K-pop Award Shows 2026: MMA, MAMA, SBS Gayo Daejeon, Golden Disc Dates and How to Watch

Four of this season's big K-pop year-end events have set their dates. The Melon Music Awards (MMA2026) come first, on November 14–15 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The MAMA Awards follow on November 20–21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan. The SBS Gayo Daejeon is on December 24–25 at KINTEX in Ilsan, and the 41st Golden Disc Awards are on January 9–10, 2027 in Hanoi. The KBS Song Festival and the MBC Gayo Daejejeon haven't announced 2026 dates yet, so for those two we list last year's dates and what usually happens.

This guide to the K-pop award shows of 2026 covers what is confirmed as of November 2, 2026: dates, venues, lineups announced so far, ticket prices where they've been published, and how to watch from Korea or abroad.

K-pop award shows 2026 at a glance

Show	Dates	Venue	Status (as of Nov 2, 2026)
Melon Music Awards (MMA2026)	Nov 14–15, 2026	Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul	Confirmed; lineup out; ticket rounds over
MAMA Awards	Nov 20–21, 2026	Kyocera Dome Osaka, Japan	Confirmed; first lineup out; tickets on Qoo10 in Japan
SBS Gayo Daejeon	Dec 24–25, 2026	KINTEX, Ilsan (Goyang)	Confirmed; lineup not announced yet
KBS Song Festival	Not announced	Not announced	The 2025 show aired on Friday, December 19
MBC Gayo Daejejeon	Not announced	Not announced	Usually live on New Year's Eve
41st Golden Disc Awards	Jan 9–10, 2027	Vietnam Exposition Center (VEC), Hanoi	Confirmed; MCs named

There's a clear pattern this year: almost every show now runs for two days. MMA2026 is a two-day event for the first time, SBS is holding its first edition across Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and MAMA and the Golden Discs are both two-night events held abroad.

When is the Melon Music Awards 2026, and who is performing?

Kakao Entertainment's MMA2026 runs on Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The main show starts at 6:00 PM KST on both days, and a red carpet starts at 5:00 PM. This is the 18th MMA (the first was in 2009). KakaoBank is the title sponsor, and the slogan is "K-POP CONNECT: The New Pulse." A new Global TOP10 award uses the Global-K Chart, which Melon runs with China's Tencent Music and Japan's LINE Music. Winners are chosen by a mix of chart data (60%), judges (20%) and fan votes (20%).

MMA2026 lineup by day (announced in October)

• Day 1 (Nov 14): aespa, RESCENE, NCT DREAM, YENA, DRAGON PONY, RIIZE, I.O.I, Hearts2Hearts, TWS, ATEEZ, IDID and other acts, for 14 teams in total
• Day 2 (Nov 15): IVE, KiiiKiii, NCT 127, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, ILLIT, 82MAJOR, PLAVE, CORTIS, NCT WISH, AND2BLE, LNGSHOT and others, for 12 teams in total

That makes 26 acts across the two nights. Lineups can change, so check the official MMA2026 page in the Melon app before you travel.

How much were MMA2026 tickets?

Tickets were sold only through Melon Ticket. Floor seats and stair seats were both KRW 65,000 (roughly US$45), and each Melon ID could buy up to two tickets across both rounds. The first round, on October 19 at 8:00 PM, was for MVIP, VIP and GOLD members who had subscribed to Melon for at least a year. The second round, on October 22 at 8:00 PM, was open to anyone with a Melon pass, but it offered only stair seats and leftover seats. Both rounds are over. Your best remaining chance is a cancelled ticket coming back on Melon Ticket, and you should avoid resellers.

Voting

The TOP10 vote closed on October 29. During that vote, paid members got three votes a day and free members got one. Category voting runs until November 13 on the MMA2026 page in the Melon app.

When are the 2026 MAMA Awards, and how can you watch?

CJ ENM's 2026 MAMA Awards are on Friday, November 20 and Saturday, November 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka. The show was last held in Japan in 2024, at the same dome. The theme is "A Music Interstellar," and Visa is the title sponsor for the third year running. Actor Park Bo-gum is the host and ambassador for both nights. The awards are split by category: artist awards on night one, and performance and genre awards on night two.

MAMA 2026 first lineup (announced October 13)

• Nov 20: ALPHA DRIVE ONE, BABYMONSTER, ENHYPEN, ILLIT, INI, NCT WISH, RESCENE
• Nov 21: CORTIS, KiiiKiii, LE SSERAFIM, Nayeon (TWICE), ZEROBASEONE

CJ ENM's late-October media day added several special stages:

• ENHYPEN with a stage tied to Dune: Part Three
• BIGBANG, marking its 20th anniversary, with the cartoon character Dooly the Little Dinosaur
• An art collaboration with artist Lee Bae
• The duo Panic (Lee Juck and Kim Jin-pyo) with CORTIS' Martin and Seonghyeon, WOODZ, ZEROBASEONE's Kim Tae-rae, ALLDAY PROJECT's Woochan and Hearts2Hearts' Yuha

CJ ENM also said parts of the show are being produced with Google's Gemini AI. It hasn't said which night each special stage is on.

Tickets and fan events

In Japan, Qoo10 is the only official ticket seller. Its third presale opened on October 28 at 3:00 PM JST. Visa cardholders had an earlier lottery presale in mid-October. Seat types and yen prices are listed only on the Qoo10 special page, and we couldn't confirm them independently, so check there. Qoo10 members can also vote once a day for a new "Qoo10 FAVORITE MEGA ARTIST" award until November 8. The nominees are ILLIT, IVE, KiiiKiii, NCT WISH, TREASURE and ZEROBASEONE.

