This weekend's concert guide, October 17–18: from NOL Festival and GMF to YESUNG, HYOJUNG and ILLIT

At 6 p.m. (KST) on Saturday, October 17, concerts and fan meetings by YESUNG, HYOJUNG, ILLIT, NEXZ, HWANG MIN HYUN and LEECHANGSUB all begin at once in Seoul and Incheon. At 5 p.m. on Sunday the 18th, five of those six, plus a joint show by Noa Coast and Tasty Shop, again start at the same moment. In between, two-day festivals take over KINTEX in Goyang and Olympic Park. Times and prices follow the ticketing sites' detail pages and the organizers' notices. Remaining seats change constantly, so check the ticketing site once more before you head out.

The two-day schedule

When	Show	Where	Tickets
Oct 17 18:00, Oct 18 17:00 (plus Oct 16 20:00)	YESUNG 10th-anniversary solo tour, Seoul	KBS Arena	Ticketlink
Oct 17 18:00, Oct 18 17:00	HYOJUNG 'HYOJUNG 1st LIVE 〈Lost & Found〉'	XSCALA	YES24, all seats KRW 99,000
Oct 17 18:00, Oct 18 17:00	ILLIT 'PRESS START♥' encore	Inspire Arena, Incheon	NOL, mobile tickets
Oct 17 18:00, Oct 18 16:00	NEXZ first Asia tour, Seoul	Olympic Hall	NOL
Oct 17 17:00, Oct 18 16:00	Highlight fan concert	Jangchung Arena	YES24, pick up on site
Oct 17–18 from 12:20	Grand Mint Festival (GMF)	Olympic Park	1-day pass KRW 132,000, on-site sales
Oct 17–18	NOL Festival	KINTEX Exhibition Center 2, Goyang	KRW 0 draws and extra booking closed
Oct 17–18 from 12:00	Gyeonggi Indie Music Festival	Seoho Lawn Plaza, Suwon	NOL, 1-day pass KRW 50,000
Oct 17–18 from 12:00	HEARTBEAT by dududo	Korea University Hwajeong Gymnasium	Melon Ticket, all seats KRW 99,000

Olympic Park: GMF and NEXZ

Grand Mint Festival 2026 puts 48 acts on three stages in Olympic Park over two days. The 88 Lawn is the 'Mint Breeze Stage', KSPO DOME is 'Club Midnight Sunset', and the 88 Lake waterside stage is 'Loving Forest Garden'. Remaining 1-day passes (KRW 132,000, all general admission) go on sale at the information booth from 11:30 a.m.

On the 17th, the closing slots go to Lee Sora (88 Lawn, 8:40 p.m.), Lee Seung Yoon (KSPO DOME, 9:30) and Hong Isaac (88 Lake, 8:20). On the 18th, N.Flying takes KSPO DOME at 6 p.m., and CNBLUE the 88 Lawn at 7. That day the stages are closed by YOUNHA (8:30), '십란' (Sipran), the joint set by 10CM and SoRan (8:50), and Lee Seok-won (8:20).

Large bags, bottles, cans and alcohol can't be brought in. In the 88 Lawn standing zone and the indoor venues, only water in capped PET bottles of 500 mL or less is allowed. A lost wristband can't be reissued. At Olympic Hall in the same park, NEXZ holds the Seoul shows of its first Asia tour, 'SAUCIN' THE WORLD'.

KINTEX: NOL Festival

A festival where NOL (NOL Universe) invites its customers for free. Every ticket was KRW 0 and went out through early-bird sales, draws and extra booking; the last round of extra booking closed on September 20. Only one ticket is checked per phone, so companions need to receive their own tickets in advance through 'Gift a ticket' in the NOL app.

