Ephney Tsai For their first event of 2022, the KTOWN Night Market is returning to Los Angeles from June 17th to June 18th. The two-day festivities will be filled with food, shopping and performances. The main attraction of the night market has always been the food. There are multiple vendors carrying all types of food, drinks, and desserts. Despite the great amounts of food, the event also attracts attendees with a variety of free performances and activities.
As K-pop continues to grow as a globally acknowledged genre, the presence of K-pop influenced and inspired entities also increases at each event. In past years, the KTOWN Night Market featured K-pop through with merchandise vendor booths, cover groups, and a mix of Korean and Korean-American performers. This year, the KTOWN Night Market will be hosted in collaboration with K-PLAY! FEST for the first time, and will feature a lineup of performers, to be announced.
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This year the festival announced Minzy, Korean soloist and the youngest member of 2NE1, as the headliner for Friday night. This announcement comes shortly after the singer made a surprise appearance along with her fellow group members to perform 2NE1’s hit song, “I Am The Best,” at 88rising’s Head in the Clouds Forever set at Coachella. This will mark Minzy’s first ever solo performance in the U.S. While the full lineup for this year’s event has yet to be released, Korean artists such as Kisum, BewhY, pH-1, and Z.Hera and KTOWN favorites like Ted Park and Dumbfoundead have previously graced the stage.
Aside from the performances, K-PLAY! FEST is also sure to bring new experiences for K-pop fans to the night market. K-PLAY! FEST was created by fans, for fans, and made its debut at the Asian American Expo earlier this year. The festival will prepare activities for K-pop fans, including photocard decoration and trading zones, random play dance sessions, meet and greets with K-pop content creators, an artist alley full of fan artist vendors, and more.
