The 2016 Dream Concert, one of the largest K-pop concerts in Asia, will be held Saturday at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

This 22nd edition will feature a stellar lineup of 28 acts this year, ranging from established superstars EXO and Taemin of SHINee to recent fan favorites like Mamamoo and VIXX.

Other acts include popular girl groups GFriend and Red Velvet, as well as rising newbies CLC, I.O.I and NCT U. Model and actor Hong Jong-hyun, actress Kim So-hyun and Super Junior member Leeteuk have been tapped to host the event. 

Hailed as the representative hallyu concert in Asia, the concert lineup serves as a barometer for who’s hot in the current K-pop scene.

The concert will be streamed live online for fans unable to attend. It can be watched on Mango TV, the online video platform of Chinese Hunan TV, and Naver’s mobile streaming service the V app.

The concert will later air on TV channels in Korea and Japan. In Korea, it will run on SBS on June 11, on SBS MTV on June 12 and on SBS funE on June 13. It will be available on Japan’s TBS 1 in July.

As Dream Concert features some of the most in-demand K-pop stars of the year, it has received growing attention from global media. It enjoys wide coverage in China, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Australia, according to an official at the Korea Entertainment Producer’s Association, which organizes the concert. 

“Chinese media outlets are the ones that are most interested in covering the concert, but we also get a lot of requests from other media companies in other countries,” said Lee Nam-kyung, an official in charge of the concert’s promotion.

“The popularity of K-pop and Korean entertainers seems especially heated right now,” he added.

The organizers have distributed DVDs featuring previous concerts for overseas fans at the Korean Culture and Information Service’s overseas centers.

By Rumy Doo (doo@heraldcorp.com)