The Stray Kids Rock in Rio performance took place on Palco Mundo, the festival’s main stage, on September 11, 2026.
And this time, they were the headliner.
Rock in Rio is a huge music festival that started in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1985. Queen performed at the very first edition, and the festival has been around for more than 40 years.
But K-pop didn’t really arrive on the main stage of the Brazilian festival until 2026.
On September 11, NEXZ opened Palco Mundo, followed by HWASA, who became the first K-pop female solo artist to perform on the stage.
Then Stray Kids closed the night as Rock in Rio’s first K-pop headliner.
That alone is a pretty big K-pop first.
But while I was reading about the show, something in the festival rules caught my attention more than I expected.
Lightsticks.
Totally normal at a K-pop concert
Bringing a lightstick to a K-pop concert barely feels worth mentioning.
Every group has its own design, and once the concert starts, you expect to see them glowing all over the crowd.
But Rock in Rio’s 2026 rules specifically listed lightsticks as an allowed item.
And it wasn’t just a casual “yeah, you can bring one.”
The rules got pretty specific.
Lightsticks had to be plastic and battery-powered, with a maximum height of 24 cm (about 9.4 inches) and a maximum weight of 400 grams (about 0.9 pounds).
Extra lightstick batteries were allowed too.
According to JYP Entertainment, this was the first time Rock in Rio had allowed lightsticks since the festival began in 1985.
That made something completely ordinary at a K-pop concert look kind of unusual.
At a regular K-pop show, no one needs to explain why thousands of people are walking in with battery-powered glowing sticks.
At a massive multi-genre festival, though, I can see why they might need their own entry rules. They’re battery-powered objects that people carry around and wave in a huge crowd.
Still, seeing the actual word “lightstick” added to the rules of a 41-year-old festival felt weirdly specific.
To us, it’s just an 응원봉.
Why did Rock in Rio allow them this time?
I tried to find out exactly why the policy changed, but I couldn’t find a detailed explanation from Rock in Rio about how that decision was made.
So I wouldn’t say that Stray Kids made Rock in Rio change its rules.
JYP said the festival allowed lightsticks for the first time while taking K-pop concert culture into consideration, and lightsticks were indeed listed in Rock in Rio’s official rules.
This was the first edition where K-pop artists took over multiple slots on Palco Mundo on the same day, ending with Stray Kids as the headliner.
And K-pop artists performing at major international festivals isn’t exactly shocking anymore.
Stray Kids had already headlined festivals including Lollapalooza Paris, BST Hyde Park, and Lollapalooza Chicago.
What stood out to me at Rock in Rio was the festival rule itself.
The organizers actually made room in their entry policy for something K-pop fans normally bring to shows.
2,800 lightsticks
And fans definitely brought them.
Ahead of Stray Kids’ performance, around 3,000 people reportedly showed up at the group’s official pop-up store, where lightsticks were one of the most popular items.
There were 2,800 lightsticks prepared for local sale.
If I saw those numbers in a story about a regular K-pop concert, I probably wouldn’t think much about them.
At Rock in Rio, they hit a little differently.
A Brazilian music festival that has been around since 1985 had just allowed K-pop lightsticks for the first time, on the same day NEXZ, HWASA, and Stray Kids performed on its main stage.
Something so normal at a K-pop concert that I’d barely thought about it before was a first at Rock in Rio.
That might actually be the part of the whole night I found most interesting.
🎧 Three Songs From Rock in Rio’s K-pop Day
Today, I want to recommend one song from each of the three K-pop artists who performed on Palco Mundo that day.
NEXZ — “O-RLY?”
NEXZ performed rock arrangements of several songs during their set, including O-RLY?. If you already know the original, try the Rock in Rio performance and see how different it sounds with the festival arrangement.
HWASA — “Good Goodbye”
If you mostly remember HWASA for her stronger, more intense performances, try Good Goodbye, which she performed as the final song of her Rock in Rio set.
It shows a different side of her from the powerful performances people might immediately associate with HWASA.
Stray Kids — “DIVINE”
The STAY sing-alongs were honestly crazy throughout Stray Kids’ entire set, but DIVINE is the one I remember most.
Especially the “THIS THAT NEW POP” part. Hearing all the STAYs sing that together is probably the moment that stuck with me the most from their performance.