MAMA Awards 2026: Date, Lineup by Night & How to Watch

The 2026 MAMA Awards take place over two nights, November 20 and 21, 2026, at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan, and both nights stream live worldwide on Mnet Plus, according to organiser CJ ENM. Actor Park Bo-gum hosts. As of November 2, Mnet had not published start times.

This is the 27th edition, and the Korea Herald says it has the largest performer lineup the show has ever had in a single host city. Below are the lineup split by night, the presenters, how the awards are decided and what is still unconfirmed.

2026 MAMA Awards at a glance

Performer lineup by night

Mnet announced performers in waves starting October 12. This is the split as listed by Soompi (last updated October 29) and Complex. Lineups can change before the show.

Added later: rock duo Panic (Lee Juck and Kim Jin-pyo) was announced on October 29 as a surprise act. Soompi didn't say which night.

Special collaboration stages

Mnet also teased five crossover stages (Soompi, October 29). None had been assigned to a night yet:

• Panic with CORTIS's Martin and Seonghyeon, WOODZ, ZEROBASEONE's Kim Tae-rae, ALLDAY PROJECT's Woochan and Hearts2Hearts' Yuha
• ENHYPEN x Dune: Part Three, a film-inspired stage
• BIGBANG x Dooly the Little Dinosaur
• MAMA x artist Lee Bae (contemporary art)
• MAMA x Google Gemini

Our read: Night two looks like the bigger draw for casual viewers. It has BIGBANG, LE SSERAFIM, IVE and NAYEON, and the Korea Herald says it carries the Best Song Top 10 and genre awards. Night one is for rookie-watchers, with ALPHA DRIVE ONE, LNGSHOT, MODYSSEY and Hearts2Hearts. Day one also holds the Fans' Choice awards, so that's where the fandom vote pays off.

Several of these acts have new music this month: TREASURE, NAYEON and ENHYPEN are all in our November 2026 K-pop comeback calendar.

Presenters

Soompi lists 25 presenters, announced October 22, without a split by night. They include Kim You-jung, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Junho, Hwang Minhyun, Seol In-ah, Lee Chae-min, Jang Keun-suk, Ong Seong-wu, Jo Yuri and Japanese actor Michieda Shunsuke, plus TV and sports names such as Kim Yeon-koung, Yoo In-na and Jang Hang-jun.

How to watch the 2026 MAMA Awards

• Online, worldwide: Mnet Plus streams both nights live, according to CJ ENM. Make an account before the show if you plan to cast a live vote.
• Start time: not announced as of November 2. Complex also noted on October 16 that ceremony and red-carpet times weren't confirmed. Because Osaka and Seoul share a time zone, whatever time Mnet announces applies in both.
• In Osaka: tickets ran through preregistration rounds (the Korea Herald reported a second round opening on October 21). Check MAMA's official channels for remaining sales; we don't link to resale sites.
• Fan Festa: events run from November 9 to 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka, on Midosuji Street and at Namba Square, and online on Mnet Plus. The Korea Herald says it's the first time the festival runs on- and offline at once.

How the awards are decided

Soompi's nominee announcement (October 12) lays out the weighting. Eligible releases came out between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026.

Voting dates (KST): round one of Fans' Choice closed October 22. The top 20 male and top 20 female acts moved to round two, which runs from October 28, 6 p.m. to November 18, 11:59 p.m.

Album of the Year nominees

All 18, per Soompi: &TEAM Mark on Me, aespa LEMONADE, ALPHA DRIVE ONE EUPHORIA, ATEEZ GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5, BLACKPINK DEADLINE, BOYNEXTDOOR The Action, BTS ARIRANG, CORTIS GREENGREEN, ENHYPEN THE SIN : VANISH, EXO REVERXE, IVE REVIVE+, NCT DREAM Beat It Up, NCT WISH Ode to Love, PLAVE Caligo Pt.2, RIIZE II, Stray Kids THIS & THAT, TWS NO TRAGEDY and TXT 7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns.

The Best New Artist nominees are ALPHA DRIVE ONE, AND2BLE, EVAN, H//PE Princess, hrtz.wav, LNGSHOT, MODYSSEY, OURBIRTHDAY, TUIDE and UNCHILD.

What's still unconfirmed

• Start times for both nights and the red carpet.
• Regional TV partners beyond Mnet Plus.
• Which night Panic and each collaboration stage appear on.
• Attendance by nominees who aren't on the performer list. A nomination doesn't mean an artist will be in Osaka, so we haven't listed anyone as attending unless Mnet has.

We'll update this page when Mnet publishes the running order and times. If you're heading to Japan for K-pop this winter, the dome stops on TXT's Steal the Wind tour include Kyocera Dome Osaka on January 30–31, 2027.