Wanderland 2024: The Festival’s 9th Year Proves Why It’s One of the Country’s Best

Nine years later, Wanderland Music and Arts Festival still captivates, continuously bringing the good music and good vibes it has promised from the beginning.

The Philippines’ Wanderland Music and Arts Festival returned for its 9th year last March 9 and 10 at the Filinvest Events Grounds in Alabang. The premier annual music festival by Karpos brings acts from around the globe to the Philippine stage, together with the country’s best homegrown talents, for a weekend of fun and good music.

The Music

This year, that’s 22 incredible acts to be exact. Acoustic pop singer-songwriter Jack Johnson from the US, known for hits like “Banana Pancakes” and “Better Together,” headlined Wanderland’s day 1. Day 2 headliner saw the remarkable Thundercat on stage, bringing his unique, eclectic jazz-electronica-funk-rock music to Wanderland.

Joining the headliners is a whole array of talents from around the globe, from the UK, Australia, South Korea, France, and—last but not the least—the Philippines. Each act brought a different flair to the festival, and the diversity of the music this year is certainly one for the books.

Philippines’ Party Pace is—personally—a favorite discovery. The experimental rock band blurs the lines between post-rock, dream pop, and beach music (apparently, according to the band), and we like it. No, we love it.

Ena Mori, one to watch out for in the Philippines, brought her fun, colorful, and oftentimes eclectic pop music to the Wanderland stage, much to the delight of a dancing audience. Indie pop-rock artists Grentperez from Australia and Paolo Sandejas from the Philippines brought lots of good vibes with their fun, afternoon sets.

Novo Amor from the UK, on the other hand, served all the feels with his intimate, indie folk music. We might’ve seen some Wanderers wiping tears off their cheeks, but no worries—we understand!

Grammy-award-winning RnB-soul artist PJ Morton also graced the Wanderland stage, delivering an impressive performance together with his band and backup singers.

Parcels and Cosmo’s Midnight, both from Australia, delivered fun, dance-worthy sets, while The Walters and Jeff Bernat gave swoon-worthy ones.

A much-anticipated performance was HWASA’s. Wanderers across the festival field rushed to the main stage when the K-pop star commenced her set, and she did not disappoint. It was a fiery performance, definitely hot like “Chili.” You can watch a clip of her performance here.

Another crowd-favorite from the weekend was DJs Breakbot & Irfane from France, who brought the fun, party beats to Wanderland. We found out a cool thing about the Wanderland crowd during that set—boy, can they dance!

One highlight of the festival was when headliner Jack Johnson brought Parcels up the stage to perform a stripped-down and heartfelt mash-up of their songs, “Breakdown” by Jack Johnson and “Free” by Parcels.

“This is the best thing about music festivals,” Jack Johnson told the Wanderland crowd. “You get to meet new friends backstage, and when they’re cool you spend about 5 or 10 minutes working on a song and they’re brave enough to just jump up and do it.” It was definitely a moment to remember!

Other artists who performed at Wanderland were Lola Amour, Gabba, Jose Miguel, Bird., and Dwta from the Philippines; Beenzino and Bosudongcooler from South Korea; and Cloudriver from Taiwan.

Art, Food, and Everything Else

Art

But Wanderland Fest isn’t just about the music. Each year, local visual artists are also given the spotlight. If you love art, you’ll enjoy watching Filipino creatives showcase their talent through live art during the festival.

This year’s fest showcased the works of Bitto, Seeweirdo, Valvee, and Babsilog who painted little houses in line with the neighborhood theme of Wanderland 2024, while TRNZ’s installation became a favorite photo spot for Wanderers.

The Grab Food Zone

And of course, what is a festival without good grub? A portion of the Wanderland field was dedicated to incredible eats, named the Grab Food Zone. It was hard not to keep picking up something in between sets! The Grab Food Zone featured everything from indie eats like Jabroni’s Pizza, Riot Kid, and Cafe 1911, to widely known brands like The Moment Group’s Ooma, Manam, 8Cuts, and Mo Cookies.

Shopping

The WanderMarket was a haven for good finds. Forgot your sunglasses? No worries—you could pick one up from there! There were also booths for vintage clothes, cute accessories, journaling items, clothes for your fur babies, and a whole lot more.

Wanderers who wanted to take home souvenirs from Wanderland 2024 could pick up festival merch from the WanderMerch booth, which featured bucket hats, playing cards, disposable cameras, sweatshirts, and more.

Games and activities

Brands like PAL, Grab, Watsons, Klean Kanteen, San Miguel, and Johnnie Walker were also present at Wanderland Festival 2024. The PAL and Grab booths both provided fun games and activities, while Wanderers could get their festival shimmer on at the Watsons booth through stick-on face gems. Klean Kanteen’s booth featured a cute collection of their signature tumblers and water bottles, and some games for guests to enjoy, too. Also notable were the Klean Kanteen water refilling stations scattered around the festival field—just bring your own tumbler. Hooray for sustainable festivals!

San Miguel and Johnnie Walker kept Wanderers ~hydrated~. Everyone 18 and above got an “I’m-allowed-to-drink” bracelet, and the rule was simple: No bracelet, no drink! San Miguel provided the beers, while Johnnie Walker provided its signature Scotch whisky and delicious mixes.

Check out this gorgeous Johnnie Walker pop-up bar, complete with an enormous statue of the iconic Johnnie Walker Striding Man.

Little Wanderer

One addition to this year’s Wanderland Fest we haven’t seen before was the Little Wanderer area. Yes, kids were welcome! All children aged 8 years and below enjoyed free admission. Each adult could bring up to 2 kids.

The Little Wanderer area was a place for kids to play, meet new friends, and make their own music festival memories. Start ‘em young, right? Even moms had their own private nursing station.

Wanderland Festival aims to be a more family-friendly experience—a festival every member of the family, no matter what age, can enjoy. Bring your whole family next year!

Wanderland 2025: 10 Years of Wanderland Magic

Wanderland Festival is gearing up for its biggest run yet. Next year’s edition will be its 10th year, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store.

Wanderland offered an exclusive sale to festival-goers last March 9 and 10, but if you missed it, another sale is ongoing until March 20th that’s open to Wanderland 2024 ticket holders and newsletter subscribers.

Check the poster below for the exclusive sale ticket prices:

The Wanderland Experience

The Wanderland experience is always a good experience. It doesn’t matter if you know all the acts, just a few, or none. There’s always good music to discover.

And why do we love Wanderland? We think we speak for many other loyal Wanderers when we say this—you come for the music, but you stay for the vibes. And Wanderland Fest has got a lot of good vibes to spread around.

Wanderland Music and Arts Festival 2024

Website: https://wanderlandfest.com/
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Wanderland Festival 2025
March 22 and 23, 2025
Filinvest City Events Grounds, Alabang, Muntinlupa, Philippines
#WanderlandMusicFest