What's on in Manila

Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply play the Smart Araneta Coliseum on their A Matter of Time Tour, marking 50 years as a duo. Expect classic ballads such as "Lost in Love", "All Out of Love" and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All", alongside songs from A Matter of Time, their first studio album in 15 years.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Mraz starts his Asia Tour 2026 in Manila. It is his first run of shows in the region in seven years. He will play songs from his more than 20 years of music with a full band.

E3 is a two-day trade fair for the events industry, billed as Asia's Event Sourcing and Technology Fair. The organiser says it will have 5,500 sqm of exhibition space and more than 100 exhibitors covering event technology, audio-visual, production and creative services, with business matching and networking.

SM Supermalls closes its October Super Kids month with Spooktacular Halloween across its malls. Children can enter a Halloween costume contest, browse a Halloween fair selling toys, costumes and candy, and join a trick-or-treat walk. Five costume contest winners each receive ₱5,000 in SM gift certificates.

Filipino-Canadian singer and musical theatre actor Daren Dyhengco headlines a one-night fundraising concert about music, dreams and inspiration. His special guests are Ma-Anne Dionisio and Roselle Nava.

Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson brings her Midnight Sun Tour to the Smart Araneta Coliseum, her first solo concert in the Philippines. The tour follows her fourth international studio album, Midnight Sun, made with long-time collaborator MNEK.

The Edge Skyview Bar at Ibis Styles Manila Araneta City hosts a Halloween costume party with a live DJ, entertainment and party games. The ticket includes three hours of unlimited sodas, cocktails, beers and iced tea, served between 9 PM and 1 AM.

**TRENTAHIN Halloween 2026 — Home by 12MN** Still love partying but don't want to wait until midnight for the night to get started? TRENTAHIN is bringing its first Halloween edition to The Fun Roof in Poblacion, Makati, on Saturday, October 31, starting at 8 PM. Built around 90s and 2000s nostalgia, the party features throwback music, karaoke sing-alongs, dancing, rooftop games, and DJ Mars Miranda headlining.

Two Manila rave collectives, Ravecore and Hard Dance PH, team up for a Halloween night themed as a haunted mansion with dark laboratory sets, performance art and non-stop electronic dance music. It takes over Stratosphere Events Place on the fourth floor of Century City Mall in Poblacion.

Thai actress Charlotte Austin brings a Halloween-themed fan meet to Manila as a stop on her Here With You Asia Tour 2026. It is one show only, at the Globe Auditorium.

INTRAMUMU closes Magallanes Drive in Intramuros for a two-day Halloween street party with costume contests, music and DJ sets, a community market, and horror, folklore and storytelling experiences tied to the Walled City's history. On the morning of 1 November it also runs Run For Your Life, a 5-kilometre zombie run where runners try to keep at least one of three life flags to the finish.

Korean actor Hwang In-youp, best known as Han Seo-jun in True Beauty, brings his To You fan meeting tour to Manila. His other dramas include 18 Again, The Sound of Magic, Why Her? and Family by Choice.

SLEEPLESS throws its Halloween night at The Eye at Green Sun in Makati, from 9pm on Saturday 31 October to 3am. General admission, VIP with a DJ-area view and a complimentary drink, and five-person group bundles are sold on the organiser's own HelixPay store.

On All Saints and All Souls close to two million people come to the Manila North Cemetery to clean family tombs, lay flowers and stay the whole day. Families set out chairs and food beside the graves, children play in the lanes, and the mausoleums of Filipino presidents and film stars draw their own visitors. It is the clearest annual view of how Filipinos treat death as a family occasion rather than a private one.

Korean actor So Ji Sub, known for I'm Sorry, I Love You, The Master's Sun and Oh My Venus, holds a fan meeting in Manila as part of his 2026 Asia tour. He returned to dramas in 2026 with Agent Kim Reactivated.

Kidlat Overdrive: 3 Days of Dance Maxxing is a 3-day dance weekend at Kidlat Dance Studio featuring classes led by resident and guest choreographers across K-Pop, P-Pop, Open, and Styles Choreography. Open to all levels, from first-timers to experienced dancers, it’s your chance to try new dance styles, learn from new coaches, and meet new friends! Just bring comfortable dancewear, proper footwear, a water bottle, and your energy to dance all you can!

