K-CON LA 2016 Experience
August 9, 2016
After attending a convention based on Korean “Hallyu,” such as K-POP and K-dramas, my long-extinguished passion for Asian entertainment has been reignited.
Lured by the free samples and skin care products, I spent three days at K-CON at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 29-31, taking a break from SAT classes and summer work. Along with three friends, I purchased the three-day convention pass for $25.
We assumed that buying tickets online would reduce the wait time to enter the convention. However, those who purchased online tickets had to register and queue in a roughly five-hour line that wrapped around the humongous building, while those who bought tickets at the convention entered immediately. Annoyed by the wait time, we just purchased the tickets again, like many others, since the convention would have nearly ended before we got to the front of the line.
Blasting the latest heart-pumping K-POP songs, the spacious convention offered various booths ranging from beauty to technological gadgets. Also, many booths gave away free gifts, including cute plastic water bottles, face masks, fragrant hand creams and tote bags, with the requirement of either liking the company’s social media page or uploading a picture with the company’s hashtags on social media.
In addition, the convention offered multiple workshops each day with topics ranging from beauty tutorials to business in the entertainment industry. We attended one workshop: a meet and greet with Go Toe Kyung, who is known for his outstanding video editing and dancing skills. Held in a spacious room, the workshop was based on a Q&A format, and musician JunCurry Ahn served as the English translator.
Also, K-CON offered roughly 20 minute fan engagements, which allowed fans to watch a short interview with the artists who performed at the evening concert. We attended fan engagements by four artists: IOI, Astro, Turbo, and Dean. Although the activity is termed “fan engagement,” it was more like watching the back of people’s heads and jumping to see a glimpse of the idol on stage. The floor was parallel, so only people in the front of the crowd could see without having phones shoved in the air, blocking their view. Attending the fan engagement is only worth the time and energy if you queue up hours before the event starts, since most fans arrive earlier for a closer spot to the mini stage.
However, attending the fan engagements introduced me to another musical genre from across the globe. We received engagement tickets for Dean from a journalist writing a review on another event and could not attend. As someone who hadn’t heard Dean’s songs, I immediately fell in love with his smooth, fast-paced R&B songs blasting before his appearance, and I kept his emotional songs on repeat as soon as I got home.
Food trucks were available a short distance from the convention as a collaboration between K-CON and the K-town Night Market. The night market, ironically held in the day time, sold distinct dishes with a unique twist on Korean culture, such as bibimbap, raindrop cakes and the not-so-Korean tacos. The price of the food wasn’t cheap—they were roughly $5-$10 for each, though considered average for night market prices.
But K-CON did not keep me interested for three days. The majority of the booths in the convention repeat daily—only the workshops differed each day. On the first day, exploring the convention and entering the various raffles provided entertainment, but by the third day, we ran out of activities to do.
Since this convention is based on Korean culture, I expected the majority of the attendees to be of Korean descent; however, the welcoming convention was full of people of various ethnicities. Even as a non-Korean, I was able to understand the workshops and celebrity interviews with the help of translators and my Korean friend, Sophia.
Overall, the convention was worth my time and money. I recommend attending this convention at least once to experience the energetic atmosphere and not to mention meeting various celebrities who stroll through the venue.
