The D Awards, a Korean K-pop awards show that has existed for only two editions, is skipping Seoul for its third outing. Its 2027 ceremony lands in the Paris suburbs, across two nights in mid-January.
When and Where Is D Awards 2027 Paris?
D Awards 2027 in Paris is a two-day K-pop awards ceremony scheduled for January 15 and 16, 2027 at Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, on the western edge of Paris . It is only the third edition of the award show overall, after Seoul ceremonies in 2025 and 2026, and the first staged outside Korea . Organizers Sports Donga and WSM, with StoryPeak Global as co-organizer, published the slogan "Bringing dreams and delights to the world with our music" .
Quick Answer: D Awards 2027 runs January 15–16, 2027 at Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, just outside Paris — the third D Awards edition and the first outside Korea. The venue, renamed from Paris La Défense Arena on July 1, 2026, seats 40,000–45,000 in concert mode. No lineup or ticket date is confirmed yet.
One naming detail matters for anyone searching for tickets. The arena opened in 2017 as U Arena, spent most of its life as Paris La Défense Arena, and has been officially named Plenitude Arena since July 1, 2026 under a naming-rights deal of at least seven years with Eni's retail energy arm . Korean announcement material still carries the older Paris La Défense Arena name, so both labels will circulate in promotion and ticketing until show day .
Scale is the other headline. Capacity at the Christian de Portzamparc–designed building is modular: 30,680 in rugby configuration for Racing 92, and up to 45,000 in concert mode following a 2024 upgrade tied to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour dates, with venue and trade material citing a working show maximum near 40,000 . For an awards-show build, 40,000–45,000 is the practical planning range. Access is by RER and Métro — La Défense (RER A, Métro 1, Transilien L), plus Nanterre-Préfecture and Nanterre–La Folie on RER A/E .
Who Runs D Awards, and Why Move to Paris?
The D Awards is produced by Sports Donga, the sports and entertainment title of the Dong-A Ilbo group, which co-hosts the ceremony with WSM; for the Paris edition, WSM and StoryPeak Global are listed as co-organizers . The name comes from "Dreams" and "Delights," and the announced slogan for 2027 is "Bringing dreams and delights to the world with our music" . Later Korean reporting names Channel A as the domestic broadcast partner, though the original organizer material did not identify a broadcaster .
"We are doing our utmost to prepare for the show, which will mark a monumental moment in K-pop history," the organizing committee said, asking fans to "look forward to a festival where artists and global fans become one through music" (source: Soompi, 2026-08).
English-language promotion frames the show as the first K-pop awards ceremony staged in Europe , and French outlet k-gen.fr carried the same framing . The organizer's own Korean wording is narrower — first K-pop awards ceremony held in the EU region .
That distinction matters. Fan-voted European K-pop awards already existed: Germany's So-Loved Awards, organized by K-Colors of Korea magazine with Berlin's Korean Cultural Center, had already run for years by the time D Awards launched. Its 2012 Berlin edition drew more than 300,000 total votes , and at the 2013 fourth edition B.A.P won three awards — Best Male Group, Best Dance (Male Artist) and Best Music Video . Those were community-run, magazine-organized fan awards, not arena-scale Korean media productions. The defensible framing is that D Awards 2027 is the first major Korean-produced K-pop awards ceremony held at arena scale in the EU — a real milestone, but a qualified one.
What Happened at the Two Seoul D Awards Shows
Both previous D Awards editions were held indoors at Korea University's Hwajeong Gymnasium in Seoul. The first ceremony took place on February 22, 2025, with Seventeen taking Artist of the Year and further top honors going to aespa, ENHYPEN, ZEROBASEONE and RIIZE . The second, on February 11, 2026 at the same venue, ended with ENHYPEN collecting six trophies including Artist of the Year .
The show does not hand out a single daesang. Grand prizes are split across a top tier called the D Awards Black Label — Artist, Song, Album, Record and Performance of the Year — with Delights Blue Label main prizes below it and a Silver Label rookie tier at the base . Judging is described as weighing album sales, digital performance, live and performance ability, and global influence, and a Fanpick category was set at launch to be decided by 100% fan participation through UPICK .
| Edition | Date | Venue | Artist of the Year | Other "of the Year" winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | February 22, 2025 | Hwajeong Gymnasium, Seoul | Seventeen | aespa, ENHYPEN, ZEROBASEONE, RIIZE |
| 2nd | February 11, 2026 | Hwajeong Gymnasium, Seoul | ENHYPEN (6 trophies) | Stray Kids (Album), BOYNEXTDOOR (Song), RIIZE (Record), NCT WISH (Performance), TWS (Trend), ZEROBASEONE (Iconic), P1Harmony (Global) |
| 3rd | January 15–16, 2027 | Plenitude Arena, Nanterre (Paris) | To be announced | To be announced |
The 2026 edition also awarded 13 Blue Label trophies and six rookie trophies . That scale matters for the Paris move: a university gymnasium build is a different production class from an arena that seats up to 45,000 in concert mode , spread across two nights rather than one.
Tickets, Lineup and What's Still Unconfirmed
Nothing about attending D Awards 2027 in Paris is bookable yet. As of the announcement reporting, organizers had published no performing lineup, no award nominees, no fan-voting timetable, and no ticket prices or on-sale date for the January 15–16, 2027 dates at Plenitude Arena . Seating configuration for the two-night build is also unconfirmed .
