The Korea Entertainment Producers Association announced on January 29 that Dream Concert 2026, scheduled for February 6-7 at Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, has been canceled until further notice.
The two-day music festival was expected to feature major K-pop artists, including EXO-CBX members Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin, along with Taemin, The Boyz, Hwasa, BamBam and other artists.
The event would have marked a historic moment as the first official overseas stop of the Dream Concert series and the opening show of an ambitious world tour planned for 2026. The cancellation comes just a week before the scheduled performance dates.
The cancellation reportedly stems from ongoing internal conflicts between local organizers and the Korea Entertainment Producers Association (KEPA), which holds the license for the Dream Concert brand. allkpop. The disputes center on unresolved legal issues surrounding venue booking and management decisions that clouded the event preparation process.
The main conflict concerns a disagreement over the booking of the Kai Tak Stadium. KEPA says it has completed a formal venue rental agreement and paid a deposit for the February dates.
However, nCH Entertainment, an agency affiliated with South Korean public broadcaster MBC, said dates had already been reserved for an overseas edition of “Show! Music Core.” KEPA responded by filing a criminal complaint against nCH Entertainment in November, accusing the company of spreading false information to entertainment agencies and deliberately interfering with casting efforts for the Dream Concert.
The conflict adds to a series of problems for Dream Concert’s overseas expansion efforts. In November, Dream Concert Abu Dhabi faced strong backlash after last-minute lineup changes and reduced benefits for VIP ticket holders. Herald of Korea reported.
The event in Sanya, China was postponed indefinitely due to regulatory issues, with no update provided more than three months later. A similar event planned for Japan in August was also effectively cancelled, although organizers cited record-breaking heat as the reason.
The Hong Kong concert had special symbolic importance for KEPA, as it would be broadcast nationwide across mainland China via Hunan Television, marking the first major K-pop concert broadcast in China since 2017, when cultural exchanges were limited.
Industry analysts note that the cancellation raises serious questions about KEPA’s management practices and its ability to oversee large-scale international events. No official statement has been made regarding the rescheduling of the concert to a later date, as per Reuters.
