Have you been to Malasimbo?

I haven’t. But it seemingly has all the ingredients of an exotic arts and music event.

Set on a tropical island with a generous infusion of local culture, the Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival has been rocking these parts of Puerto Galera since 2011. Malasimbo is the name of the mountain near the festival grounds; but nobody seems to know, not even the organizers and the mayor, what that word actually means—or if it means anything at all. Something which probably lends more mystery to this music and arts event.

The annual celebration has captivated local and foreign visitors from all over the world, with guests shelling out several thousand pesos (this year it’s P6,300 per head) for a full festival pass, which doesn’t yet include food, drinks, and accommodations. The local government must be very happy about the support for local tourism.

The festival’s director, Miro Grgic, admitted that it’s not cheap to fly in all these musicians from abroad.

The 2014 leg, slated for February 27 to March 3, will be top-billed by the following (mostly foreign) headliners: Jose Gonzalez, Robert Glasper Experiment, Roy Ayers & Lonnie Liston Smith, Mad Professor, Osunlade, Omar, Greg Wilson, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Low Leaf, June Marieezy, Jordan Rakei, Heavy Boogie, Good Leaf, Melotonins, Jungle Boys, Badkiss, Mark Zero, Miro, Kooii, Mishka Adams, Erwin Edralin & Jack Bates, and the Malasimbo Sextet.

The festival’s Facebook page indicates that there are more artists to be announced. Grgic declared that this year’s lineup “has been regarded by taste-makers as the best lineup to date in Asia, ever.” The media release, however, did not specify the names of the other local artists invited to perform during the festival. On the other hand, visual artists exhibiting their works this year include Ling Quisumbing Ramilo, Jinggoy Buensuceso, Wataru Sakuma, and Daniel Latorre Cruz, among others.

Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival was co-founded by Hubert d’Aboville, who is also its president as well as the head of d’Aboville Foundation and Demo Farm, Inc. His daughter, Olivia d’Aboville, is the director and curator of the Arts in Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival. Her partner Miro Grgic is festival director. Together with partners and supporters, they make this tropical adventure possible every year, referred to by no other than Tourism secretary Ramon Jimenez as the place “where fun rocks in the Philippines.”

If you can’t stay for the entire duration of the three-day fest, you can buy weekend passes to witness the festival highlights. All tickets are available through their website and TicketWorld. You can also find them on Facebook. — VC, GMA News