Joss Stone, Jimmy Cliff to rock 2013 Malasimbo Festival

The Malasimbo Festival is where bohemians and backpackers yearly gather to enjoy great music in a pastoral, laid-back atmosphere. 

 

It has been drawing a bigger crowd with each installment, with 1,500 people coming in the first year in 2011, and 3,500 in 2012. This festival is modelled after other international outdoor fests like  Wacken Open Air in northern Germany, the US Sasquatch! in Washington, the traveling Lollapalooza festival, UK's Download Festival, and Australia's Big Day Out. 

 

Puerto Galera's coconut trees and chilly beach wind plays host to our very own fest, at the foot of the similarly named Mount Malasimbo, in Oriental Mindoro. This year, organizers expect the audience to double or even triple, and preparations are being done to make sure that this festival will accommodate the bigger number of attendees and make it the best yet.  

"We've made all our mistakes in year one and two. Year three is where we figure out the best program for the festival," shared festival co-founder and music man Miro Grgic.

 

Aside from ironing out some logistical issues particularly where transportation is concerned (they've selected 50 jeepneys exclusively for bringing guests up and down the mountain), the organizers have also prepared a line-up of both musical heavyweights and fresh new artists.

 

Among the headliners are folk pioneers Grace Nono-Bob Aves group, whose traditional Filipino sound is set to fill Mt. Malasimbo's grassy amphitheater on March 1, the first night of the festival. Reggae legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Cliff is headlining the show on the festival's second night. And of course, a grand finale is in the books as Grammy Award winning soul singer Joss Stone performs on the last night, Sunday, March 3. 

 

Also included in the line-up are four young artists and bands whose names may not yet ring a bell, but are talented enough to have caught the attention of Grgic who said, "I think all these four acts that we've shortlisted have international potential."

 

The acts include experimental ambient musician Similarobjects, who was described by Grgic as having "ears that are pretty unparalleled, Davao-based fusion band Jazlagiba, sexy soul band Yolanda Moon, and indie jazz-blues band Ivan Theory.

 

As it happens, the very view at the foothills of Mt. Malasimbo that has been winning the hearts of many local and international visitors has also seduced the performers as well. 

 

As Grgic shared, "our venue plays a very big part in how we get our artists as well." He explained that the site's natural acoustics work very well for the roots and soul sound that the festival has come to be known for.

 

"The amphitheater has dictated its own sound," he said.

 

The festival's visual arts line-up has also been beefed up for this year, with more new works being added to the already interesting visual display at the Malasimbo's art garden.

 

Among the new artists this year are sculptor Raphael David, Indonesian artist Agus Kama Luedin, Cebuano duo Francis Sollano and Mona Alcudia, Dimitri Roleda, and the trio of Levi Cruz, Franco Matucad, and Chris Verayo.

 

Their works will be displayed alongside Malasimbo institutions: the startling white "Haliya Mantra" of Agnes Arellano, Billy Bonnevie's "Malasimbo Dap-Ay," Leeroy New's colorful tree installation "Botany," Olivia D'Aboville's "Coral Garden," Mikai Rodrigo's quirky "Return to Middangeared," as well as the works of Maia d'Aboville, Gus Albor, Karla Cachola, Kawayan de Guia, IC Jaucian, Niccolo Jose, Dondi Katigbak, Denis Lagdameo, Doring Lalongisip, Goldie Poblador, Alma Quinto, Mark Salvatus, Chitz Ramirez, Alwin Reamillo, and Risa Recio. 

 

Just like last year, festival-goers have a choice to camp inside the Malasimbo grounds, (at a "1,000-star hotel," as festival founder Hubert D'Aboville put it), which allows them to participate in the festival's daytime activities like tree-planting, workshops, sunset yoga, and cultural features on indigenous tribes.

 

The festival, of course, will still place focus on Mindoro's indigenous Mangyan tribes, just as it has been doing since it started. The Mangyan tribal village is still a part of the festival this year, allowing guests to learn more of Mangyan culture, and the tribes to earn by selling their wares.

 

"It is very important to bring that to the Filipino tourists. . .we have so much to learn from these IPs (indigenous peoples)," D'Aboville said.

 

"When you go there, you have the music indeed, the arts, of course, and the culture," he added. – KDM, GMA News 

 

The Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival 2013 will run from March 1 to 3 at Mt. Malasimbo, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro. Various passes are available at Ticketworld.