Hanoi plans 70,000 admissions for Golden Disc Awards debut in January 2027

Two nights of K-pop anchor a bigger tourism plan

Hanoi expects about 70,000 admissions across two nights when the 41st Golden Disc Awards comes to the Vietnam Exposition Center (VEC) on January 9 and 10, 2027. The ceremony will take place on a specially constructed outdoor stage in Dong Anh, bringing one of South Korea's longest running music awards to Vietnam for the first time.

The attendance target was presented at a November 11 announcement in Hanoi involving the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its partners. Singer Sung Si-kyung and actress Moon Ga-young will host both days, while the performing lineup has yet to be announced.

The awards will also open Vietnam – Experience More, a cooperation programme between the ministry and Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) covering 2027 to 2031. Its aim is to connect international entertainment and sporting events with travel, cultural activities and spending in Vietnam.

For fans, the immediate attraction is the chance to attend a major Korean awards ceremony in Hanoi. For Vietnamese businesses, the opportunity extends to stage production, broadcasting, hotels, transport and the experiences visitors book around the show.

What the 70,000 target means

Organisers describe the projected audience as roughly 70,000 admissions over the two nights. A person attending both nights would count twice, so the figure represents visits to the event rather than 70,000 different people.

Spread evenly, the target would mean about 35,000 admissions each night. That is similar to the roughly 35,000 people who attended each of the previous ceremonies in Bangkok and Jakarta. Compared with the approximately 60,000 admissions across two days in Fukuoka, Hanoi's target is 10,000 higher, an increase of about 17%.

VEC's event announcement identifies its outdoor grounds as the venue. The four outdoor areas cover 174,516 square metres and together can accommodate more than 50,000 people for music events. The particular area and audience layout for Golden Disc Awards remain to be announced.

VEC has already handled substantial concert crowds. V Concert drew about 25,000 people, while 8 Wonder Concert accommodated about 50,000. Golden Disc Awards is expected to be the venue's first K-pop event of comparable scale.

How the Hanoi ceremony took shape

Hanoi's selection emerged in stages, with the host city announced before the precise dates and venue. The November announcement then placed the ceremony within a broader agreement on culture and tourism.

• July 15, 2026: Organisers announced Hanoi as the host city for the 41st Golden Disc Awards in January 2027.
• September 4, 2026: January 9 and 10 were announced as the event dates, with VEC's outdoor stage selected as the venue.
• October 9, 2026: VEC's update listed the artists, hosts, daily programme and ticket details as awaiting announcement.
• November 11, 2026: The ministry and its partners presented plans targeting about 70,000 admissions and connecting the ceremony with Vietnam – Experience More.
• January 9 and 10, 2027: The two nights of awards are scheduled to take place in Hanoi.

HLL JoongAng has since named the hosts. Their appointment fills one part of the programme, while fans still await the performers, the division of content between the two days, ticket prices and the sales schedule.

Experienced hosts return for both days

Sung Si-kyung and Moon Ga-young will lead the ceremony together for a third consecutive year. The Hanoi edition will mark Sung's 11th consecutive year hosting the awards, giving the event an established presenter as it moves to a new country.

Sung is known for his ballads, television soundtrack recordings and broadcasting work. Moon, whose television roles include True Beauty, The Interest of Love, My Dearest Nemesis and Law and the City, first hosted Golden Disc Awards at its 39th edition alongside Sung and singer and actor Cha Eun-woo.

The pair subsequently hosted the 40th ceremony together and will return for both Hanoi dates. Their appointment provides continuity for an event combining award presentations with performances specially prepared for the occasion.

A long running awards show reaches its eighth overseas city

Established in 1986, Golden Disc Awards recognises achievements in Korean popular music, including albums and digital releases. Digital music categories concern songs distributed through online services, while album categories recognise releases in the album market.

Hanoi will become the eighth city outside South Korea to host the awards, following Osaka, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Bangkok, Jakarta, Fukuoka and Taipei. The move continues the ceremony's practice of bringing Korean artists to audiences in other Asian markets.

At the 40th ceremony in Taipei on January 10, 2026, three Daesang awards were presented together for the first time. Daesang means grand prize, the highest level of recognition at the ceremony. Stray Kids won for the album KARMA, G-Dragon received the digital song prize for HOME SWEET HOME with Taeyang and Daesung, and Jennie won Artist of the Year.

CORTIS and ALLDAY PROJECT received rookie awards. The Taipei edition featured 18 acts, including LE SSERAFIM, IVE, NCT WISH and ENHYPEN, illustrating how the ceremony combines established performers with newer groups.

Figures presented at the Hanoi launch put the Taipei edition's global viewing total at 290 million, voting activity at nearly 50 million and attendance at almost 80,000. International visitors accounted for nearly half of ticket buyers, a share that helps explain Vietnam's interest in connecting the next ceremony with tourism.

