MANILA, Philippines - We thought we’d heard the last of music festivals here at Young STAR this year when Laneway entered our stream of consciousness and ushered an exodus of sorts for Manila’s music lovers to set sail for Singapore’s Fort Canning. We thought wrong. Soon after, several versions, all packaged and presented with different claims and variations, started sprouting up in and out of the metro, capitalizing on the Filipino’s insatiable need for alternatives with which to entertain themselves. For starters: the Manila Music Festival, which was held at the sandy Oceana Avenue near MoA. The whole-day festival kept us shuffling between two stages to experience acts like Shinichi Osawa tug at our hipster heartstrings while months later, a bigger and day-longer Malasimbo arrived which even had a party boat serving festival goers libation from sunset to sunrise. Soon after, a four-day Surf and Music Festival sprouted in La Union, which combined the sport’s active and free-spirited lifestyle with non-stop music from the likes of Up Dharma Down and Taken By Cars, followed by the Tagaytay Electronica Festival which saw Manila’s partygoers being at the cusp of a three-day rager, courtesy of Mia Ayesa and Nix Damn P! among other DJ acts. Last but not least, the Exception Music Festival at The Fort, which happened exactly a week later — a case study in great music and production value. While we’ll probably still be flying to Laneway and Big Night Out in 2013 for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Vampire Weekend next year, it’s safe to say that Manila’s music lovers should look no further, and that the music festival scene here in the Philippines is finally well underway. #ITSMOREFUNINTHEPHILIPPINES