‘MAMA’ heads into downtown Osaka, Japan, expanding beyond an awards show into a 13-day K-pop festival

[Financial News] The K-pop awards show MAMA Awards will expand beyond the performance venue for the first time this year. The plan is to connect streets, commercial facilities and tourist attractions in Osaka, Japan, with a program that turns not only the two days of the awards ceremony but also the time spent in the city into a single festival.

CJ ENM held a media day for the 2026 MAMA Awards at the Eliena Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 29th and unveiled plans for this year’s event.
The awards ceremony will be held at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan on November 20–21. This will be the third time MAMA has been held there, following 2022 and 2024. MAMA, which began in 1999 as the Mnet Video Music Awards, reaches its 27th edition this year.
This year’s theme is ‘Music Interstellar (A MUSIC INTERSTELLAR).’ It brings to life the power of music to connect people beyond the limits of time and place through performances, technology and fan-participation programs.
The biggest change is the launch of the ‘MAMA Fan Festa.’ It will run from November 9 to 21 at venues across Osaka and on Mnet Plus, a global K-pop content platform. The event is designed so fans do more than watch finished performances: they can take on missions, create content and interact with other fans.
“Our goal is for people to experience MAMA from the moment they arrive in the host city and walk its streets, not just when they enter the venue,” said Park Chan-wook, head of CJ ENM’s Convention Business Division.
The event footprint will span HEP FIVE, a shopping complex known for its red Ferris wheel; Midosuji, one of Osaka’s main thoroughfares; Namba Plaza; and Kyocera Dome Osaka, the venue. Restaurants in Osaka’s shopping districts will offer MAMA-themed menus and discounts, and a program will let visitors explore key locations using electric mobility vehicles.
Visitors will be able to listen to music by this year’s nominated artists on the HEP FIVE Ferris wheel. Namba Plaza will feature a Welcome Station for visitors, ‘Star Touch,’ where they can interact with artists on screen, and a backstage cam that will provide a partial view of rehearsals at Kyocera Dome. A space will also be set up where visitors can pose as the stars of the red carpet and take photos.
International fans who are unable to attend in person will be able to participate through Mnet Plus. Online stamps, missions, quests, pre-event content related to the show and live broadcasts will be offered to connect them with the offline event.
CJ ENM plans to make the Fan Festa more than a one-time event, developing it into a recurring program that follows the cities hosting MAMA. “If the host city changes next year, we’ll continue the Fan Festa there as well,” Park said.
He also said the local response had been positive. Asked about the response in Japan, Park Chan-wook, head of CJ ENM’s Convention Business Division, said, “Previously, the awards ceremony was held in the host city over two days, but this year both the event period and the areas covered have expanded.” He added, “Tourism authorities and related agencies in Osaka, as well as local companies in a range of industries with no direct connection to K-pop, have responded quite favorably to these changes.”
He added, “As K-pop has recently established itself as a cultural icon attracting attention worldwide, local interest in collaborating with MAMA, which represents it, is high.” He continued, “Tourism authorities and businesses are actively cooperating with this new effort to connect locations across the city as festival spaces.”
Meanwhile, the 2026 MAMA Awards will be livestreamed worldwide on major platforms, including Mnet and Mnet Plus.
[email protected] Shin Jin-a Reporter