AEG Facilities’ Los Angeles Convention Center is delighted to welcome back four popular events for summer 2017: BET Experience (BETX), Anime Expo (AX), Beautycon Festival LA, and KCON Los Angeles. All four shows have evolved throughout the years into large-scale entertainment experiences expanding in size, popularity, and contribution to Los Angeles’ economy.
June 24-25: BET Experience
BET Experience returns to the LACC for its 5th Anniversary. The BET Network and AEG collaboration began in 2012 with a mission to bring fans, celebrities, and influencers together through an interactive approach. The expo started as a predominantly outdoor three-day fest that drew about 75,000 fans the first year and has since turned into a four-day event which includes concerts at L.A. Live, STAPLES Center, and The Novo by Microsoft, plus a BET Fan Fest held at LACC which includes a celebrity basketball game, genius talks, meet and greets, and exhibits. This summer, the BET Experience is projected to surpass previous attendance numbers and contribute $20.9 million to Los Angeles’ economy.
July 1-4: Anime Expo
AX promotes Japanese pop culture and the arts of Japanese Animation. Since its inception in 1992, Anime Expo has grown to become the largest anime convention in North America evolving in both size and attendance. The annual event initially started in Northern California and moved to the LA Convention Center in 2008, activating in West Hall’s 210,685 square feet and reporting 43,000 in attendance. Fast forward to 2017; AX currently utilizes all 720,000 square feet of exhibit space at LACC. The 2017 edition of AX now consists of one pre-show and four days of panels, premieres, Q&A sessions, and concerts with this year’s attendance projected to reach 100,000 attendees, exceeding previous attendance records. “Los Angeles is excited to welcome Anime Expo back to the L.A. Convention Center,” said Doane Liu, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Department of Convention and Tourism Development. ” We value our partnership with The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation and the Anime Expo, which generated $72.9 million for our local economy last year.”
August 12-13: Beautycon Festival LA
LACC hosts the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle community for the second summer in a row at Beautycon Festival LA. The international festival has seen exponential growth since its start in 2013. This year the festival has extended the beauty panels, makeup tutorials, meet-ups, and activations with cosmetic and lifestyle brands from one day to two days. “Beautycon Festivals focus on creating a thriving community for content creators and the fans that love them. So many companies are focused on marketing to this generation, but we strive to give a voice to the underserved generation of 84 million kids that live in an entirely digital world and really look up to these men and women. We have created a community for them where they can embrace their eccentricities and be true to who they are. We are looking forward to not only a bigger but another successful festival. We would not be where we are without the support we have received in Los Angeles,” says Moj Mahdara, CEO of Beautycon Media.
August 18-20: KCON 2017 LA
KCON Los Angeles has become the largest Korean culture and K-Pop convention in North America. Produced by CJ E&M, Asia’s leading content company, and its global music channel, Mnet; the event was first moved to LACC in 2015 and neighboring STAPLES Center, attracting thousands of K-pop fans and surpassing expected attendance. Due to popular demand, the bi-costal event expanded its scope last year to include a three-day festival with more vendors, programming, panels, and two nights of concerts at STAPLES.
Through direct and indirect spending on travel, lodging, meals, and entertainment, these four shows stimulate the City’s economy and support local businesses and jobs. It is estimated that this summer, these four events will generate more than $96 million for Los Angeles’ local economy.
“Summer 2017 will be one of the busiest summers in the Los Angeles Convention Center’s history, essentially being 100% booked. We applaud each of our shows for their phenomenal growth and incredible success,” noted Brad Gessner, AEG Facilities Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The Los Angeles Convention Center is internationally renowned as an optimal site for conventions, conferences, meetings, and assemblies. Operationally managed by AEG Facilities, the LACC attracts over 2.5 million visitors annually. The facility is an integral economic component to the Southern California area. The LACC’s total economic impact based on direct and indirect spending averages $548 million annually, generating and sustaining over 5,900 local jobs. The LACC also remains an enduring symbol of environmental sustainability and social responsibility and is proud to be a LEED Gold certified facility. The venue was recertified on the Gold level in 2015 making the LACC the largest convention center in the U.S. to receive LEED EB:O+M Gold recertification. For more information, please visit lacclink.com.
