MANILA, PHILIPPINES — What makes a truly great music festival? Fusion believes is the heart and soul of the fans. “Everything and everywhere all at once” is the post-pandemic battle cry, and no one craves this more than Millennials and GenZ with their ravenous appetites clamoring for experience overload.
Fusion presents this kind of overload with fun, free-spiritedness, and festivity for everyone. Created by PraXis and Intersections, the music festival was borne out of a good old-fashioned gut feel spiced with loads of data.
“The festival’s goal is to unite the nation to play as one. That is huge. Data shows how the economy is active again, and how people are moving everywhere. Our wide experience as an agency tells us the market, the people are hungry for something. Young people want to feel something,” said Gladys Basinillo, Fusion ideator and Intersections CEO and Praxis Founder. “We want to harness that feeling and deliver that something—and we believe that as Filipinos, it is music that has the power to break down barriers and bring people together, united in something and everything.”
“We know Fusion is a drop in an ocean of other music events, but we say, ‘Laban tayo,’” she added.
Fusion picks up from pre-pandemic origins with a focus on regaining strength as the biggest music festival in the Philippines which celebrates Filipino music.
Furthermore, Fusion is for everyone. The Philippines is a throng of 100 million, majority in the prime of youth. Designed to be inclusive, the music festival encourages diversity at all touchpoints. Its purpose is to tell the stories of Filipinos from all walks of life.
Fusion defines the Philippines: every Filipino united in freedom. Fusion wonderfully coincides with the country’s 125th Year of Independence. The music festival aims to make its goers relive this every day as the vehicle for country’s future generations to discover Independence and become fiercely protective of freedom and passionately proud of being Filipino.
The main stage on May 27 promises to explode with the biggest and hottest OPM acts like the CCP Concert Grounds has never seen before. PraXis, as the A&R behind this massive gig, has 6cyclemind, Adie, Al James, Arthur Nery, Ben&Ben, Denise Julia, Gloc-9, Gracenote, Hey June!, KZ Tandingan, Lola Amour, Morissette Amon, Shanti Dope, and the Prince of Filipino Rock, Bamboo, on the list.
Need more reasons why Fusion the Music Festival is the music event of the year? How about more music? This time it’s a battle for glory with Fusion School Tour and FreeJam: The Fusion Collegiate Battle of the Bands.
“It’s an ingenious way of going over and beyond just tapping school organizations for support. Where before it was just attendance we seek from the youth, Fusion takes the partnership to schools across the capital where organizations create student Fusion Squads to help run the music festival! Just how hands-on can Fusion get, right?,“ shared April Yap, Intersections Managing Director.
The partnership kit comes with a battle of the college bands, and the shortlisted groups get to perform on the pre-show stage on May 27, saving the main concert gig for the winning band.
“Fusion will not just be for Mega Manila. That’s the added value. Fusion will go on tour like any proper music fest! We’re gonna do Dagupan on June 30, Iloilo on July 14, and Davao on July 28. We’ve got the regional talents signed up and lined up. Plus, the Fusion School Tour and FreeJam will do the tour. It’s a festival. We’re pulling all the stops and we’re doing this every year,” added April.
At the core Fusion is its brilliant entrepreneurship. Freedom at its spiraling height, OPM grandeur at its center, and the electricity of youth the fuel in its veins, and PraXis the master ideator.
“It’s Fusion. We’re picking the best partners and packaging the best value. Fusion offers our supporters the amplification for their brands on TV, radio, print, out-of-home, and online platforms and the blogging community.
We’re smack center of the new era where the public, the people are your partners. We’re offering the best mileage for brands to connect to their public. We’re just taking the fun ride to get to people. Music, freedom, pride. Pride in your craft, in your school, for your country. Fusion the Music Festival is all about bringing all good things together,” shared Gladys.
Some of the country’s biggest brands have joined together for Fusion such as Watsons, Fudgee Bar, and Hapee Toothpaste. Tanduay comes in as a drink sponsor.
The Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers – FILSCAP, Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit – OPM, and Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas – KBP are supporting Fusion. University organizations Junior Marketing Association of Letran Calamba, UP Musicians’ Organization, PUP Advertising and Public Relations Organization of Students, PUP Communication Society, UP Communication Research Society, DLSU-Dasmarinas Communication Program Council, and Nationation Federation of Junior Philippine Institute of Accountant.
With Fusion are Cignal and TV5 as the media co-presenter together with Myx Global and IWantTFC; Manila Broadcasting Company as major media partner. Wish FM, Home Radio, Win Radio, Monster RX and KLite for radio; CNN, Solar Entertainment, All TV for TV; and The Philippine Star, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Daily Tribune and Manila Business Insight for print. Innity Philippines, The New Channel, WhenInManila.com, Manila Concert Scene, Philstar.com, and What’s New Philippines are digital collaborators. OOH partners are Summit Outdoor Media, Strongmedia, Steel Art Billboards, NYXSYS Philippines, VLink, Pitchworks, Vonventures, United Neon, HDI Adventures and Outcomm.
Tickets for Fusion: The Philippine Music Festival are available here and all SM Ticket outlets nationwide.
