FÊTE DE LA MUSIQUE — the renowned free annual music event from France that is celebrated around the globe — is back in the Philippines. This year, it will be a month-long celebration bringing 151 events to 30 locations nationwide.
The music festival’s Philippine edition, known as FDLM or Fête PH, is presented by the Alliance Française de Manille in partnership with the Embassy of France, Funkybeat Entertainment, and Anam Kara. With the theme “Un Monde” (One World), the multi-stage, multi-genre event aims to emphasize “music’s incredible power to unite diverse cultures and bridge the Philippines to the world.”
Counting main stages and small events, there will be live celebrations in store from June 1 all the way to June 29, across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
“This year, we’re even bigger and more widespread than ever before,” said Sana Schifferer, one of Fête’s project managers, at a May 28 press conference in Makati. Last year, there were about 100 events, compared to over 150 this year.
Fête de la Musique began as a music festival in Paris on June 21 (the Fête’s official date) in 1982 and has since spread to 120 countries. This year’s edition in the Philippines will kick off with a pool party on June 1 at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati City, featuring beats by DJs Francie Gee, Marco Pedro, and Eva Smalls.
It will also bring back its advocacy “Music Heals” with a sound healing festival led by the Aruga Collective on June 8. A new venue is the Shangri-La Plaza Stage on June 13, which promises an intimate experience featuring a showcase of Gen Z artists.
As is every year, FDLM 2025’s main event will be the Main Stage, held at Makati’s Ayala Triangle Gardens on June 21. It will boast a mix of established headliners and new talents: Brigada, Janine, Brass Pas Pas Pas Pas featuring Leanne & Naara, James Reid, The Ridleys, and Tarsius x Ena Mori. It will also feature off-stage performances by Filipino musicians Frank Ely and Zsaris, Bolivian pop artist Bling Bling Papaya, and Singapore-based Pinoy queer artist Marian Carmel.
To reflect the “Un Monde” theme, international musicians Ito Kashitaro from Japan and Emile Londonien from France will grace the Fête PH stage.
151 STAGESPerformances will be held at 54 pocket stages across two days around Metro Manila, spanning all genres from jazz to pop to new wave to rock. On June 27, these will be centered in Barangay Poblacion in Makati City.
On June 28, there will be stages in Alabang, Manila, Mandaluyong, Pasig, and Quezon City. “Expect an Escolta stage, a stage by the Cubao Expo community, and a P-pop stage,” said Noe Fuentes, cultural coordinator at Alliance Française de Manille.
Alexa Arabejo, another Fête project manager, explained that these locations and all relevant details are now available to view on a website for the very first time: www.feteph.com.
“Unlike previous years, where most communication was on Instagram, there’s now a catch-all for everybody to check the destination stages, the pocket stages, producers, sponsors, venues. Everything will be here,” she said.
Meanwhile, the performances at the Destination Stages will all happen on June 28 and 29. There are quite a few first-time venues this year, noted Ms. Schifferer, such as Dagupan in Pangasinan, Calatagan in Batangas, and Bukidnon in Northern Mindanao.
“Our northernmost location is Isabela. They’re first-time producers and when they opened up in their community, so many bands wanted to join that they opened a second entire destination in Cagayan,” she said.
A notable destination is Masbate, at the cross-section of Luzon and Visayas. Its stage will be at the Eleanor Library, a “picturesque location and also a social enterprise that takes donated books and learning materials and brings them to communities.”
The destination that showed the most growth is Fête Cagayan de Oro, added Ms. Schifferer. “It has one of the biggest productions, with six different stages. Last year, they registered 185 artists. This year, they have 264 artists.”
SONIK SOIREEComplementing the musical experiences is SONIK Philippines’ Sonik Soiree. The event will highlight the journey of Filipino talent expanding into global markets, the impact of music technology, and the growing role of the creative economy in shaping the future of music.
“SONIK is our country’s de facto music export commission and we’ve been exporting artists since 2019,” said Mike Constantino, founder of SONIK Philippines. “This is our third year of doing this with Alliance Française de Manille, and it will be the biggest one so far.”
Three French music marketing and business resource speakers will be flying in for the event, which will be held on June 26 at The Astbury in Poblacion, Makati. They are PLAYZER marketing, business development, and brand strategy lead Francois Planquette, Live Promotions Bkk Managing Director Polo Ruesz, and CtrI+Reach (by Y2M) Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Clémentin Diard.
“We’ll have a talk on music export, and we’ll have a talk on creative economy, in partnership with the British Council,” Mr. Constantino said. “We have a lot in store that can help nurture the local music scene.”
Ms. Arabejo added that the newly launched website will reflect Fête PH’s goal to evolve as a community, outside of holding live events.
“After the initial Fête, we’ll be launching more information — a blog, an archive of Fête through the years, photos and videos. It’s a prelude to us evolving as a community,” she explained.
“It’s a June event, but we plan in the succeeding years to be present year-round, so that we can continue to celebrate and support our music industry.”
Fête PH performances are free and open to all. For the lineup of events, visit their social media pages and the website www.feteph.com. — Brontë H. Lacsamana
