Live performances, NFTs for a cause at French music fest

Uncle Bob’s Funky Seven Club performs at the Fête de la Musique Philippines 2023 launch at Raffles Makati. —PHOTO BY ARMIN P. ADINA

The ocean takes center stage at this year’s celebration of the Fête de la Musique in the Philippines, with the music festival also raising funds for the protection of the country’s vast aquatic resources and the preservation of the marine ecosystem.

Alliançe Française de Manille dubbed its 2023 festival “MerSea,” a play on the French words “mer” (sea) and “merci” (thank you), and will have hundreds of musical acts busking across the country once again. But while the public may enjoy the music for free, they are also encouraged to purchase limited edition digital copies of photographs from renowned lensmen based across the archipelago.“More than just merrymaking, we also seek to use our collective voice in the Fête de la Musique Philippines as a platform for causes close to our hearts,” Giselle Tomimbang, president of the festival’s coproducer B-Side Productions, said at the launch in Makati City on June 8.

Scarlet Box will handle the release and purchase of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) featuring images of the country’s oceans, including underwater photography and snaps of people enjoying the sea. Ten photographers—Chino Neri, Mike Eijansantos, Lancer Salva, Camille Robiou du Pont, Terence Ver Angsioco, Kat Jack, A Decade, Ganden Medved Po, ADAM and Archie Geotina—contributed a total of 1,000 photographs for the music fest.

For P3,000, buyers can choose a photographer, but the NFT pieces are sold at random. One hundred images are tagged as “rare,” which will have an augmented reality treatment that may be enjoyed through the app Artitive. The NFTs will be available starting June 19 at www.scarletbox.io. Buyers may also opt to have printed copies of the images featured in the NFTs they bought for an additional P500.Proceeds to help NGO

Part of the proceeds from the sale of NFTs will go to Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines, a Filipino nongovernment organization dedicated to the conservation of marine megafauna. The Palawan-based group has limited scope as of the moment, but the financial push from the Fête de la Musique Philippines will help expand their projects to cover more of the country’s waters.

Aside from contributing to efforts that support the conservation of marine life, every NFT purchase entitles buyers the chance to win in a raffle. Up for grabs are round-trip AirSwift tickets to their destination of choice and a two-night stay at Bahay Artisano, a two-bedroom residence villa located in the Kalye Artisano neighborhood in Lio Eco-Estate in El Nido, Palawan.Environment Month

Alliançe Française de Manille has also partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Department of Environment (DENR) and Natural Resources for the 2023 Fête de la Musique Philippines to remind musicophiles about the celebration of “Environment Month” this June.

Together with UNDP, the Fête de la Musique Philippines will also launch coastal clean-up and tree-planting activities in Metro Manila, Siargao and Cebu. There will also be youth-focused interactive and experiential learning opportunities in close collaboration with the UNDP Youth Program, DENR advocates and youth-led civil service organizations.

French Jazz act Rémi Panossian Trio will also fly from France for special performances at the Long Bar at Raffles Makati on June 21 and at Alliance Francaise de Manille on June 22.The Fête de la Musique Philippines will also have destination stages in the provinces of Albay, Laguna, Pampanga and Zambales, the town of Baler in Aurora, the cities of Baguio and Tagaytay, and in Caloocan City on June 24.

But the main stage for the Fête de la Musique Philippines 2023 will be at the Greenbelt 3 in Makati City on June 23. Included in the lineup are Blaster & the Celestial Klownz, Lola Amour, She’s Only Sixteen, Cheats, Ena Mori and Uncle Bob’s Funky Seven Club.