The third concert of the PPO's 42nd season, MODULATIO, conducted by Grzegorz Nowak. The program has Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Ravel's Alborada del gracioso and Bolero, and Saint-Saens' Violin Concerto No. 3 with Filipino violinist Kaycee Galano.

The Play That Goes Wrong is an Olivier Award-winning comedy, also a hit on Broadway, about a theatre group putting on a murder mystery, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where everything that can go wrong does. Expect an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that cannot play dead and actors who trip over everything, including their lines. It runs for three weekends at The Theatre at Solaire.

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Coke Studio holds its Season 10 concert, Dinig ang Pinas, at SM Mall of Asia Arena. Coke Studio Philippines is a music series that brings Filipino artists together on stage.

The American pop rock band LANY brings its soft world tour to the Philippine Arena for two nights. The show was first set for 8 November, and Live Nation added 7 November after the presale for that first date sold out. The band also plays Cebu on 6 and 12 November and Davao on 14 November.

P-pop group ALAMAT marks five years (60 months) together with a concert that ties its story to chapters of Philippine history through music and movement. TicketNet describes it as a pop concert reimagined through live theater and performance art.

The American Women's Club of the Philippines returns to SMX Aura for its November charity bazaar. Local vendors sell crafts, food and goods while raising funds for the club's community service work.

1990s British boy band Another Level plays two nights of an R&B concert party called Timeless Vibes, with guests Amiel Sol and DenY. Expect hits such as 'Freak Me', 'From the Heart' and 'Bomb Diggy'.

Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer play three nights at SM Mall of Asia Arena on their Everyone's a Star! world tour: 11, 12 and 29 November. The tour follows their sixth album, Everyone's a Star!.

The monthly after-work mixer of BGC Digital Nomads, a Meetup group for remote workers, freelancers and founders living in or passing through Manila. November's meets at Dr. Wine on Forbestown Road for three hours of drinks and conversation.

QCinema has become the strongest festival in the country for international programming, bringing Cannes, Berlin and Venice titles to Quezon City months before they reach streaming. The fourteenth edition runs for ten days across partner cinemas, alongside the QCShorts competition that funds five Filipino short films each year. Quezon City holds a UNESCO Creative City of Film designation and this festival is the main reason why.

Nick Payne's 2012 play about a quantum physicist and a beekeeper whose relationship plays out across parallel universes. This new Manila staging, directed by Kiara Pipino, has three actors, Missy Maramara, Jenny Jamora and Topper Fabregas, trading both roles between them. Performed in English in a small studio theatre in Poblacion, so every seat is close.

The Tony Award-winning satire about a city in a 20-year drought where private toilets are banned and one company charges people to use the public ones. Ateneo Blue Repertory, the university's musical theatre company, brings it back 11 years after its last Ateneo staging. Performed in English, with sharp jokes about money, power and musicals themselves.

A stand-up showcase from Comedy Manila billed as a comedy show for the shy, with Chanchan Consing, Robert Arcilla, Daniel Arboladora, Raph Baltazar, Jaq Aquino and Jomar Jay. It runs in the KoolPals Bar in the cellar of the Century Park Hotel in Malate. Expect sets mostly in Taglish, a mix of Filipino and English.

A Filipino adaptation of Bizet's opera Carmen, moved to the ruins of postwar Manila in 1949. Jaime del Mundo directs, with musical direction by Farley Asuncion, and the production closes Areté's season. It is sung in Filipino in the intimate Doreen Black Box Theater.

Tanghalang Pilipino moves its P-pop musical about Gregoria de Jesus out of the small CCP black box and into a full sized theatre at Rockwell. Marynor Madamesila returns as Oryang, the woman who rode with the Katipunan and was written out of most accounts of it. Music comes from Nica Del Rosario and Matthew Chang, with a book by Nicanor Tiongson and Eljay Castro Deldoc, and Delphine Buencamino directs.