Hall 7's K-POP STAGE carries 'with M COUNTDOWN' in its name, and the booking page says both days start at 4 p.m. (with a note that times may shift slightly). The 17th brings NCT WISH, CORTIS, 82MAJOR, Billlie, CLOSE YOUR EYES, CRAVITY, DAILY:DIRECTION, Hearts2Hearts, H//PE Princess, Kep1er, KISS OF LIFE, LUN8 and RESCENE. The 18th brings TREASURE, IVE, AHOF, ALLDAY PROJECT, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, EVAN, izna, Keyveatz, KickFlip, KiiiKiii, MEOVV, MODYSSEY and NMIXX. NCT WISH, IVE, NMIXX and MEOVV, all covered in NONOL starter guides, are on this stage.

Hall 9's SUPER LIVE STAGE opens at 1 p.m., with god, Jaurim and Dynamic Duo on the 17th, and Kim Junsu, Beenzino, KYUHYUN and more on the 18th. YB and NELL play this stage on the 17th, then the Gyeonggi Indie Music Festival in Suwon the next day. The after-party at Hall 10's EDM STAGE runs from 10 p.m. on the 17th until 5 a.m., adults only.

Solo shows and fan meetings

YESUNG plays three nights at KBS Arena for the Seoul leg of the 10th-anniversary solo tour 'ABOUT THE THINGS WE CALLED ORDINARY'. It was first set for two days, the 17th and 18th, but after sell-out reports in August, an 8 p.m. show on Friday the 16th was added. After Seoul, the tour moves on to seven places across Asia, including Kuala Lumpur and Yokohama. The music video scenes of 'Pedazos', title track of the second full album released on the 6th, are picked out one by one in our October 10 Hidden Details.

After releasing the first mini album 'Lost&Found' on the 15th, HYOJUNG plays a show of the same name at XSCALA (formerly Mesa Hall), on the 10th floor of the Mesa Building at Namdaemun Market. It runs 100 minutes with no intermission. The album's story is in our October 14 starter guide.

ILLIT holds the encore of its first world tour, 'PRESS START♥', at Inspire Arena, and releases its fifth mini album, 'BREAK EVEN', on the 26th. Highlight's fan concert '18년차 아이돌인 내가 이세계에선 데뷔조 연습생?!' ("An idol 18 years in, yet a debut-team trainee in another world?!") runs 150 minutes, and booked tickets aren't shipped; you pick them up on site.

HWANG MIN HYUN's fan meeting '도원경' (Dowongyeong, 'a peach-blossom paradise'), at COEX Artium Woori Bank Hall (NOL), and LEECHANGSUB's solo concert 'Unknown', at Kyung Hee University Grand Peace Palace (Ticketlink), are also at 6 p.m. on the 17th and 5 p.m. on the 18th. LEECHANGSUB's concert was originally set for the 9th to 11th at Ticketlink Live Arena, but moved here because of a facility problem at that venue. SAY MY NAME holds its 2nd-anniversary fan concert, 'SAY MY ACADEMY', at KEPCO Art Center at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the 17th.

Stages in Suwon, Anam and Seogyo-dong

The Gyeonggi Indie Music Festival, run by Gyeonggi Province, starts at noon on both days at Seoho Lawn Plaza in Suwon and ends at 10:10 p.m. The late slots go to Cherry Filter (8:10 p.m.) and SE SO NEON (9:20) on the 17th, and Crying Nut (7:10), NELL (8:00) and YB (9:10) on the 18th. Children of elementary-school age or younger get in free, with supporting documents, when they come with an immediate family member aged 19 or older who bought a ticket. Tickets were sold only on NOL, and the official notice says, 'if online booking sells out, there will be no on-site sales.'

'HEARTBEAT by dududo' at Korea University Hwajeong Gymnasium puts several acts on one stage back to back, and you can come and go freely in between. The 17th is band day, headlined by The Rose (with iKON, ONF and others), and the 18th is hip-hop day, headlined by Crush (with Loco, Sik-K, Kid Milli and others). At 5 p.m. on the 18th, Noa Coast and Tasty Shop share 'Goodbye Summer' at Vel.R on Jandari-ro in Seogyo-dong (all seats KRW 44,000, Melon Ticket). Tasty Shop sang a song about rain on our October 3 NONOL Playground.