MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Fête de la Musique has officially kicked off, and this year, there are many new things to look forward to with the return of the most popular free music event to the Philippines. After two years of online festivities, the festival is back to doing what it does best — celebrating music and the togetherness it brings — in person.
This year, the on-ground Fête de la Musique festivities are coming back with a bang as they showcase the country’s freshest and most diverse acts with stages across the Philippines, bringing the live music performances to Metro Manila, Palawan, Baguio, Cebu, and Siargao. Connecting various parts of the archipelago through this event is a big part of how Fête de la Musique is serious about its vision of music as something that nurtures diversity and community.
In addition to bringing the festival across the country, Fête de la Musique is also shining a brighter focus on the French-Filipino cross-cultural exchange. So, French artists Marc Fichel, DJ Blutch, and Maxime Cozic will be flying in to perform around the country as well.
This is also the first year that Fête de la Musique will have an anthem that celebrates its theme: Tara Allez!, which is the perfect way to encapsulate the French-Filipino collaboration that this festival is fostering and celebrating. The song and video features artists from all over the country, celebrating and making music in their own way, which highlights the diversity and community that this event fosters.
There’s so much to look forward to as Fête de la Musique starts. So, to elaborate on the significance of this year’s Fête de la Musique and how it all came together, Giselle Tomimbang, managing partner of Fête de la Musique co-producer B-Side Productions, sits down for a quick chat with adobo Magazine, along with some insights from fellow organizer Ziera de Veyra and Tara Allez! producer and composer Francis de Veyra.
adobo: What has been your favorite part of working on Fête de la Musique so far? And what makes this year different?
Tomimbang: I think it’s really the idea of being able to bring together people and communities and artists from all walks of life, all different parts of the scene. For me, the magic has always been that unity, you know, as cheesy as it can sound. There have been so many challenges we’ve all faced as a nation like Covid-19 and election anxiety.
But music is one thing that really brings us together regardless of whatever political affiliations you may have or your social-economic status. It’s really one of the places in which we can really be free. No festivity is complete without music. It’s what we celebrate with, it’s what we cry to, it’s what we move to. And, really, it’s a very unique way of being able to listen to each other as well and be able to just be.
Can you give us a quick rundown on the history of the festival? How did it all start and what has it evolved into since then?
Tomimbang: Fête de la Musique started in the early 80s in Paris. The French Minister of Culture basically had this thought that there’s so much talent, but no concerts, no audiences. Since June 21 is the summer solstice, it is the day that has the most hours of sunlight; in Europe, that’s a big deal. The sun sets at 9:00 or 10:00 pm, it was a great day to invite people to come out, come out of their homes, get out of their offices, and play in the parks, play in the streets, and really just make music as accessible to people as possible. All kinds of music. It was really just a day where people could essentially busk. The English term [for Fête de la Musique] is World Music Day.
In the Philippines, it started in the mid-90s. Legend has it 40 people in attendance, including performers. It was a very intimate celebration up until I think the year 2000 when a producer named Len Francisco devised a multi-stage multi-genre format.
She had the idea of [having] simultaneous stages happening at the same time, so people can hop from one stage to another. I had the great privilege of being able to work directly with Len in 2005. Back then we had maybe less than 10 stages. But that, for me, was the magic that I was talking about earlier. It was like, wow, you go into one room, and it’s hip hop. You go into another and it’s electronica. It opened my world and it made me in awe even more of how much talent we have here in the Philippines.
Fast forward to 2011, it ended up with B-Side Productions. That’s actually what birthed B-Side Productions. Alliance Francaise approached my partner for B-Side Productions who owns B-Side. I was just doing events there and then she’s like, “Hey, do you want to partner together on this?” That’s what made us bring back the multi-stage multi-genre format.
Fast forward to 2019, it was our last physical or pre-pandemic Fête. And by then, we had 52 simultaneous stages in one night, and it was celebrated in six cities outside, and we had about 40,000 people in attendance, and over 3,000 artists performing. For the last two years, we’ve had to do it virtually.