My Chemical Romance plays the Philippine Arena as part of its South East Asia 2026 tour. The show was first set for April 2026 and was moved to 14 November 2026 when the band postponed its Asia tour. Tickets and shuttle tickets bought for the old date are honored on the new date.

OPM singer Basil Valdez marks his 75th birthday with a concert named after his 1983 song Salamin ng Buhay. The show is presented by the Bonifacio Art Foundation and the BGC Arts Center, with Lexus and Unilab as major partners. It is one night only, at the Globe Auditorium.

Singer Jona celebrates her birthday with Chapters, a benefit concert that traces her songs from her early hits to her later work. T. Meyer Entertainment Productions.

The second-anniversary night of the Heavy Mental Audio techno party, with Seoul DJ Kugel playing the Philippines for the first time. She is a resident at DJ Nobu's Future Terror parties and runs the Weird Circle series in Seoul. Local residents Duality, Shaoxing, detalye and D Waviee play across two rooms.

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka returns to Manila with a full show of new material on The Big Bowl Tour. Her HBO special The Intruder won a Gracie Award, and her second special, Father, premiered on Hulu.

The South Korean indie band wave to earth return to Manila on their ( ) pieces world tour, a mellow mix of jazz, soft rock and bedroom pop. Live Nation Philippines is the promoter.

Yeng Constantino marks 20 years in music with Biyaheng Bente, live at the Big Dome. After two shows in August, she returns for Day 3 on 17 November and Day 4 on 18 November, directed by John Prats with musical direction by Ria Osorio.

One room, one night, and more than a thousand wines, sakes, spirits and craft beers from seventeen countries, all included in a single ticket. Producers on the floor range from Champagne Bollinger and Chateau Pichon Baron to Dassai and Glenfiddich, with winemakers and sommeliers pouring and explaining rather than staff behind a table. A full dinner from the Marriott kitchens is served alongside the tasting, which matters over a seven hour evening.

Sofi Fermazi plays her first solo concert around the release of her debut album u4Me, with a set drawn from her own songs including Beep, Dito and Places Where We Hug. It is a debut headline show rather than a career retrospective, which is a different and more interesting thing to watch. One night at the Music Museum.

Korean actor Gong Yoo, known for Coffee Prince, Goblin, Train to Busan and Squid Game, holds a full-scale fan meeting for Filipino fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. PULP Live World says the evening will have special segments, conversations, performances and fan interaction.

The Filipino Canadian alt pop songwriter MICO plays Manila for the first time, bringing the Running From a Feeling tour to the New Frontier Theater. The material sits between pop punk and confessional writing, and the seated theatre suits it better than a festival stage would. Balcony seats start at ₱2,250.

Raymond Lauchengco plays a one-night concert billed as a celebration of Generation X. Gary Valenciano, Mitch Valdes, Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez join him as special guests. Directed by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, with musical direction by Marvin Querido.

Twenty five years on, Noel Bazaar returns to the World Trade Center for six days of Christmas trading, and its food section has become the reason many people go. Small Filipino food businesses take a large share of the floor with hams, quezo de bola, preserves, baked goods, regional sweets and the ready made dishes that end up on Noche Buena tables. It is a shopping bazaar first, so plan it as a stock up run rather than a sit down meal.

Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan bring The Bigger Than You Think! Tour, which marks their 25th anniversary, to the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Designers' Holiday Bazaar returns to Makati for its 13th year, with the theme Sinag (Ray of Light). The Glorietta and Ayala Museum run is the last and main stop of the 2026 tour, which features about 300 exhibitors in total across fashion, food, home, wellness and lifestyle. The bazaar is curated by co-founders Bea Zobel Jr.

Los Angeles singer, songwriter and guitarist Malcolm Todd brings his Do That Again tour to Manila. His album Do That Again debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, and his songs include 'Chest Pain (I Love)' and 'Earrings'.

Film Concerts PH brings Jujutsu Kaisen in Concert to the Newport Performing Arts Theater for two shows. Scenes from all three seasons of the anime play on a big screen while an 11-piece ensemble from the Filharmonika Orchestra plays Hiroaki Tsutsumi's music live, with a special Season 3 encore made for this tour. The tour is produced by GEA Live and RoadCo Entertainment with TOHO.