Vietnam has hosted other Korean awards events, including part of MAMA in 2017 and the Asia Artist Awards at My Dinh National Stadium in 2019. Golden Disc Awards adds another major entertainment brand to that record, this time at VEC.

Who is organising the event?

HLL manages the Golden Disc Awards rights. Its representative Kim Yu-seok said the Hanoi edition would feature performances and a red carpet involving leading Korean artists, with live broadcasts in South Korea and other Asian countries bringing the Hanoi stage to international audiences.

The partners identified around the event include Hakuna Matata, Trip.com Group, MAISEAT and VEC, alongside HLL. MAILIVE and Studio MALL-ARP have also been named among the organisations involved. MAISEAT is a ticketing platform, while Trip.com Group brings a travel business into the partnership.

The Vietnam Cultural Industry Development Association (VCIDA) is participating as National Partner. It is working alongside Hakuna Matata Group Limited, the partner handling the rights to organise the ceremony in Vietnam, to connect international participants with Vietnamese businesses and creative workers.

The partnership brings together several different tasks: securing event rights, building and running the show, reaching audiences, selling tickets and serving visitors. The allocation of production contracts and the amount of work going to Vietnamese suppliers have not been announced.

Vietnam wants visitors to stay beyond the show

The ministry and MB intend Golden Disc Awards to be the opening event in a programme lasting through 2031. Their plans include studying and selecting further international events in culture, arts, entertainment and sport, alongside activities promoting Vietnamese destinations.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Huy Dung told the November announcement that Vietnam wanted international partners to create projects together with Vietnamese organisations and share their benefits. He also described an ambition to welcome more international events each year while taking Vietnamese culture, heritage, sport and tourism to audiences abroad.

MB chief executive Pham Nhu Anh pointed to the promotional power of celebrities sharing their own travel experiences. His examples included a scenic road in Ha Giang, Da Nang's Dragon Bridge, a banh mi in Ho Chi Minh City and coffee in Hanoi. Such posts, he said, can reach millions of people through the visitors' own global platforms.

Alongside the awards, the partners plan to connect fans with cultural activities, food, shopping and sightseeing in Hanoi and nearby localities. The practical objective is to turn a trip for one or two performances into a longer visit, creating more business for accommodation providers, restaurants, shops and attractions.

The business opportunity extends behind the stage

Vuong Duy Bien, VCIDA's chairman and a former deputy culture minister, sees Hanoi's selection as a sign of the growing appeal of Vietnam's live music market. He identifies opportunities across programme production, technical infrastructure, performance technology, rights management, media, advertising, accommodation and tourism.

Those activities form the business network needed to deliver a major show. A performance requires much more than artists and an audience: stage crews build the setting, technical teams manage sound and lighting, broadcasters carry the programme, and transport and hospitality businesses serve the people attending.

VCIDA's proposed role is to connect Vietnamese companies and workers with the international organisations delivering those tasks. For local suppliers, participation could bring contracts and experience working to the requirements of an international music production.

The economic outcome will depend on both visitor spending and the work performed locally. A full audience creates demand around the venue; participation in production, technology and content can also give Vietnamese businesses experience they can use on later projects. No revenue forecast or spending breakdown has been announced.

Getting to VEC and waiting for ticket details

VEC is on Cau Tu Lien Road in Dong Anh. Its travel guidance identifies routes from central Hanoi via Nhat Tan Bridge or Dong Tru Bridge, both connecting with Truong Sa Road before reaching the venue.

Public transport options include bus 43 from Kim Ma and electric bus E10, which connects Ocean Park, VEC and Noi Bai airport. VEC places the airport journey at about 23 kilometres, typically 35 to 40 minutes by car along Vo Nguyen Giap Road without passing through central Hanoi.

The exhibition centre has nine gates and five parking areas with space for about 10,000 cars, plus separate motorcycle parking. It advises drivers to allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes because staff may redirect vehicles when parking near an entrance fills up.

January 10 also brings Color Fiesta #18, an illustration, comics and cosplay festival, to VEC. With another event scheduled on the second awards day, visitors will need to check the entry arrangements for their own event once those are published.

Fans still need the official artist list, ticket categories, prices, authorised sales channels and programme for each night before making final attendance plans. VEC advises buying tickets only through channels announced by the organisers. No ticket release date has been given.

Key Points

• The 41st Golden Disc Awards is scheduled for January 9 and 10, 2027, on an outdoor stage at VEC in Dong Anh, Hanoi.
• Organisers target about 70,000 admissions across two nights, equivalent to 35,000 per night if attendance is evenly divided.
• Sung Si-kyung and Moon Ga-young will host both days for their third consecutive year together.
• Hanoi will be the awards' eighth overseas host city and its first host in Vietnam.
• The event will open the ministry and MB's Vietnam – Experience More programme for 2027 to 2031.
• The performing lineup, ticket prices, sales schedule and detailed daily programme remain unannounced.