What makes things different this year is really the return to the physical and, again, pushing that Fête From My Island even further because as much as we would have celebrations outside of Metro Manila before, we weren’t as hands-on. They were kind of like how our pocket stages are, wherein it’s very independently produced. But now we’re a little bit more involved. And this is the first time we’re having an anthem. That’s another huge milestone that we have.
It’s come so far, and this year, as you mentioned, is the first one since the pandemic. Can you tell us more about what this return to in-person music has been like and how it has affected the vision of Fête de la Musique and what the festival wants to accomplish?
Tomimbang: Honestly, what I want to accomplish is that this even pushes through! And there’s a surge! Who knows? I mean, real talk, you know? And this is something that we had to tell all the pocket stages. “Guys, let’s plan this as if it’s gonna push through, but let’s be ready. They can pull the plug on this anytime.” I think that really was one of the major changes in the planning. It’s really this having that notion of like, this could all be for naught. This whole idea of just being comfortable with uncertainty […] has been a huge lesson for us.
I think what’s also made it different, again, is what I wasn’t able to mention earlier. We usually only have one French artist, who comes to the Philippines to perform. We actually have three this year, and the intention of that was to be able to send one of them to each of our major islands. They’re gonna go to two of our islands: Cebu and El Nido. I think we’ve always had collaboration at the heart. Not just collaboration between musicians. But also collaboration with people behind the scenes and our production partners. I will always repeat that they’re really a huge part of the growth of Fête de la Musique in the country. It’s really this generous spirit of being like “Hey, I want to celebrate music too,” you know? Even if we don’t really have any corporate partners this year, people are still so generous with their time and their energy. I think the fact that we’ll have to be more hands-on again in the islands is another huge thing.
[Another way it’s affected our plans] is the idea of collaboration through the anthem. It’s involving artists from different parts of the country and hopefully some of our French artists as well.And what did you guys miss the most about celebrating Fête de la Musique in person?
Ziera de Veyra: Actually, namimiss ko yung connection ng audience at ng musicians. Kasama kasi sa live events yung ngiti nila, yung ‘pag nakikita mo na natutuwa yung audience and at the same time yung mga musicians. Okay na ko doon. Parang, okay na, nagawa ko na yung job ko.
Francis de Veyra: And also, [Fête de la Musique is a one of kind] gig na you can go to different stages just by walking distance. Kasi yung Fête, iisang area lang dapat. So, for the longest time, the past 10 years, [it was at] Makati, sa Poblacion. So, [there’s the main stage] tapos ikot lang ‘dun sa area. So ‘yun yung nakakatuwa. Iba’t ibang genre mapupuntahan mo sa isang gabi. Saan ka makakaexperience ng gano’ng klaseng music?
Tomimbang: Even before, when I would just go as an audience member, yung nakakatuwa sa akin is the blurring of the lines between the performer and the audience. Like yung katabi mo parang rock star na sobrang mong idol, but they’re also just enjoying.
Yeah, and it’s super great that it’s not just places in Manila or Luzon that get to experience that now because this year, there’s going to be in-person stages countrywide. It really allows for more collaboration. Why was it so important for you guys to represent Filipino music in a way that also gives a platform to artists from Mindanao and Visayas?
Tomimbang: On a personal level, last year was the first time that I started living in the islands. Island living really influenced and opened my eyes in the same way the [different stages of Fête] opened my eyes to the different genres.
As much as you know logically that there’s a lot of talent in the other islands, it’s different to experience it. So for me, that was important because it’s like we’ve been so Manila-centric all this time, and yeah it’s a small country, but the talent is all over. It became a personal experience where it was like “Hey since we have this platform, it would be great to be able to use this platform to share.”
Ziera de Veyra: Yeah, marami talagang talented artists sa iba’t ibang lugar, especially sa Cebu. Naisip namin “Kelan pa natin sila makakacollab?” So, ito na yun. Ngayon na.