The fifth Manila edition of the global series, run through the night on fully closed roads with live bands stationed along the course. It starts at Quirino Grandstand and passes the National Museum, Manila City Hall, Fort Santiago, Binondo and the Manila Bay strip before finishing on Katigbak Parkway. The marathon goes at one minute past midnight, the half marathon at two, the 10K at five and the 5K at six, with everyone off the course by half past seven.

The International Bazaar Foundation marks its 60th anniversary with a one-day bazaar at SMX Convention Center Aura, run with the Department of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic and consular missions, and the spouses of heads of mission. Under the line Shop Global, Help Local, embassies, consulates and other groups sell food, specialty products and gifts from their countries, and the proceeds support the foundation's charity work with local communities.

Marielle Montellano celebrates 10 years in music with a concert built around the songs her fans have asked for most. The SSVIP and SVIP tiers include a soundcheck and a photo or hi-bye moment with her.

The American Women's Club of the Philippines holds its December charity bazaar at SMX Aura, a good stop for holiday gifts from local vendors raising money for the club's community service work.

Baguio band Cup of Joe play the Smart Araneta Coliseum with the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, with their songs rearranged for a live orchestra. Paolo Valenciano directs the stage show. After the first night sold out, the band added a second night on 4 December.

YouTube duo Dan and Phil bring their new stage show, Hard Launch, to Manila, their first show here since 2018. TicketNet describes it as a night of oversharing and big laughs.

An all-Beethoven night in the PPO's 42nd season, conducted by Grzegorz Nowak. The orchestra plays the Egmont Overture and Symphony No. 3, Eroica, and Italian pianist Mario Galeani plays Piano Concerto No.

Manila band CRIB plays a full concert at the Music Museum. Special guests are Ogie Alcasid, Joey Generoso (Joey G), Sitti Navarro and Isha Ponti.

K-pop group LE SSERAFIM end their 2026 PUREFLOW tour with two nights at SM Mall of Asia Arena. Manila is the last stop of the tour. The group is Sakura, Kim Chaewon, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha and Hong Eunchae.

Filipino tennis player Alex Eala comes home for an exhibition match against Indonesia's Janice Tjen at the Philippine Arena. The afternoon also includes a segment for young Philippine players, a celebrity tennis match and fan experiences.

Jillian Ward headlines the New Frontier Theater in one of the few confirmed December concerts in Metro Manila so far. She moved from child performer to recording artist over the past few years, and this is the show that tests whether the audience followed. Balcony seats open at ₱1,281.

Artists from Ballet Manila join dancers from Steps Dance Studio for a full length Nutcracker restaged by Jeffrey Espejo, with sets and costumes by Gino Gonzales and lighting by Monino Duque. Four performances across one December weekend, with the Tchaikovsky score played straight and the whole journey from the Mouse King to the Land of the Sweets. Presented by Ayala Land, Circuit Makati and the Samsung Performing Arts Theater.

Jose Mari Chan leads a two-night Christmas concert at the Newport Performing Arts Theater with Apo Hiking Society, The CompanY, Jed Madela, Sofronio Vasquez, Ariel Rivera, Ogie Alcasid and Martin Nievera. Music direction is by Marvin Querido and stage direction by Paolo Valenciano.

K-pop group NCT 127 bring their fifth world tour, NEO CITY – The Redline, to SM Mall of Asia Arena for one night in December, presented by PULP Live World.

Noel Bazaar, a Christmas benefit bazaar now in its 26th year, holds its second 2026 run at The Filinvest Tent in Alabang with the theme Rediscovering the Magic of Paskong Pinoy (a Filipino Christmas). The 2026 bazaar brings together more than 600 merchants selling local food, drinks, fashion, accessories and gifts. GMA Network co-presents, with celebrity appearances and the Kapuso Celebrity Ukay-Ukay and Auction, and the bazaar benefits the GMA Kapuso Foundation and the Inquirer Foundation.

