Keep an eye out for these highlights in the annual year-end K-pop festivals

The end of the year offers a lot of excitement for K-pop fans: holiday remixes, end-of-year concerts hosted by their favorite artists, and year-end K-pop music shows featuring unique concepts and star-studded lineups.

Such programs show K-pop artists from different agencies interacting with one another, often through collaborative performances — a rare sight outside such programs.

This year, the festivities kick off with the “KBS Song Festival” on Friday, and on Saturday, 2025's stand-out artists will be awarded during the “Melon Music Awards.” On Christmas Day, SBS is expected to host its own music show, “SBS Gayo Daejeon,” while MBC closes out the year with “MBC Gayo Daejejeon” on Dec. 31.

Here are some key year-end shows to close out 2025 and welcome 2026 with unforgettable moments.

A multi-genre music festival at KBS

This year’s “KBS Song Festival” will offer elements of excitement for a wide range of music listeners, accompanied by dance, band, ballad and even trot music performances. The event will take place Friday at 7:15 p.m. at Songdo Convensia in Incheon, with comedian Jang Do-yeon, actor Moon Sang-min and Illit’s Minju as emcees.

Rare performances by second-generation K-pop acts, boy band Cnblue and girl group Lovelyz, will also be performing for the first time in many years.

Other notable mentions in this year's lineup include NCT Dream, The Boyz, Le Sserafim and Aespa, as well as ballad singer Roy Kim and indie band Jannabi.

Older listeners can look forward to trot performances by Lee Chan-won and Park Seo-jin.

Fans are increasingly looking forward to diverse performances at this year's festival, with promises of collaborations between singer-songwriter 10CM and Illit’s Minju, as well as Ive’s Liz and Le Sserafim’s Chaewon.

Star-studded lineup expected at the MMA

The MMA, one of Korea’s largest year-end music awards shows, takes place Saturday at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul under the theme “Play the Moment.”

The red carpet is scheduled for 4 p.m., while the main ceremony is expected to begin an hour later.

This year's lineup features 20 artists who have seen significant performance in music charts this year, including G-Dragon, Jennie, Zico, Jay Park, Exo, Woodz, Aespa, Ive, Riize, Plave, NCT Wish, Illit, Hearts2Hearts and Allday Project. Alpha Drive One, consisting of winners from Mnet’s audition program “Boys II Planet,” is also expected to make an appearance, with 23 days left until their official debut.

Exo is set to unveil a B-side track from the group’s upcoming eighth album, slated for release on Jan. 19. The performance will also mark the boy group’s first MMA performance in eight years.

Additionally, Zico will perform his newest single, “Duet,” for the first time with Japanese artist Lilas of Yoasobi. The single’s music video was unveiled to the public on Friday, building excitement over how the choreography featured will be portrayed during the MMA performance.

Taking on the role of presenters for Saturday’s ceremony are actor Park Eun-bin, veteran singer-songwriter Yoon Jong-shin and figure skater Cha Jun-hwan.

Welcome the holidays, close out the year

On Christmas day, SBS is expected to host its music show, “SBS Gayo Daejeon” at Inspire Arena in Incheon, hosted by Day6’s Young K, Ive’s An Yujin and NCT’s Jaemin. The event is scheduled to air from 4:50 p.m. on SBS.

One of the most anticipated features is Taeyong of NCT’s solo performance, the first since completing his military service on Dec. 15.

The Christmas show will also host a series of never-before-seen collaborations and treat fans to unique Christmas-themed performances.

One such performance includes Tomorrow X Together’s Yeonjun and Katseye’s Yoonchae, who will perform “Let Me Tell You” — a song originally featuring Katseye’s Daniela. The track, accompanied by a choreography duo video between Yeonjun and Daniela, has already sparked global buzz, with many fans wondering what Yoonchae's addition will bring to the performance.

Other festive unit performances include those shared by Boynextdoor’s Woonhak and Illit’s Wonhee, as well as a rap unit featuring The Boyz’s Sunwoo, Treasure’s Haruto and Allday Project’s Woochan, who will premiere a self-composed Christmas track exclusively for “SBS Gayo Daejeon.”

MBC will close out the year with “MBC Gayo Daejejeon,” scheduled to air from 8:50 p.m. and hosted by Shinee’s Minho, Allday Project’s Annie and singer-actor Hwang Min-hyun.

This year’s edition will feature a massive lineup of 34 teams spanning K-pop’s biggest acts and emerging rookies, such as Allday Project, Cortis, Illit, Plave and Tomorrow X Together. A highlight includes a beatboxing performance by Beatfella House, featuring an artist who went viral for his beatboxing act during G-Dragon’s Mnet Asian Music Awards performance.

Themed around the Korean word “meot,” meaning style, chic or cool, MBC’s year-end show is expected to spotlight the essence of what makes K-pop globally admired — not only through music and performances but also through individuality and presence.