All The K-pop Happenings You Need To Know This Week As A Fan In North Carolina
April 8th — News & Latest Releases in K-pop (NC Edition)
Hey there, busy bees, we’re back again this Wednesday with the latest and greatest in K-pop! Let’s get you caught up on what’s happening in North Carolina and beyond.
I hope you enjoy today’s post and have a wonderful and whimsical Wednesday!
Events are happening every weekend this April! The NC K-pop Community is typically most active on Instagram, so we encourage you to head on over there and follow us if you haven’t yet. To stay updated beyond nckpophive, we also recommend triadkpop and shaeshae358_2, who also help promote events happening in NC!
Message us (or comment on this post) your favorite groups and what NC cities are closest to you, and we can connect you with more local groups! <3
That said, here’s what’s going on this weekend (that we know of):
THU. APRIL 9, 2026
K-pop Skate Night (6—8:30 pm) at Wheels Durham. $14 at the door, all ages.
FRI. APRIL 10, 2026
K-pop Night (5—8 pm) at The Bean Flower, Durham, NC.
SAT. APRIL 11, 2026
“DO IT” Stray Kids Dance Workshop (12 pm) at the Greensboro Cultural Center. Hosted by K-pop Dance Box! $7 at the door.
BLUE NIGHT RADIO: A Jonghyun Birthday Celebration (12–4 pm) at Salt n Cocoa, Durham, NC. Hosted by SHINee x NC.
MISSION: 1117 ATINY BRIEFING (ATEEZ Cupsleeve Event, 12–4 pm) at The Bean Flower, Durham, NC. Hosted by Catbus Cupsleeves.
Photocard Trading at Oppang Durham (1–6 pm).
Baby DONT Cry Special Release Party at Oh Seoul Happy, Mount Holly Location (Charlotte, NC)
SUN. APRIL 12, 2026
Photocard Trading at Oppang Durham (1–6 pm)
KWA’s Spring Showcase (2–5:30 pm) at Winthrop University, SC
Later this month, on April 18th (1–5 pm), you’re also invited to Kingdom of K-pop and More to celebrate the return of BTS with ARMY. This is absolutely one of my favorite places to be. I can’t recommend this shop enough. Please stop by if you can! Be sure to get the Silver Spoon Package for Bulgogi, Dessert, and extra perks!
See More Events in the USA: Kpop Tracker
Don’t forget to get your tickets to see Big Ocean when they come back to Raleigh on April 26th! You can get GA tickets and VIP perks. All tour information is being promoted through Oppang Official if you need help finding anything!
Check out the UP CLOSE promo tour for the boy group VVS and girl group B-OURS. This is your chance to truly discover Nugu groups and help make a difference in their careers. They’ll be coming to Raleigh on June 7th. Tickets are available through Eventbrite and start as low as $20. The more expensive tickets do come with perks (though Eventbrite doesn’t list them), which may include things like early entry, soundcheck, meet & greet, hi-touch, signed posters, and group photos!
K-Bloom Fan Fest is the largest community-collaborative event in the Triad. Packed with vendors, artists, a talent showcase, cosplay contests, fandom activities, food trucks, and more. The primary host is Triad K-pop, and the event will take place on May 16th from 12 pm to 7 pm. Free Entry, VIP packages available.
MAMAMOO will be going on a world tour this summer and will be in North America this August.
MONSTA X will be on their US and Toronto tour starting in October!
Gosh, I am not for the influx of comebacks we’re about to get. I’m so excited for Cortis, xikers, TXT, BoyNextDoor, and so many others. Also, did you see the Wanna One reunion event?! OMG, the school uniforms take me back! Kang Daniel and Lai Kuanlin couldn’t be at the event, so we got life-size standees instead. Wanna One Go: Back to Base will officially start airing on April 28th!
I probably should have saved that for the news portion, but I was way too excited to wait, I must fangirl. We even got a 2026 version of “Pick Me!” As for recent debuts and releases, we covered a few last week and will cover a few more today!
I’m going to put together a YouTube playlist linked here so you don’t have to click on links one by one. I’ll include some releases from the past weeks for anyone who missed those! Some of my favorite recent releases include lngshot’s “Training Day” EP, YENA’s “LOVE CATCHER” EP, and BTS’s “ARIRANG” newest album! What’s yours? Leave a comment, and I’ll give it a listen!
THE NEW IN K-POP 2026 PLAYLIST: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2DlgleXdLV9y8VPzL-xa0nLig1o__h4C&si=qoEoVyptTN3LbiMl
If you like T-Pop, P-Pop, J-Pop, and related genres, here’s one more playlist with some more songs you may like, such as “KUB HERE” from BUS and “Home” by Ayumu Imazu.
THE MORE GENRES PLAYLIST: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2DlgleXdLV-VNg4FQIt0iq6KokU-jBgO&si=V72cc2g6_8_LBvzp
As for what’s going on in the world of K-pop, and the world in general, I think the general note to takeaway is “WTF!?!”
Here’s what you may have missed lately:
Heesung left Enhypen (I’m sure everyone and their mother knows that by now)
Mark left SM Entertainment and NCT (all units).
Ten left SM Entertainment (is still with his groups tho).
BTS tops 6 Billboard Charts and becomes 1st Asian Act to chart 10 songs simultaneously on Hot 100 for multiple weeks!
All 13 members of SEVENTEEN have officially renewed their contracts with PLEDIS Entertainment. This marks SEVENTEEN’s second full-group renewal.
Wanna One will have a new reality series starting April 28th.
Simply K-pop is returning on April 10th.
TXT will release their 8th mini-album on April 13th!
Evnne will have a comeback on April 20th.
XngHan & Xoul will have a comeback on April 27th.
NEXZ will have a comeback on April 27th!
TWS will have a comeback on April 27th as well.
82MAJOR will have a comeback on April 28th.
Lee Chaeyeon will have a comeback later this April!
Billlie will have a comeback later this May with their first full album.
CORTIS will have their official comeback on May 4 after releasing the lead single on April 20th.
BOYNEXTDOOR leader Jaehyun confirmed the rumors by changing his Weverse bio to read, “New song in May.”
ITZY will have a comeback in May.
AN2BLE (with Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyu Vin, Han Yu Jin, Yoo Seung Eon) will debut in May! You may recognize these name as former members of both ZEROBASEONE and EVNNE.
ABLUME will comeback with a full album sometime this year…
I think that’s all the info I have for this week, I’ll let you know if I find anything else worth noting. Thank you for reading!
Your Friendly Neighborhood K-pop Fans,
NC K-pop Hive
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i am a diehard ✨stray kids✨ fan and really hoping their world tour takes them to the west coast this year 😭