Disney On Ice's new production comes to SM Mall of Asia Arena for the holidays, with Mickey and friends on the DJ decks, Ariel and Prince Eric, and a holiday sing-along with Goofy and Donald included in every ticket.

Singer-songwriter Adie headlines his first solo concert, with songs such as 'Paraluman', 'Tahanan' and 'Mahika'. It is produced by VAA Live and Viva Records.

The Saint Petersburg National Ballet Theatre performs The Nutcracker at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, which the promoter calls the first time the original St. Petersburg production has come to Manila. About 40 dancers perform, with soloists Oksana Bondareva and Ivan Sitnikov of the Mariinsky.

Ballet Philippines closes its 57th season with its own full length Nutcracker, staged at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Bonifacio Global City rather than at the CCP complex. Five performances across three days, with matinee and evening shows on the Saturday and the Sunday. The company is treating it as a full showcase of its dancers rather than a scaled down holiday piece.

The 1990 Christmas film Home Alone plays on the big screen while the 85-member Filharmonika Orchestra, conducted by Gerard Salonga, and the 48-member Philippine Madrigal Singers perform John Williams' score live. The show marks the film's 35th anniversary and is Film Concerts PH's first holiday film concert, with music including "Somewhere in My Memory" and "Carol of the Bells".

For two weeks from Christmas Day, foreign titles come off Philippine screens and the official entries have the cinemas to themselves. The slate announced so far includes a sequel to the local adaptation of Miracle in Cell No. 7, a Star Cinema comedy pairing Vic Sotto and Vice Ganda, a Regal horror title and a GMA fantasy drama, with four more entries still to be named.

Singer Sienna Spiro brings her My House Tour to the New Frontier Theater. The front of the venue is sold as standing Floor sections, with Loge and Balcony seats behind.

The PPO's first concert of 2027, conducted by Grzegorz Nowak. It has the world premiere of Jerry Dadap's Symphony No. 5 and Jeffrey Ching's Journey to the Alps and Victor's Meditation from the opera Frankenstein, and Russian-American pianist Natasha Paremski plays Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.

Irish pop group Westlife bring their 25th anniversary world tour to SM Mall of Asia Arena for two nights in January 2027. The shows celebrate 25 years of their hits and are presented by Wilbros Live.

An all-Shostakovich night in the PPO's Modulatio season, conducted by Grzegorz Nowak. Violinist Diomedes Saraza Jr. plays the Violin Concerto No.

Pop singer Freya Skye, whose song 'silent treatment' reached the Top 10 on Mediabase's Top 40 pop radio chart, brings her Stars Align Tour to Manila. TicketNet says she was named to Billboard's 21 Under 21 list for 2026.

Young K, singer-songwriter and member of the JYP Entertainment band DAY6, brings his Youngest solo tour to Manila. The tour follows his second full-length album, Youngest.

Worldbex is the Philippine World Building and Construction Exposition, a large trade show for building, construction, architecture and interior design. The 2027 edition, marking 30 years, runs across two venues, World Trade Center Metro Manila and SMX Convention Center Manila, with design competitions, a summit and themed pavilions.

The PPO's seventh Modulatio concert, conducted by Grzegorz Nowak. Violinist Ju-Young Baek plays Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, between Schumann's Manfred Overture and Cesar Franck's Symphony in D minor.

Three Manila nights from the Irish band, with a third added after the first two sold out. The set covers The Man Who Can't Be Moved, Hall of Fame, Breakeven and Superheroes alongside newer material.

Sleeping With Sirens close the Asia leg of their An Ending In Itself world tour at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao on Saturday 17 April 2027, their first Manila show since 2013. Presented by PULP Live World, tickets on TicketNet.

The October cycle at Finale Art File gives the Tall Gallery to Linds Lee, the Upstairs Gallery to Zoe Policarpio and the Video Room to Dwight Ong. All three run for the same three weeks, so the whole warehouse can be seen in one pass.

Gary Valenciano returns to the Music Museum for a 10-show October concert series, marking his 100+ performances at the venue and the 40th anniversary of his management company, Manila Genesis. The show is directed by Paolo Valenciano with musical direction by Mon Faustino, and singer-songwriter Kakie joins as special guest. The series also benefits the Shining Light Foundation.

The Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, whose installations turn light, water and atmosphere into shared perceptual experiments, opens his first solo exhibition in the Philippines at MCAD Manila. The show spans three decades of work across installation, sculpture, painting and photography, and marks the final stop of an Asia-Pacific tour that travelled through Singapore, Auckland, Taipei and Jakarta. This is the most significant contemporary art exhibition in the city this season, and it is worth crossing town for.

West Gallery changes every room at once, led by Andres Barrioquinto's Sober to Death. Alongside it are Neil Pasilan's Dapo sa Takip-hapon, Jojo Serrano's Objects Horizon, JJ Jarin's To Stand Where Distance Neither Grows Nor Shrinks and Bryan Pollero's Beautiful Mesmerizing Landscapes with Magnificent Sparkly Waterfalls. It is a long-running Quezon City gallery and a good look at current Filipino painting.

The first formal show of sculpture by National Artist Benedicto Cabrera, better known as BenCab, built around ten bronzes cast with Gajah's foundry, Yogya Art Lab. Works lent by the BenCab Museum set the bronzes against six decades of his paintings and drawings. Gajah opens on public holidays, so this is one of the few good art stops on 16 to 18 November.

Hands on printmaking workshops for ages 12 and up, running Saturdays through to November. Open to people who have never printed before. You work through guided exercises, try different methods, and make your own prints.

Every Sunday morning the Eton Centris Walk car park fills with several hundred stalls selling fresh produce, seafood, meat, regional delicacies and cooked breakfast eaten standing up. It has run since 2000 and remains the largest weekly market in Quezon City, with growers and small producers rather than resellers making up most of the floor. Prices are set for people doing their weekly shop, and the cooked food section is the reason many people come at dawn.

The Department of Tourism's food market inside the walls gathers around 30 vendors of regional Filipino cooking and street food in a Spanish-era fortification overlooking the old moat. It runs daily from breakfast to late afternoon, which makes it the practical lunch stop between Fort Santiago, Casa Manila, and the museums, and an easy first taste of how wide regional Filipino cooking actually runs.

Two famous fights, Mactan in 1521 and La Naval in 1646, are turned around here so that the sea rather than the empire sets the terms. Curator Jei Ente builds the case room by room, with a rosary recovered from the San Diego shipwreck, gold thread reliefs from the La Naval collection, a short film that treats Magellan's landing as fiction, and an interactive module on the men who fought at Mactan. Amorsolo's painting of precolonial traders closes the argument.

The National Museum's first retrospective of Juvenal Sansó, the Spanish-born Filipino modernist who died in 2025, with nearly 100 works. It runs from his 1940s landscapes to his late Moderno series. The show is in Gallery XV on the third floor of the National Museum of Fine Arts, beside Rizal Park.

The Surigao hoard is the largest find of precolonial gold ever made in the country, and for decades it was split between two owners who never showed it together. This long run brings 38 goldworks from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas into the Ayala Museum's gold gallery, where roughly a thousand pieces already sit. Sashes, sacred cords, ear ornaments and funerary masks, all made before the first Spanish ship arrived.

Papillon is a Michelin Guide restaurant in Salcedo Village whose afternoon tea reads its Southeast Asian roots across both sweet and savory courses. The spread runs from a citrus meringue tart and panna cotta with pineapple coulis to Bo La Lot beef skewers and Tom Yum chicken bao, paired with a fragrant fruit-aroma black tea. It is an unhurried weekend afternoon in the heart of Makati, good for a date or for bringing visiting family.

A proper repertory cinema in the city, reopened by the FDCP inside the Philippine Film Heritage Building in Intramuros in early 2026. The 80-seat house runs a 2K laser projector and Dolby Atmos sound, with a rolling program of restored Filipino classics, documentaries on National Artists, and contemporary world cinema. Screenings are free or modestly priced at around PHP 50, with titles published week to week on Facebook and Tickettailor, so treat it as a standing habit rather than a single date.

