Southeast Asia’s electronic dance music scene has seen its fair share of festivals, but none quite like &FRIENDS Festival.
Held on May 30-31 at Okada Cove in Manila, this two-day spectacle didn’t just deliver music. It built a cultural playground where gaming, internet culture, and community collided in ways the region hadn’t witnessed before.
At its core, &FRIENDS Festival is the brainchild of Clout Kitchen, a team deeply in tune with how today’s fans experience music as a full-spectrum cultural phenomenon.
“A lot of other music festivals are just focused solely on music. They’re kind of one-dimensional,” said founder Justin Banusing. “If you look at one of our acts, bbno$, he overlaps with someone like Porter Robinson. He’s a gamer, a creator, and he’s also known for the memes as well.”
And that intersection of interests was on full display. From noon until the early hours of the morning, attendees were immersed not just in headlining sets, but in interactive experiences that spanned DJ workshops, gaming stations, sneaker customization, and even rave makeup booths.
The energy didn’t wane, as fans weaved between stages and activity zones.
The lineup was equally bold. Grammy Award-winning producer Zedd made a highly anticipated return to Manila after a three-year absence, while Billboard-charting EDM giant ILLENIUM delivered a nostalgic set heavy with hits from his acclaimed Ascend, Awake, and Ashes trilogy — his first-ever performance in the Philippines.
But perhaps the most talked-about moment belonged to genre-bending rapper bbno$, who made his Manila debut with a set that pushed the festival’s playful energy to new heights.
Collaborating live with Ironmouse, a wildly popular virtual YouTuber and singer, the two performed their song together for the first time, with bbno$ fully cosplaying as Ironmouse throughout.
Melodic dubstep heavyweight Seven Lions and high-energy Dutch duo €URO TRA$H added further sonic diversity to the already stacked roster.
True to its mission of bridging East and West, &FRIENDS Festival also spotlighted a wide roster of regional talent. DJs and producers from across Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific— from Thailand’s Botcash and Taiwan’s RayRay to South Korea’s Jeonghyeon and Japan’s KDH— all took to the stage.
Homegrown Filipino acts held their own, with Siangyoo making his main stage debut alongside Fairlane, while NGHTSHIFT (Banusing’s own group with Daryl Chong and Jigo Vilar) made history as the first Filipino melodic bass act to tour the U.S.
Beyond the beats, the festival became a powerful statement on the evolving nature of culture itself. “In today’s world, music, pop culture, and the internet are inseparable.
They live, evolve, and thrive together online,” explained David Viray, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Clout Kitchen. “With &FRIENDS Festival, we set out to take that digital synergy and translate it into a real-world experience.”
The success was phenomenal, both cultural and commercial. With record-breaking attendance, the festival delivered a surge of traffic to Okada’s casino, hotel, and mall operations.
“Our brand partners like Okada, who took a bet on us as a first-time IP, played a pivotal role,” said Adriel Yong, Co-Founder and COO of Clout Kitchen. “Their support didn’t just elevate the festival; it amplified their brands at the heart of the Philippines’ fastest-growing electronic music destination.”
As the festival closed its first edition, it left a bold mark on Asia’s EDM map. With plans already underway for a Halloween edition, &FRIENDS is chasing dreams beyond becoming the “Coachella of Asia.”
It’s laying the foundation in fusing music, gaming, creator culture, and community. Indeed, a new experience tailor-made for how Gen Z and young audiences now live, play, and connect.