What organizers have said is that details will follow through official D Awards channels, including the @DAwards_en account on X. Practical implications for fans planning around the dates:
- Do not assume the Seoul model carries over. Both prior editions ran at Korea University's Hwajeong Gymnasium on a free/invitational basis; that is not confirmed for a ticketed arena show in Nanterre .
- Treat circulating package pricing as unverified. Travel or hospitality bundles quoted before an official on-sale post have no organizer backing .
- Broadcast partner is single-track reporting. Later Korean coverage names Channel A as the domestic broadcaster , but the organizer's own announcement did not name one . International streaming arrangements remain open.
The sequence to watch is lineup and voting disclosure first, ticketing second. Fan-voting mechanics matter here because the D Awards structure has included a Fanpick category decided entirely by fan participation through UPICK — meaning a voting window may open well before any seat goes on sale.
Why a Paris Arena Show Matters for European Fans
A two-night awards ceremony in Nanterre gives Europe a fixed K-pop calendar date it has never had. Paris has hosted large K-pop events before — KCON France opened at AccorHotels Arena on June 2, 2016 with SHINee, BTS, Block B, FTISLAND, f(x) and I.O.I in front of more than 12,500 fans, timed to the 130th anniversary of Korea–France diplomatic relations , and Mnet's MCOUNTDOWN IN FRANCE ran at this same arena on October 15, 2023 as CJ ENM's first European expansion of the chart show . What Europe has not had is an awards ceremony: CJ ENM's 2026 MAMA notice lists Macao, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan and the United States as prior overseas host regions, with no European edition .
The timing lands after a dense 2026 touring year on the continent, with BTS playing post-service stadium dates in Madrid, Brussels, London, Munich and Paris before North American stops at MetLife Stadium on August 1–2 and Gillette Stadium on August 5–6, 2026 (video: Asia Pop Central). Mid-January is Paris low season for travel, which helps on airfare and hotels, while the arena itself is booked at roughly 100 events and close to 3 million spectators across 2026–27 .
The concrete takeaway: January 15–16, 2027 removes a Seoul, Tokyo or Hong Kong flight from a European fan's budget for one arena-scale ceremony. Whether it becomes an annual anchor rather than a one-off depends on the lineup disclosure that has not yet arrived.
Frequently asked questions
Is D Awards 2027 really the first K-pop awards ceremony in Europe?
It is the first major Korean-produced K-pop awards ceremony staged in the EU, which is the narrower wording the organizer uses in Korean; the English framing circulating as "first in Europe" is contestable . Fan-voted European ceremonies came earlier: Germany's So-Loved Awards, run by K-Colors of Korea magazine and Berlin's Korean Cultural Center, drew more than 300,000 total votes at its 2012 Berlin edition , and B.A.P won three awards there in 2013 . Those were community-run rather than arena-scale broadcast productions, so D Awards 2027 is the first at this scale and production level.
Is the venue called Plenitude Arena or Paris La Défense Arena?
Both names refer to the same building in Nanterre, west of Paris. It opened in 2017 as U Arena, operated as Paris La Défense Arena for most of its life, and was officially renamed Plenitude Arena on July 1, 2026 under a naming-rights deal of at least seven years with Eni's retail energy arm Plenitude, after the public body Paris La Défense ended its original 10-year agreement early . Live Nation acquired the venue in early 2026 . Korean announcement material still uses Paris La Défense Arena, so expect both names in promotion and ticketing until January 2027.
📍 99 Jard. de l'Arche, 92000 Nanterre, 프랑스
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When do D Awards 2027 Paris tickets go on sale?
No on-sale date and no ticket prices have been published. Organizers said the performing lineup, award nominees, fan-voting timetable and ticket details would follow later, and no seating configuration has been confirmed . Any package pricing circulating now should be treated as unconfirmed until it appears on official channels, including @DAwards_en on X. Do not assume the free or invitational admission model used for the two Seoul editions carries over to a two-night Paris arena booking.
Who won at the previous two D Awards ceremonies?
Seventeen took Artist of the Year at the inaugural ceremony on February 22, 2025, with further top prizes going to aespa, ENHYPEN, ZEROBASEONE and RIIZE . At the second edition on February 11, 2026, ENHYPEN won six trophies including Artist of the Year, while Stray Kids took Album, BOYNEXTDOOR took Song, RIIZE took Record, NCT WISH took Performance, TWS took Trend, ZEROBASEONE took Iconic and P1Harmony took Global, alongside 13 Blue Label and six rookie trophies . Both shows were held at Korea University's Hwajeong Gymnasium in Seoul.
How big is Plenitude Arena?
Capacity is modular. The arena seats 30,680 in rugby configuration for Racing 92 and scales to as much as 45,000 in concert mode after a 2024 upgrade tied to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour dates, with venue and trade material citing a working show maximum near 40,000 . Designed by Christian de Portzamparc and built for roughly €360 million, it markets itself as Europe's largest indoor arena and hosted swimming and water polo at the Paris 2024 Olympics . Access is via La Défense (RER A, Métro 1, Transilien L), Nanterre-Préfecture and Nanterre–La Folie.
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This article was written using information collected and analyzed by NAMANE's in-house K-pop research AI engine. We use AI technology to bring you faster, broader coverage, and in the process some details may occasionally differ from the latest facts. For important information such as dates, venues, and prices, please double-check with official sources.