Francis de Veyra: Yung anthem na ginawa namin is a collaboration of Manila artists. [We got] different singers like sina Faye Yupano, Zsaris, and then artists from Cebu and Palawan. The title of the song is Tara Allez!, meaning “let’s go!”, parang “it’s time to move.” The past two years nandun lang tayo sa computer, sa online performance. So ngayon, tayo na tayo, let’s go to the islands and explore the Philippines again. ‘Yun yung message ng song.
I’m glad that you mentioned the anthem because, as you said, it’s the first time that the festival is gonna have one. So, Francis, can you tell us more about how you ended up with the role of creative director for the anthem, and can you expound further on your vision for this anthem?
Francis de Veyra: Well, part naman ako ng Fête by heart, so palagi akong ready kapag Fête na mga projects. It’s an honor and a pleasure working for Fête.
[For 2019,] we did a 25-minute medley. I was the musical director. 25 minutes, non-stop, iba’t ibang artist nagcocollab. So, this year, I was tapped again to come up with the song na magbibigay ng voice doon sa vision na Tara Allez. Inexplain nila sa akin kung ano ang vision this year: to help each other through the pandemic [and other hardships] through music and arts in this event.Ayoko siyang maging parang boring na “we are the world” [type of song.] Gusto ko parang hip pa din. So, may Jackson 5 Michael Jackson vibe siya na parang groovy and at the same time it’s positive, it’s inspirational.
May mga percussion group din from Palawan — may mga chants, mga meditation bells, and everything. And [in terms of music from] Cebu, may mga Visayan lines ka na marinig. Basta, masaya siya at collaboration talaga siya.
I love that it’s not just the artists that are collaborating, you also ingrained pieces of music from the culture they’re from. Other than the collaboration among Filipino artists, this year also puts a stronger highlight on French-Filipino collaboration. Why is it important to bring a stronger focus on that cross-cultural exchange? And what are the things that are exciting about that for you guys?
Tomimbang: Fête has always been a global French tradition that we as Filipinos embrace as our own because we love music. But, in the past, whenever there would be a French artist, usually sobrang in-out sila also because they’re performing in other Fête de la Musique celebrations around Asia, around the region. They’re flying from France, usually.
So, this year, it’s the 75th anniversary of Filipino-French bilateral relations. And so that’s one of the reasons why there’s a stronger focus on it and it’s not just like “perform and leave.” Hey, actually experience our culture, and even before you get here, let’s go create something together. We have three collaborations that are happening with the three French artists, the first being Marc Fichel, who is a singer, songwriter, and pianist. He’s collaborating with Seidel, who was one of the winners of The Voice Teens. They have been working on a song together even remotely, while he’s not here.
The second collaboration is [with] Blutch, who’s a DJ and video mapping artist. Since there was that visual aspect to the music, what we wanted to add was a movement element to it. That’s why we invited the Daloy Dance Company to collaborate with them.
And then the third collaboration is between a French dancer and choreographer named Maxime Cozic [and] embodiment artist named Dona Tumacder-Esteban, who’s currently based in El Nido. We wanted to bring the idea of ritual because when we saw Maxime’s performance, it was very solemn. One of the very cool things that we do in El Nido that Donna usually leads are these community circles, where we honor the land where we came from, the elements, the directions, and we come in and create a community altar. And it was a great way to kind of ease into a very solemn performance, and then a collaboration between them.
Do you have anything else you want to share with people who are going or planning to go to Fête de la Musique?
Tomimbang: We’re really excited to be back, live and in the flesh, seeing everybody again after years of mostly isolation or at least not being able to mass gather. So, we are really excited to be having multiple celebrations.
To give a quick rundown of the schedule: June 24 is our Poblacion pocket stage evening. June 25 is gonna be the main stage at Puerta Real Garden in Intramuros. We also have island stages happening, the first being June 21 in Siargao and then June 25 and 26 in Cebu. And then on June 26 and 28, we’ll be having it in Kalye Artisano in El Nido.
So, there’s a lot! Follow us on our socials, we’ll be having some contests [and] raffling off some exciting prizes. And if you happen to be at a certain SM Mall sometime this weekend, we may or may not have a surprise for you.
