Over August 14 and 15, ATEEZ, Kwon Eunbi, MONSTA X and Sunmi took to the stage at Turkey’s annual Istanbul Festivali. Both dates were entirely dedicated to K-pop – marking the first major, multi-artist K-pop event in the country since 2013. Drawing a combined audience of 80,000, the event is yet another landmark representation of the growth of the genre in Europe. Why are companies finally targeting Europe, and what role does Europe play in the international K-pop market?

Istanbul Festivali is a multi-week summer festival held at Festival Park Yenikapı, formed of a combination of live performances and events surrounding culture, entertainment, and music. It aims to spotlight top Turkish artists such as Ajda Pekkan, Yıldız Tilbe, and Hadise, while also increasingly featuring international artists. Last year, the festival attracted over one million attendees.

This year’s Istanbul Festivali ran from August 1 to August 16, and for the first time was co-hosted by the Korean Cultural Centre alongside regular organiser Focus Istanbul Event Management. The collaboration led to a two-day ‘K-pop Day’ event that made up the final main portion of the festival.

On August 14, soloist Kwon Eunbi performed an opening set with songs such as “Door,” “Hi,” “Hello Stranger” and “Unnatural” prior to a headlining performance from ATEEZ, which featured “BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS),” “Say My Name,” and “BAD.” On August 15 the same structure saw performances from soloist Sunmi, including her recently released single “Forever July,” and from third-generation group MONSTA X who showcased songs like “Dramarama” and “Love Killa.”

Images shared by Istanbul Festivali display the immense success of both dates, with crowds packed into every section of the venue. Data from the event records 65,000 attendees for ATEEZ’s performance in particular, which sets the 2026 attendance record for the entirety of the festival and marks ATEEZ’s biggest festival crowd in Europe so far. Considering that it was the group’s first visit to Turkey, a country that is rarely included in Europe tour schedules, for the turnout to reach such numbers and exceed audiences for local artists is remarkable.

Istanbul Festivali highlights the popularity of K-pop in Turkey despite the lack of major events in the country over the last decade. Prior to the 2026 Istanbul Festivali, the only large-scale multi-artist K-pop event to be held in Turkey was the Istanbul stop on the KBS Music Bank World Tour in 2013, which saw performances from Super Junior, BEAST (now known as Highlight), miss A, MBLAQ, FTISLAND, and Ailee. There have been successful K-pop events since then – the annual K-pop Festival in Istanbul was established in 2024, and its 3rd edition is being headlined by P1Harmony this September – but none have reached attendance numbers anywhere near the new ATEEZ figure. Smaller concerts hosted by artists such as ACE and NU’EST have also been few and far between. The Istanbul Festivali acts as an impactful declaration of the potential for K-pop events in Turkey to both tour organisers and entertainment companies.

That potential is already being recognised; during a speech at the event, Boo Sukjong, the South Korean Ambassador to Ankara, Turkey, stated that the organisers “will continue to promote various events so that the people of both countries can interact.” 

The success of ‘K-pop Day’ may also be a positive sign for fans residing in other European countries. In recent years, the number of K-pop concerts in Europe has increased substantially. On August 17, Kpop Concerts Europe shared that their 2026 calendar sits at 57 events in September, 49 in October, and 41 in November across the entirety of the continent. That amounts to 147 within three months, with some still being announced. In 2025 the website reported 369 total for the year, already a rise on the 343 recorded in 2024, and if autumn figures are any indication there will be another rise in the resulting figure for 2026 overall.

In early 2023, the Korea Foundation reported that Asia and Oceania made up 73 percent of all Hallyu fans, leaving only a small portion for Europe and the rest of the globe. However, it also reported a 37 percent increase in the number of fans in Europe, totalling an estimated 13 million by the end of 2022 – making Europe the fastest growing market for K-pop and other Korean pop culture content. Though reports from the years since have not remarked on Europe specifically in detail, the continent has been included in reports of a huge 84 percent increase in Hallyu music exports globally during 2025. Whether Europe's growth outpaces other regions or not, its contribution to global sales figures is significant, and its position as a consistent stronghold in the live music portion of the K-pop market is no longer in question.

A cycle has formed. As more countries host K-pop artists at already-established events (such as Istanbul Festivali, BST Hyde Park, Lollapalooza Berlin, I-Days Milano, Rock in Roma, and even Glastonbury) or set up designated K-pop events like the annual Music Bank in Europe, bigger crowds are gathering and proving to organisers that they are worth holding. Thus, more events are being held.

Now, that assessment is beginning to move beyond primary location targets like the UK, France and Germany and is expanding to countries like Poland and Turkey. Poland, for example, saw JENNIE performing at the Open’er Festival in July, and will see visits from ARTMS, ALL(H)OURS, TRENDZ, Verivery, and more throughout the remainder of 2026.

At this stage, for Turkey and for other countries beginning to break into the K-pop market, future events depend on high turnouts. Istanbul Festivali is one major success, but details surrounding the attendance of K-pop Festival 3 in the country next month compared to previous editions will determine whether a pattern is forming – one that could shift agencies and artists towards new European regions.