The highs of Hiraya

MANILA, Philippines -The UP Junior Marketing Association sought to please the indie gods with a festival, and please they did.

Held in a vacant grassy field beside Mercato Centrale on the corner of 34th street and 9th avenue in Bonifacio Global City last Aug. 18, the Hiraya Arts & Music Festial had people grooving to bands and DJs, painting graffiti, gulping Manila Beer, and savoring that precious bagnet-silog, red velvet cupcakes, and good old kwek-kwek from its own food tents. It claims to be the country’s first collegiate arts and music festival, and it left everyone clamoring for an encore.

Among the show’s highlights were performances by dance troupe Lahing Batangan, hip hop crews Soulstice, Cash Crew, and Legit Status, a wicked number from Republiq’s MC Dash, and beats from award-winning DJ Supreme Fist.

Festival-goers were also treated to a laidback time as Ash Keachum, Extrapolation, And Bandang Shirley, and Bee Eyes crooned away as people laid in a vast field under the cool night wind. SimilarObjects and Ink Eyes also took center stage, supplying astral beat after astral beat, made even crazier with Midnight Aviators’ Kass Ilagan’s trippy light projections.

Alley Kat: UP’s courtside reporter Katz Salao poses in front of an Adventure Time-inspired mural at the recent Hiraya Arts & Music Festival.

Street artists SYLV, Uniko-Indio, and Wrapo also painted their murals -- a perfect match for a cosmic space in, well, you’d forget it was all in the Fort. We just hope a sequel is in the works.

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Hiraya was co-presented by Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation, Status, Yabang Pinoy, Francis M Clothing Co, Pulp, Deeper Manila, Sari-Sari Sounds, Planet Zips, and Bootleg Radio. In cooperation with Department of Tourism, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Manila Beer Light, Tanduay Ice, Virgin Softdrinks, Nippon Paint Pylox Lazer, and Hyundai. Also brought to you by Beach Hut Sunblock, Azta Urban Salon, Leslie’s Clover Chips, and The Philippine Star.