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Bobapalooza 2024: Celebrating the National Arts Month with a bang

by Joanna Deala

THE COUNTRY’S celebration of National Arts Month, which also coincided with Love Month, proved and showcased how truly world-class Filipino artistry is.

We witnessed this through various events that took place from the first week of February, where local artists exhibited their skills in the visual and performing arts. Of course, the celebration won’t be complete without featuring international talents who quenched the creative cravings of Filipino fans and ultimately hyped them. 

This is what the recently concluded 2024 edition of the Bobapalooza music and arts festival offered to thousands of concertgoers who flocked to the Filinvest Events Grounds in Alabang. 

The night became lively as local and international stars pulled off breathtaking performances on the Bobapalooza stage, and republicasia was lucky to have witnessed that one-for-the-books moment. 

Day 1

Concertgoers and fans of different music genres all gathered at the Bobapalooza 2024 to celebrate music and arts with their favorite artists on the first day of the highly anticipated festival.

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

Artists kicked off their individual sets as early as 11 a.m., starting with local band CrazyMoon.

This was followed by performances from Moontyde, Shanni, Project Romeo, Halina, Autotelic, Nobita, Syd Hartha, Join The Club, and The Sundown, with each of them performing for less than an hour on stage.

When the sun set, more concertgoers gathered near the main stage to prepare for the headliners of Day 1 of Bobapalooza 2024.

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

An electrifying energy was felt from the crowd when the alternative rock band One Click Straight entered the stage. 

Attendees particularly sang their hearts out when The Itchyworms performed their hit song “Beer.” 

Photo courtesy: Republicasia
Photo courtesy: Republicasia

22-year-old singer-songwriter Juan Karlos, or JK, did not fail to tug at the audiences’ heartstrings when he sang his record-breaking song “ERE,” and needless to say, the crowd sang along with him at the top of their lungs. 

After JK, the headliners then conquered the stage beginning with nostalgic performances from OPM icon Rico Blanco, who sang “Umaaraw, Umuulan” and “You’ll Be Safe Here,” among others. Rico even let the crowd choose the song he would perform and one of those they requested was “Balisong.”

Day 1 ended with English rock band Pale Waves, who surprised their fans when they sang “My Obsession,” a song that they said they hadn’t performed in a long time.

Day 2

The headbanging productions continued on Bobapalooza’s second day, headlined by Japanese girl group Atarashii Gakko and American rock band The Band Camino, among others.

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

Same as Day 1, the festival kicked off on Sunday at 11 a.m. with an opening performance from The Mox. This was followed by stages of Inside City, Nemic, Criminal Cinema, CHNDTR, Faspitch, Bita & The Botflies, Chiscosci, and Tanya Markova.

The crowd went completely cray when local bands dominated the Bobapalooza stage, starting with Sandwich, who sang their chart-topping hit “Betamax.”

Heartfelt emotions exuded from the audience when December Avenue performed “Sa Ngalan ng Pag-ibig,” while Urbandub brought out the exciting feeling of young love with their song “First of Summer.”

One of the much-awaited segments of the festival happened on the second day which was the revelation of the “surprise local headliners.” They were none other than Zild Benitez and Blaster Silonga, two former members of IV of Spades.

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

It was Blaster who first went up on stage and sang the song “Dulo ng Hangganan” and an unreleased single called “Kamukha” with his new band BLASTER and The Celestial Klowns.

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

Zild then performed “Dekada ’70″ and “Isang Anghel” where he had a duet with a kid.

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

The Band Camino also hyped up the crowd, before Atarashii Gakko capped off the music festival with their performances of “Toryanse” and “Pineapple Kryptonite.” A fan even handed the girl group a pineapple before they sang their 2021 single.

Other activities

Aside from the musical performances, there were tons of activities that attendees enjoyed at the festival. 

Photo courtesy: Republicasia
Photo courtesy: Republicasia

Bobapalooza set up an arcade area that everyone could enjoy, particularly game lovers. There were arcade game machines where people could play video games like “Street Fighter” and “Tekken,” and dedicated areas for sports such as basketball, bowling, and mini golf. 

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

Concertgoers did not have to worry about getting thirsty and hungry as there were several food stalls and free drinks at the Filinvest Events Grounds.

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

To mark such a memorable event, there were also several merchandise stalls where they could buy souvenirs, among other things.

Photo courtesy: Republicasia

There was also a lounge called “Friend Zone” where people could get friendship bracelets.

On the other side of the festival, visual artists EGG FIASCO, Blic, Distort Monsters, SYN, mimaaaaaaaaw, CHNO, and Isad Diwa amazed attendees with their live art.

Bobapalooza Music and Arts Festival was indeed an unforgettable experience, which not only brought joy and excitement to music and art lovers but also promoted both local and international artistry.

It may be too early to say this as the festival has just concluded, but we honestly couldn’t wait to see more of this next year!

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