HYBE Latin America Opens Interactive Santos Bravos Exhibit Allowing Fans to ‘Touch and Feel Everything That Goes Into Creating a Band’

3D screens and images featuring information about each participant, recording booths, a virtual dance coach, and a room filled with memorabilia from some of the biggest K-pop bands. Visitors can find all this and more at the HYBE Experience, an interactive exhibit created by HYBE Latin America in Mexico to introduce the world of Santos Bravos and closely follow the selection and training process for the next Latin pop superstar group.

Open to the public since July 17, the exhibit is housed in the iconic “brick building” at Parque Bicentenario in northern Mexico City. From this dynamic hub, the future members of Santos Bravos actively take part in the development process of this ambitious project in the region, spearheaded by HYBE, the global company behind artists like BTS, SEVENTEEN, and ENHYPEN.

“Everything at HYBE always starts and ends with the fans,” Juan S. Arenas, COO of HYBE Latin America, tells Billboard Español. “For us, it was very important to create an experience where they can touch and feel everything that goes into creating a band, especially one from our continent.”

As part of the Santos Bravos and HYBE Latin America experience, which begins on social media and continues at this interactive center in Mexico City, the space will also serve as a platform for talks with industry leaders, curated events, concerts, and activations, “bridging the gap between artistic development and fan culture,” according to Arenas.

Santos Bravos is the name of both the project and the final group that will emerge from it. This initiative marks HYBE’s first attempt to apply its renowned global pop artist development system—responsible for launching many K-pop superstars — in a Latin American setting.

“When we talked with HYBE, we started to realize that we had to do something very different,” says Jaime Escallón, producer and co-creator of Santos Bravos, to Billboard Español. “First, because our audience is young, and many of them are no longer on traditional television; they consume stories differently, and in a more authentic way.”

Starting in August, the initiative will bring together 16 artists from Latin America — including Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, and Peru — as well as Spain and the United States, giving them the opportunity to showcase their talent while competing to form the new band.

During the competition, the contestants will go through an intense creative bootcamp where they will test their musical, emotional, and performance skills, according to a statement from HYBE Latin America. In the end, five finalists will form the group.

“The TV program is important, but the band that comes out of it is even more so because it will create a Latin movement, and later a global one,” says Escallón. “The 16 selected participants in the first stage entered a training process modeled after what HYBE does in Korea, but obviously adapted to the Latin reality.”

The selection and training process for Santos Bravos is led by an international team that includes, among others, creative director Kenny Ortega (High School Musical, Michael Jackson), music producer Johnny Goldstein (Shakira, Daddy Yankee), and vocal coach RAab Stevenson (Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, SZA).

Escallón revealed that Santos Bravos will make its grand debut with a live concert on October 21 at the iconic Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, before embarking on a tour across Latin America.

Meanwhile, the HYBE Experience at Parque Bicentenario will remain open to the public until October 31, operating Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM (local time). For tickets and more information, click here.