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Wanderland was sold out this year. Here are a few theories why
By the time I walked into the Filinvest grounds in Alabang at around 4 p.m. last Saturday, Wanderland 2018 was in full swing.
I don’t just mean bands already playing onstage; I mean the place was packed.
I’ve been going to the annual music festival organized by Karpos multimedia since it started in 2013 and I’ve never seen it bursting with so many festival-goers before.
In a text message, Karpos President Steph Uy said they all 11,000 tickets to this year’s big show were sold out. It was much more than the 8,000 people that turned up last year.
“Even the tokens were sold-out,” she said, referring to the tokens audiences used to buy food and drinks inside the festival.
I had to wonder: what was so different about this year that made 3,000 more people show up?
A few theories:
First: the smashing lineup
I had my doubts when Karpos first announced the set of artists for this year’s festival. But maybe I’m past the age when I had my finger set firmly on the pulse of the “cool” generation.
I knew about Kodaline and anticipated how well-received they would be, but I was less exposed to the music of Jhené Aiko, FKJ and Daniel Caesar, apart from a few of their songs.
As it turned out, quite a few fans bought tickets specifically because of these artists. And for good reason. Caesar brought slick, pang-romansa vibes, FKJ wowed audiences as a one-man awesome band, and Aiko managed to hypnotize a field-ful of fans with her sultry, laidback rhythms.
Even Australian DJ duo Bag Raiders had not a few fans dancing crazily along to their early evening set. Alongside the other international and Pinoy acts, they made for what was all in all a pretty solid lineup.
Second, the location and logistics
For its first four years, Wanderland was held in Circuit Makati, which is so not a bad venue for a music fest.
But the festival was growing, and Circuit is a bit of a tight squeeze (especially exiting the grounds at the end of the night). Plus, there have been some reports of an unpleasant smell from the Pasig River right beside the venue.
Karpos moved the event to Alabang last year. It’s a bit more effort for those from up north, but the breathing space down south more than made up for the trek.
The festival also added more stuff for people to do: activation booths from sponsors, an arcade with actual interactive games, and so-called “IG nooks” where people can take those pics-or-it-didn’t-happen selfies.
Having malls around, meant parking spaces for those who drove their cars.
And third: the FOMO factor.
Over the years, Wanderland has built a reputation as THE must-attend music fest, particularly for millennials and Gen Z-ers. Entire barkadas plan their weekends and their outfits, they coordinate their schedules and block-off the date months in advance, and for those not blessed with enough financial resources, they save up for it from their allowances or salaries.
In a country with a sizeable population of music lovers willing to spend for concerts (you’ll notice how many more live shows there have been in recent years), Wanderland fills a gap by providing a full-on festival experience; it’s not just a two-hour show, but a full day of music, one that you prepare for, play dress-up for, and make major plans with friends.
And every year, it seems like more and more people are making sure they’re there not just to witness the artists’ performance but to make sure they don’t miss out.
As I’ve said before, there have been several other music fests that have tried to woo audiences with a killer lineup, but none so far has done so with a regularity and consistency as Wanderland. And I have a feeling things are only going to go up from here on out. — LA, GMA News
Paul John Caña is a writer and live music geek. Check out his blog manontheotherside.blogspot.com. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana
