The wealth and health of a country’s performing arts is measured in its active participation in international festivals. Since the selection for inclusion to participate in international festivals is stringent, the yardstick used to measure the artistic maturity of a Philippine performing artist includes participation in overseas festivals. Every year, the performance season of many Philippine groups overlaps the period of constant requests for the groups to participate in festivals. And major organizations schedule tour performances abroad during this period and set aside certain period of the season for participation in international festivals

The wealth of experience from international exposure is not only important for their artistic growth, but it also helps to attract local audience patronage and publicity mileage. For this reason, there is increased participation in international festivals from independent and emerging groups as well as individual artists.

Promoting Tradition of the Philippines

Since the cost of international travel is quite prohibitive, opportunities for Philippine performing artists to engage in international performance events are limited. Therefore, it’s a good thing that the Philippines host a few but important international festivals. This not only reduces the burden of costs such as airfare and provides opportunities for international artistic engagement for local groups, but also provides a glimpse on Philippine aesthetics and culture for foreign artists, writers, curators and programmers.

The thrusts of Philippine arts festivals is to feature the state of the performing arts in the country, develop and educate the audience for the performing arts, and showcase important cultural heritage that the country wishes to promote and preserve. The International Bamboo Organ Festival and Cuerdas: International Rondalla Festival present two enduring Philippine arts and traditions: the only bamboo organ in the world and the Philippine Rondalla, a traditional chamber music ensemble.

The Las Pinas International Bamboo Festival inspired by Bamboo Organs only made from the bamboos in Las Pinas centers around classical music, and it has attracted participation from not only the world''s organists, but also from choirs, vocalists, and chamber musicians. Now, the Las Pinas International Bamboo Festival is the most anticipated music festival in the Philippines and with successful runs every year, it is also the country''s most sustainable festival.

Cuerdas: The Philippine Rondalla Festival focuses on the Rondalla, another important cultural resource of the Philippines. The rondalla refers to a group of musicians playing stringed instruments composed of the guitar, banduria, octavina and bass. The Rondalla Festival programs international, traditional and also contemporary works on traditional stringed instruments of the Philippines.

The Bamboo organ in Las Pinas is the center piece of the International Bamboo Organ Festival. The 37th edition of the Festival will be held in February 2012 (Photo from International Bamboo Organ Festival Website)

Emerging Festivals for the Development of Contemporary Aesthetics

In addition to festivals focused on tradition, there is the Philippine International Arts Festival called ''Ani ng Sining''(Harvest of Arts). This festival focuses on multidisciplinary arts and is leading the interaction among the local residents and the development of audience. The Wifi Body Contemporary Dance Festival explores engagements in innovative and contemporary forms. In addition, Virgin Labfest appoints established and emerging playwrights, directors, and actors to present completely new theater that hasn''t been attempted, verified, or publicized through the media and performance.

An offshoot of the National Arts Month (NAM) celebration every February, the NAM became the Philippine International Arts Festival (PIAF) three years ago. As an initiative of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, PIAF is the Philippines’ most comprehensive festival covering all the disciplines and cultural engagements with the widest geographical coverage. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is government agency mandated to oversee the preservation, development and promotion of Philippine arts and culture. With government support, all national arts committees schedule their festivals to coincide with the holding of the PIAF, making February a dynamic season for the arts in engagement, dialogues and discussions, performance and creation. The International Theater Festival of the National Committee on Dramatic Arts and the International Dance Festival of the National Committee on Dance which are being held during the period of PIAF are the key avenues for audience development.

The Philippines, like the rest of the world, is struggling with issues of globalization. While budget and energies are spent on a national struggle focused on heritage conservation, the artists and artist groups, though without funding at a national level, are also promoting the growth of contemporary forms and practitioners in dance and theater. The Wifi Body Contemporary Dance Festival and the Virgin Labfest are creating platforms for artist development in the contemporary genre.

Wifi Body Contemporary Dance Festival organized by World Dance Alliance Philippines offers a variety of programs for pioneering artists with artistic excellence and exploration, and for audience development. It offers various competitions, showcase of local and international performances and workshops on technique, critique, and dance practice. In addition to performances, it is holding exhibitions of contemporary forms by utilizing media like film and internet.

Virgin Labfest is providing platform for discovering emerging theater directors and playwrights. It is also encouraging young artists to produce new works and they are given an avenue for presentation. Although the Labfest is a local festival, its innovative design as a laboratory for new works has room for international open call for the future.

The Virgin Labfest (Photo from The Virgin Labfest Website)		Wifi Body Independent Contemporary Dance Festival (Photo from Wifi Body Independent Contemporary Dance Festival Website)

Emerging Festivals for the Development of Contemporary Aesthetics

Except for the International Bamboo Festival which has been around for decades, the festivals mentioned above have been around only in the last ten years. The importance of sustainability of the festivals is given, yet the question hangs in the air. Wifi Body Contemporary Dance Festival changed strategy from presenting the festival yearly to becoming a Biennale because of budget constraints. The other festivals, being state subsidized, are converged in particular seasons making them limited and sketchy. As the overarching goal of the festival is ''securing budget through the government funding'', the festivals could be somewhat political, and the bodies organizing the festivals cannot operate freely in terms of their tendencies and design. The festivals presented in the PIAF for example, given that the compositions of National Committees change every three years, the construct of festivals changes according to the priorities of the sitting committee members.

Organizing Philippine performing arts festivals may have its share of woes, but nonetheless festivals are the harvest of creative expressions. So, even with the ending of this year''s festivals, one could look forward to another harvest the next season around.