The 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards open tonight at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome, bringing 40 acts across two nights to the first domed stadium in the country. The show, known as KGMA, begins with Artist Day on Saturday, November 7, at 5 p.m. KST, followed by Music Day on Sunday, November 8, at the same time. Each night runs four and a half hours, from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
KGMA is still a young awards show. It was created in 2024 by the daily newspaper Ilgan Sports, which is marking its 57th anniversary this year, with the stated goal of proposing a new model for Korea’s popular music scene. This is the third edition, and it is the first to be held at Gocheok Sky Dome. The move into Seoul was made to make the show easier to reach for fans in Korea and abroad, according to the organizers. The show is presented by Ilgan Sports and jointly organized by the KGMA organizing committee and Creatoring.
Artist Day is hosted by actress Nam Ji Hyun and Woni of the girl group RESCENE. The lineup for the first night lists TREASURE, CRAVITY, P1Harmony, tripleS, FIFTY FIFTY, ALLDAY PROJECT, RESCENE, MEOVV, xikers, CLOSE YOUR EYES, AND2BLE, IDID, DAY6’s Young K, DAYOUNG, the bands LUCY and Japan’s Novelbright, and trot singer Jang Min Ho, among others. Music Day on Sunday is hosted by IVE’s Liz and actor Kim Jae Won, with ATEEZ, RIIZE, ITZY, TWS, WayV, NEXZ, KISS OF LIFE, Hearts2Hearts, KiiiKiii, KickFlip, AHOF, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, Billlie, TOUCHED, SHINee’s Minho, MONSTA X’s Shownu X Hyungwon, Choi Ye Na, ITZY’s Yuna as a soloist and Park Ji Hyun on the bill.
The show will be broadcast live on ENA, with streaming also available on TikTok and Hulu, extending its reach well beyond the stadium. Tickets were sold exclusively through NOL, opening on October 2, with seats priced at 121,000 won for VIP, 99,000 won for R and 77,000 won for S. Strong demand led the organizers to open a second round of domestic ticket sales with added floor seats on October 27.
Outside the stadium, the awards have built a second event of their own. A global culture experience space called the KK-Beauty Festa has been set up near Gocheok Sky Dome, turning the area around the venue into a festival in its own right. The space is not a simple product display: visitors can try skincare, makeup, hair and body products for themselves, in a hands-on format designed for two-way communication rather than one-way promotion.
The festival’s premise is that interest in K-pop leads naturally to interest in K-beauty. A foreign fan quoted in Ilgan Sports’ on-site report said she had heard that the products on show were the cosmetics used by K-pop idols, and that she was looking forward to trying them. The idea behind the space is that fans who travel to Seoul for the music stay to experience the beauty culture that surrounds it, and then share that experience with their own audiences.
The booths reflect that approach. At the entrance, premium mineral water brand Aqua di Coco presented its pH 7.5 weakly alkaline water, emphasizing that it contains no microplastics. Experience booths from brands including Seongjang Unnie, Cheongna Gokgan, Berries, Reuse All, Rian Hair, Wengeugigeu, Molbani, Robil and Kiera drew visitors with missions and free samples. Miero Fiber set up a four-frame photo zone styled like a photo with the group TWS and ran a prize wheel offering Olive Young gift vouchers worth up to 30,000 won. Shop Hanhyeon offered fresh-flower photo cards to visitors who followed its Instagram account, and fiber perfume brand Seongjang Unnie gave special sets to visitors who won a 10-second timing game.
The festival also has a performance element of its own. A 2026 KGMA dance challenge drew participants throughout the day, and 11-year-old Lee Chae Hee drew a crowd by completing the challenge and then performing ATEEZ’s ‘Bad’ in full. More than 1,000 creator teams from 39 countries, along with well-known Korean influencers, are taking part in the event, sharing the K-beauty experience and the atmosphere around the awards in real time through Reels, Shorts and vlogs.
Opened in 2015 as Korea’s first domed stadium and home to the Kiwoom Heroes baseball team, Gocheok Sky Dome has become a major concert venue in recent years. Hosting KGMA there puts the awards in front of a stadium-scale audience for the first time.
Artist Day opens at 5 p.m. KST tonight, with Music Day following on Sunday at the same time. Winners will be announced across the two nights, and with the K-beauty festival running outside the dome, the weekend is designed as much as a destination for global fans as it is an awards ceremony.
