It’s that time of the year again: Fête de la Musique has come to bring musicians, artists, and festival-goers amassed throughout the years together once more. And this time, the most highly-anticipated music festival in the Philippines has taken it up a notch for a cause.
Entitled “MerSea” – a play on French words for ‘sea’ (mer) and ‘thank you’ (merci) – this year’s Fête theme aims to both express its gratitude for 29 years of Franco-Filipino cultural relations and to contribute to furthering ocean conservation efforts.
With a series of events happening this June 16-25, hundreds of artists will gather across 43 stages nationwide as Fête de la Musique Philippines broadens its horizons to advocate for our oceans.
“In spite of all our differences, music - just like the oceans - connects us humans with each other,” says Xavier Leroux, Executive Director of Alliançe Française de Manille.
Here’s what to look forward to for the two weekends worth of festivities:
Art for the ocean's sake
This year, Fête de la Musique Philippines has partnered with ScarletBox.io, the first blue-chip NFT launch pad for a fundraising campaign for our Philippine seas.
This collaboration features 1,000 NFT art pieces by ten renowned photographers based across the archipelago–including visual storytellers Camille Robiou du Pont, Terence Ver Angsioco, and Katherine Jack, among others.
While interested buyers can choose the photographer, each NFT piece, priced at P3,000, will be sold randomly. 10% of the collection per photographer will be tagged as “rares.” These rares will have an augmented reality treatment which can be accessed through the app Artivive. The sale starts on June 19 at scarletbox.io.
Part of the proceeds from the NFT collaboration will support the ocean efforts of LAMAVE (Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines), a Filipino non-government organization dedicated to the conservation of marine megafauna.
#MerSeaFetePH has also partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Philippines and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to co-organize coastal clean-up and tree-planting activities around the country, including Metro Manila, Siargao, and Cebu.
Moreover, there will be various youth-focused interactive and experiential learning opportunities in close collaboration with the UNDP Youth Programme, DENR advocates, and youth-led civil service organizations.
#MerSeaFetePH 2023 Fete-stivities
As always, Fête will showcase some of the country’s best, freshest, and most diverse acts in the local music scene with a series of live celebrations across the country.
The Main Stage for Fête de la Musique 2023 will be at Greenbelt, Makati on June 23 with performances by Blaster & the Celestial Klownz, Lola Amour, She’s Only Sixteen, Cheats, Ena Mori, and Uncle Bob’s Funky Seven Club. More surprises and performances shall be announced soon. Flying all the way from France, the jazz act Rémi Panossian Trio will be performing on June 21 at the Long Bar at Raffles Makati and on June 22 at the Alliance Française de Manille.
As part of its long-standing partnership with the Department of Tourism, this year’s festival will continue the #FeteFromMyIsland from its virtual edition in 2021.
Joining forces once again with various organizations across the islands, #MerSeaFetePH’s Destination Stages will be in Albay, Baguio, Baler, Cebu, El Nido, Laguna, Pampanga, Palawan, Siargao, Tagaytay, and Zambales. With the exception of Siargao hosting its stage on June 21, all destinations will be celebrating on June 24.
As in years past, this 2023 edition will also feature 31 independently produced pocket stages in Metro Manila to simultaneously present a wide range of genres and vibes on June 17. From dream-pop to blues soul funk, all kinds of musical acts will take over bars all over the Metro.
Further boosting its 2023 lineup, #FetePH is collaborating with SONIK Philippines to birth the first-ever SONIK SESSIONS FETE: Music Export France on June 16, a conference that seeks to educate both the business and artist sides of the music ecosystem to elevate the entire Philippine music industry.
#MerSeaFetePH is presented to you by the Alliance Française de Manille in partnership with B-Side Productions and the Embassy of France to the Philippines and co-organized by the Department of Tourism. Visit their Instagram and Facebook pages for more information.
