MAMA Awards Return to Hong Kong After 7 Years
The MAMA Awards, a prestigious music event in the K-pop industry, is making a triumphant return to Hong Kong after a seven-year hiatus. The announcement was made during the “2025 MAMA Awards” introductory briefing held at the CJ ENM Center Talent Studio in Mapo-gu, Seoul. This year’s event will be held at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong on the 28th and 29th, marking the first time the awards have been hosted in the region since 2018.
Park Chan-wook, head of the Convention Business Division at CJ ENM’s Music Content Business Headquarters, expressed pride in the growth of the event. He noted that the last Hong Kong hosting in 2018 had a capacity of 10,000 seats, while this year’s event exceeds 70,000 seats over two days. This represents a sevenfold increase compared to seven years ago.
A Legacy of Expansion and Growth
MAMA, which began in 1999 as the Mnet Video Music Awards, has long aimed to become the “Asian Grammy.” It started expanding overseas in 2000 with a Macau hosting and continued to grow in scale. From 2012 to 2018, it was held in Hong Kong for seven consecutive years. However, challenges arose starting in 2016 due to cultural restrictions, leading to artist withdrawals and eventual relocation of the event to other regions.
Despite these challenges, MAMA continued to expand its reach by entering Japan’s three major domes—Nagoya, Kyocera, and Tokyo Dome—and the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This marked a historic milestone as the first domestic awards ceremony to hold events in such global venues.
Reasons Behind the Return to Hong Kong
The decision to return to Hong Kong is attributed to the weakened impact of cultural restrictions in recent years. Hong Kong is now seen as a region where K-pop stars can perform relatively unimpeded, alongside Macau. Its high purchasing power and strategic position in the Chinese-speaking region make it an attractive market for K-pop.
Park highlighted the potential for the Chinese-speaking market to open up with MAMA’s return to Hong Kong. He emphasized that Hong Kong serves as an accessible hub for global K-pop fandom and represents Asia as a mega-event center.
Growing Influence and Global Reach
During the period away from Hong Kong, MAMA’s status has grown significantly, paralleling the rapid expansion of the Hallyu (Korean Wave). Many current-generation idol members cite MAMA as the platform through which they discovered K-pop before their debuts.
Lee Young-joo PD explained how MAMA has connected with local audiences through collaborations between artists who rarely appear together, as well as iconic meetings between actors and singers. The integration of new technologies has also enhanced the experience.
At last year’s MAMA performances, held simultaneously in Los Angeles and Osaka, Rosé and Bruno MASGA performed the global hit song “APT.” for the first time worldwide, creating a massive sensation.
Unique Atmosphere and Collaborative Stages
Hong Kong’s welcoming environment for K-pop and MAMA, which has returned after expanding in scale, is unique. The Kai Tak Stadium, which opened just last March, will host MAMA as the first Korean awards ceremony to enter the venue.
Park mentioned that the Hong Kong Tourism Board is bundling the MAMA Awards with six major representative events held in the country in the second half of the year, reflecting the high local interest in K-pop and MAMA. Before the event, NCT and Seventeen performed, and Twice is scheduled to perform after MAMA.
Exciting Collaborations and Global Broadcast
This year’s key keyword for MAMA is “unparalleled collaborative stages.” Actor Park Bo-gum and Kim Hye-soo will each present collaborative performances with the dance team Bamjeop and Felix from Stray Kids. Malaysian-born actor Michelle Yeoh will serve as a global presenter.
Notably, there will be a collaborative stage between Zero Base One’s Seong Han-bin and Kyoka, a cast member of World of Street Woman Fighter. Additionally, various K-pop artists will recreate characters from the Netflix movie KPop Demon Hunters.
30th Anniversary and Global Significance
MAMA is also planning to proceed on the largest scale in its history, marking the 30th anniversary of the host broadcaster Mnet’s founding. The global broadcast will be conducted in over 200 countries. The official slogan is “UH-HEUNG,” meaning the roar of a tiger.
Lee Young-joo PD described the slogan as a bold declaration of embracing oneself authentically and transcending regions, races, and cultures. He emphasized that this year’s MAMA will amplify excitement beyond any previous edition.
