson Choi Hwi-young stated, "Fanomenon is a novel attempt to create a massive K-culture platform where fans around the world can directly participate and experience," adding, "We will make it a long-lasting memory for global fans visiting Korea and a new momentum for growth in content, tourism, and related industries."

Co-Chairperson Park Jin-young stated, "The power of K-culture extends beyond artists and content; it comes from the fandoms that have nurtured and spread them together," and added, "We will create a successful model where private creativity and government support are organically combined, allowing South Korea to establish itself as the center of the global fandom industry."

(Photo: Provided by Popular Culture Exchange Committee, Yonhap News)