All India K-pop Contest 2025 goes national with new rap category and 10-city tour

The Korean Cultural Centre India (KCCI) is turning up the heat this summer with the All India K-Pop Contest 2025, which began on May 14 and will wrap up with a high-energy Grand Finale on July 19 in New Delhi.

Now celebrating its 15th year, the contest has added an exciting twist—introducing a Rap category for the first time. Participants can now compete in three categories: Dance, Vocal, and Rap. The move reflects the growing popularity of K-pop rap among Indian fans and opens the stage to a wider range of performers.

The contest follows a three-stage format: Online, Regional, and Grand Finale. The online round ran from May 14 to June 7 and drew 1,278 team registrations from across India, showing just how deep K-pop fever runs nationwide.

Next up are the regional preliminaries, set to kick off in Chennai on June 22 and travel through 10 major cities: Bengaluru, Kolkata, Itanagar, Bhopal, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kohima, and Hyderabad. These rounds are organised by local Korean culture fan communities, with support and oversight from KCCI.

Winners from each category in each city will head to the Grand Finale in New Delhi on July 19, where the stakes get higher. Finalists will not only compete for cash prizes—Rs 2,00,000 for first place, Rs 1,00,000 for second, and Rs 50,000 for third—but also for a chance to represent India at the prestigious K-Pop World Festival in Changwon, South Korea.

According to KCCI, the finale will also feature a fan meeting and special performances by K-pop idol groups from Korea.

To kick off the contest buzz, KCCI hosted a surprise K-pop Random Play Dance event on June 1 in New Delhi, drawing around 400 fans in collaboration with the Korean Culture India Fan Club.

The All India K-Pop Contest continues to be a major platform for Indian K-pop fans to showcase their talent, connect with the culture, and be part of the global K-pop wave—now with even more beats, moves, and mic drops.