The brainchild of Careless Music, a music label and entertainment company founded by singer-actor James Reid, the two-day music fest will be held at the Marecco lot, North Reclamation Area in Mandaue City on Jan. 13-14, 2023, coinciding with Sinulog weekend.
“Our dream for Wavy Baby is that we want this Sinulog weekend to be like the Coachella of Southeast Asia,” said Jeffrey Oh, Careless Music chief executive officer, at the media conference held on Dec. 17, 2022 at the Twilight Roofdeck Lounge + Bar of bai Hotel Cebu in Mandaue City.
Coachella is a popular two-weekend annual outdoor festival in Indio, California that brings together music, fashion and the arts.
Breaking free from the pandemic that put leisure and outdoor activities in a standstill for two years, Wavy Baby is all set to bring to Cebu an impressive lineup of at least 30 talents from the US, South Korea and the Philippines.
Headlining the list of performers are crowd favorites such as PinkSweat$, Sunmi, BamBam, Destiny Rogers, James Reid, Ben&Ben, December Avenue, Franco, Urbandub, and many more.
Cebu-based performers include Cookie$, Wonggoys, Mandaue Nights, The Sundown, Sepia Times, Three-Legged Men, and Mandaue Nights.
“We really want to reflect what Careless is about. I guess what we’re trying to do is be the next level in entertainment and bring together local and international artists,” said Reid.
“We want to be international but still for the Filipinos,” he added.
Both Reid and Oh expressed excitement at being able to take part in the festive mood Cebuanos and visitors alike will get to experience again as Cebu gears up for all Sinulog-related activities next month.
“There’s very few things in the world that can bring 15,000 people together and just be in the same moment. There’s no other experience or feeling like that in the world of having thousands of people from your city coming together, singing in unison,” Oh said.
“As a music company, that’s what we live for. To be on that kind of stage, that’s what our artists live for, that’s what we wanted to share with the people,” Oh added.
But while Wavy Baby will exude a fun and carefree vibe, both Reid and Oh assured that they have been working hard to ensure the audience’s safety and avoid tragic situations, like a stampede or crowd surge.
“The whole layout of the festival is very well-designed so that the crowd is divided up very evenly and equally just so the flow of people is very logical,” Oh explained.
He said the stage, the lighting, and the lineup of artists have all been carefully planned and constructed to provide the Cebuanos, who had been waiting patiently for this type of music festival, the most awesome experience possible.
“We have this platform that the artist comes out to so … I don’t know if me and James are being petty but we’re like, ‘Oh everyone has one platform? We want three platforms!,” Oh said.
“The artists can really interact and we want the audience to get their money’s worth,” Oh added.
So consider yourself lucky to be living in Cebu right now as you get to witness this one-of-a-kind musical experience. Tickets to Wavy Baby range from P6,390 for the VIP section to P3,200 for General Admission.