If you're going to Osaka, the first MAMA Fan Festa runs November 9–21, online on Mnet Plus and in person around the city. Events are planned near HEP FIVE, Midosuji Avenue and Namba Plaza, where there will be a welcome station.

How to watch MAMA from Korea

The ceremony streams live worldwide on Mnet Plus, and CJ ENM says other major digital platforms will carry it too. We couldn't find published start times as of November 2. Osaka and Seoul are in the same time zone, so whatever time is announced is the same for viewers in Korea.

When is the 2026 SBS Gayo Daejeon?

SBS is marking the show's 30th anniversary (it began in 1996) with its first two-day edition. It runs on Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25, 2026 at KINTEX in Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. SBS hasn't named performers yet and says they'll be announced in stages. It has promised special stages looking back on 30 years of K-pop and collaborations between artists from different generations. MCs, broadcast times and ticket or audience details haven't been announced.

The show falls on Christmas, so you can pair it with the season's lights and markets. See our guide to Christmas in Seoul 2026: Markets, Light Festivals and Where to See the Lights.

Have the KBS Song Festival and MBC Gayo Daejejeon announced 2026 dates?

Not as of November 2, 2026. Here's what happened last year, so you know roughly what to expect.

• KBS Song Festival (Gayo Daechukje): the 2025 edition, billed as a "Global Festival," aired on KBS 2TV on Friday, December 19, 2025. It came from Songdo ConvensiA in Incheon and was hosted by Jang Do-yeon, Moon Sang-min and ILLIT's Minju. The show usually airs on a Friday in mid-to-late December.
• MBC Gayo Daejejeon: this is the New Year's Eve show. The 2025 edition aired live on Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 8:50 PM, hosted by Minho (his third year in a row), Hwang Min-hyun and ALLDAY PROJECT's Annie. MBC released that lineup on December 15, 2025, so news about this year's show may come around the same time.

Both are music festivals, not award shows. There are no trophies, just one stage after another and special collaborations. Audience seats usually go through fan-club or application systems instead of open ticket sales.

When are the 41st Golden Disc Awards?

Organizer HLL has confirmed that the 41st Golden Disc Awards will be held on January 9–10, 2027 on a special outdoor stage at the Vietnam Exposition Center (VEC) in Hanoi. Sung Si-kyung and Moon Ga-young are hosting together for the third year in a row, and it's Sung's 11th year as a Golden Disc host. As of November 2, the lineup, broadcaster and ticket details hadn't been announced. The Golden Discs is the last big award show of the season, so it usually shares details later than the others.

How to watch K-pop award shows from Korea or abroad

• MMA2026: in Korea, live on Melon and Wavve, which has the exclusive OTT rights to the red carpet and the main show and will offer replays (VOD) afterward. Outside Korea, the show streams on YouTube through the Melon and 1theK channels, but some countries are excluded. Partners such as U-NEXT in Japan and TVBS42 and CatchPlay+ in Taiwan were reported to carry it.
• MAMA Awards: live worldwide on Mnet Plus and other digital platforms.
• SBS Gayo Daejeon, KBS Song Festival, MBC Gayo Daejejeon: these air on each network's own channels in Korea. Exact broadcast times are usually announced in December.
• Golden Disc Awards: the broadcaster hasn't been confirmed yet.

The record number of visitors in 2026 means plenty of fans are in Seoul this season. If you're going in person, book a room near Gocheok or in Ilsan early.

Good to know

• A Melon membership helps. The first MMA ticket round was only for members who had subscribed for at least a year. If you want to go next year, subscribe well ahead of time.
• Buy only from official sellers: Melon Ticket for MMA and Qoo10 for MAMA in Japan. Resold or transferred tickets can be refused at the gate, and ID checks are common.
• Lineups change. Artists sometimes drop out because of schedules or health, and others get added late. Check the official channels again the day before.
• Dome shows run long. MMA starts at 6:00 PM, and award shows often go on for hours. Plan your trip home ahead of time, because the last trains fill up fast after big events.
• Lightsticks are usually fine, but professional cameras usually aren't. Check each event's rules on its ticket page.

FAQ

Can foreigners buy MMA2026 tickets?

You needed a Melon pass and a Melon Ticket account, which are hard to set up without a Korean phone number. Both ticket rounds ended in October. Cancelled seats may still come back on Melon Ticket before November 14.

Is MAMA 2026 held in Korea?

No. The 2026 MAMA Awards are at Kyocera Dome Osaka on November 20–21. You can watch live on Mnet Plus from Korea, and since Osaka and Seoul share a time zone, the start time will be the same for you.

Which year-end show is on Christmas?

The 2026 SBS Gayo Daejeon, on December 24 and 25 at KINTEX in Ilsan. It's the first time in the show's 30 years that it runs over two days, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

When will the KBS and MBC year-end shows be announced?

Neither had given dates as of November 2, 2026. Last year MBC released its lineup in mid-December and aired live on December 31. KBS's show aired on Friday, December 19, and it usually falls on a Friday in the second half of December.

Where are the 2027 Golden Disc Awards?

The 41st Golden Disc Awards are on January 9–10, 2027 at the Vietnam Exposition Center in Hanoi, hosted by Sung Si-kyung and Moon Ga-young. The lineup and ticket details haven't been announced yet.