SMTown Live: SM Entertainment to host free online K-pop concert on New Year's Day

The event will feature top acts such as Super M, NCT 127, Red Velvet, WayV and NCT Dream

From top: Super M, Red Velvet and NCT 127 will perform online as part of SM Entertainment's free K-pop concert   

In a year when concerts have been cancelled around the world due to the pandemic, artists have had to find ways to be creative and reinvent themselves while staying connected with fans.

One way many have done this is through live-streaming concerts – and now one of South Korea’s biggest music agencies has announced it will hold a free online concert to kick off 2021.

SM Entertainment will live-stream SMTown Live on social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter and Beyond Live on Friday, January 1.

Held under the theme of "culture humanity", the concert will feature performances by SM's top K-pop artists, including Super M, Red Velvet, NCT 127, TVXQ, Super Junior, Taeyeon and Shinee's Taemin from Girls' Generation, and Exo's Baekhyun and Kai.

The idea behind the concert is to bring hope to people around the world, who have been struggling during the pandemic.

In 2018, SM Entertainment hosted SMTown Live Dubai, which saw some of K-pop's biggest acts take to the Autism Rocks Arena stage. Acts included Exo, Boa, Girls' Generation, Shinee and Red Velvet.

That year, Exo also became the first K-pop act to have their song, Power, played at The Dubai Fountain. The group came to the emirate to watch the premiere in January 2018, causing a frenzy at Dubai Airport when they landed.

Scroll through our gallery below to see more photos of Exo in Dubai: