Thousands packed Brookside at the Rose Bowl on August 8 for a single-day version of Head in the Clouds, the festival built around Asian and Asian diaspora music that has quietly grown into one of the biggest gatherings of its kind in the world. The lineup mixed Grammy-nominated headliners with acts making their very first American stage appearances, while a stage nearby gave local Los Angeles high schoolers a shot to perform alongside them.
Organizers 88rising and Goldenvoice scaled the event back to one day this year, a shift from 2025's two-day run that drew more than 75,000 attendees, according to Pasadena Now. Headlining duties fell to KATSEYE, the six-member global girl group formed through the 2023 HYBE x Geffen “Dream Academy” reality series, which played its festival debut fresh off 2026 Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. As NBC 7 San Diego reported, the festival also featured XG, Dabin.kr, Rich Brian, and BE:FIRST.
A Six-Member Group Makes Its American Debut
BE:FIRST, a six-member Japanese group consisting of Sota, Shunto, Manato, Ryuhei, Junon, and Leo, performed its first-ever show in the United States at the Rose Bowl on August 8, per the outlet's reporting. The group was formed in 2021 through the reality audition program THE FIRST, created by producer and rapper Sky-Hi, and has since earned multiple chart-topping hits in Japan while blending pop, hip-hop, and R&B. BE:FIRST completed its first world tour in 2025.
The group told NBC San Diego it wants to introduce global audiences to Japanese music and culture and hopes more Asian artists and Asian music reach listeners worldwide. BE:FIRST has collaborated with ATEEZ, Janet Jackson, Flo Milli, and Alt Jacob, and the group is set to release its international EP Watch Me on September 18, which it plans to promote through a world showcase tour. BE:FIRST told the outlet it hopes listeners connect with the new project.
Local Teens Share the Spotlight
Away from the main stage, the nonprofit Music Will partnered with Toyota to host a special stage for students from John Marshall High School in Los Feliz, giving the teens a chance to perform with Korean American rapper Dankadan. Music Will, described as the largest nonprofit music program in American public schools, reaches more than one million students annually and partners with music festivals including Head in the Clouds.
Janice Polizzoto, the organization's chief growth officer, said Music Will programs help students find belonging and community and that music supports students' social and emotional learning and creative self-expression. She said all children should have access to arts and music in their academic careers, and that the nonprofit aims to make music education accessible to every student regardless of background or financial status.
From a Grassroots Video Collective to a Global Festival Brand
88rising was founded in 2015 by CEO Sean Miyashiro and Jaeson Ma as a hybrid record label, management company, and media entity built to elevate Asian and Asian American musical talent in mainstream global media, according to Wikipedia. Head in the Clouds itself debuted in 2018 at Los Angeles State Historic Park before relocating to Brookside at the Rose Bowl in 2021 and expanding internationally to cities including Jakarta, Manila, and New York. Hoodline previously covered 88rising's arena tour push with Joji earlier this year.
Other acts underscored the festival's role as a launchpad for artists new to American crowds. South Korean artist Dabin.kr performed under his birth name, marking a major stage return after retiring his longtime stage name DPR LIVE in late 2023 and launching his independent label CTYL, according to K-Pop Concerts. Five-member group KiiiKiii made its first-ever U.S. live stage performance at the festival, kicking off the afternoon K-pop lineup, per the same outlet.
Emerging Japanese boy group ONE OR EIGHT opened the main stage with its track TOKYO DRIFT, which samples the 2006 hip-hop song by Japanese group Teriyaki Boyz, as noted by JoySauce. Japanese girl group XG, meanwhile, arrived fresh off releasing its debut full-length album The Core in January before embarking on a world tour that brought it to Pasadena, as reported by Pasadena Now.
Now billed as one of the world's largest festivals dedicated to Asian and Asian diaspora artists, Head in the Clouds has built its identity on showcasing Asian talent to global audiences while still carving out space for hometown students. For the John Marshall High School performers who shared a stage with international acts, and for groups like BE:FIRST making their American debut, the single-day event at the Rose Bowl offered a snapshot of how far the festival's ambitions now reach.
