Stray Kids Close Rock in Rio’s First K-pop Day After Crowd-Safety Intervention

Stray Kids closed Rock in Rio’s first day built around K-pop, headlining the festival’s Palco Mundo after a night that also featured Hwasa and NEXZ.

The September 11 program marked a major expansion of K-pop’s presence at one of Brazil’s largest music festivals. NEXZ opened the main-stage run before Hwasa performed later in the evening, with Stray Kids taking the final headline slot after midnight.

The scale of the crowd became part of the night’s story before Hwasa took the stage.

Following NEXZ’s performance, Rock in Rio displayed a safety warning on the Palco Mundo screens asking attendees near the barricade to move backward and create additional space. Organizers said the next performance would not begin until the crowd complied, with staff repeatedly directing sections of the audience to redistribute.

The intervention lasted roughly 15 to 20 minutes before programming continued.

Hwasa then performed her set, followed later by Stray Kids, whose roughly 90-minute headline show included tracks such as “S-Class,” “MANIAC,” “Thunderous” and “God’s Menu.” The group performed with a live band and incorporated both Korean cultural elements and interaction tailored to the Brazilian crowd.

The night represented Rock in Rio’s most concentrated K-pop programming to date and placed three Asian acts on its main stage within the same festival day.

Rather than treating K-pop as a standalone novelty booking, the September 11 program positioned the genre as one of the festival’s central draws — with Stray Kids carrying the headline slot and a large, highly engaged audience gathering at the Palco Mundo throughout the day.