78-45-33 is an audiophile jazz kissaten behind an unmarked door in Salcedo Village, named for the three speeds of a turntable. Some ten thousand vinyl records line the walls, armchairs face a small stage under dim light, and a restored 1950s sound system does the talking, in the Japanese tradition where the music, not the chatter, is the point. Founded by audiophile Tonyboy de Leon, who runs the November Hi-Fi Show, with his cousin Jay Amante of Grey Market.

GotSoul MNL is a community listening bar on Burgos Circle where the music is the main event and the food sits in close support. The room runs two sound systems, a vintage Altec Lansing A5 rig with original multi-cell horns and a modern setup, while resident selectors move through jazz, soul, funk, disco, house and electronic across the week. The kitchen, curated by chef Chele Gonzalez, leans into modern Spanish-Filipino tapas, and the relaxed Tardeo Sunday sessions pair classic jazz and soul with brunch and a long happy hour.

The Philippines branch of the International Wine & Food Society, founded in 1982 and now around forty-six members, holds at least ten dinners a year at the city's better tables, roughly one a month outside December and January. Each evening is built around a theme and a set of wines that the branch's wine masters taste and pair in advance; a recent example was a Judgment of Paris fiftieth-anniversary blind tasting and dinner at Chef Jessie's Rockwell Club. A summer dinner is likely, though the specific June to August date had not been published at the time of writing.

Kariton, the Filipino-inspired gelato brand, teams with Melbourne listening cafe Sabi Sounds for an all-day space that runs from morning coffee to late-night vinyl. The menu spans a martini flight, ebi toast, anchovy cracker and a garden plate alongside Kariton gelato and sorbet, with a beverage programme by Kia Opeda and weekend DJ sets. It is open from 7am into the early hours.

A standing weekly French cinema night at the Alliance Française de Manille in Makati, screening films every Wednesday evening, most with English subtitles. The programme moves between the canon and contemporary work, and you can pair a screening with dinner at the on-site restaurant Le Coude Rouge beforehand, which makes it an easy full evening rather than a quick stop. Screenings begin at 7:30 PM at the Bel-Air premises; check the Alliance events page or the Le Ciné Club Manila Facebook page for the specific weekly title before you go.

A weekly open-air market in Legazpi Village, set in the parking lot beside Corinthian Plaza, and the more internationally minded counterpart to Salcedo. Turkish, Moroccan, Indian, French, Japanese, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese stalls sit alongside a wet-goods section, preserves, paintings and home decor. There are no tables, so regulars bring a mat and eat in the adjoining park, which makes it an easy weekend outing with visiting family.

Medusa calls itself the country's first proper supper club, a single Art Deco room at The Palace in Uptown BGC where an early dinner slides into late-night socials without changing venues. The kitchen is led by Lisa Revilla and David Thien, who trained under Daniel Boulud and Wolfgang Puck and at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, with Ruther Sandico running daily service; the menu is European comfort cooking done with care. Supper runs from 6pm and the mood turns toward DJs and bottle service after ten, so book the early seating for a date or dinner with visiting family, and stay on if you want the night out.

Chef Don Baldosano's natural wine bar in Makati pairs modern Filipino small plates with a low-intervention wine list, now played through a locally built hi-fi rig from Fatima Sound Practice. Under the name B! Public Service, the bodega runs weekly listening sessions and DJ residencies that move from ambient into warm, uplifting house, with selectors such as Blush, Daze and Versailles.

Bibio is a low-intervention wine bar in Poblacion, pouring whites, rosés, skin-contact oranges, reds and sparkling from Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy and Spain. The room is warm and unpretentious, with a considered in-house soundtrack and a tight kitchen of cured, fermented and pickled small plates from chefs Mianne Manguiat and Ruther Sandico. It helped anchor Makati's natural-wine wave alongside Bombvinos and remains a quieter, design-forward alternative to the listening bars, named a Tatler Best establishment for 2025.

The bakery from the Toyo Eatery team has reopened after a years-long hiatus as a grab-and-go window inspired by the traditional Filipino panaderya. Customers pick from freshly baked breads on display including potpot pandesal, leche pan and bicho in chocolate, saba and keso, with savoury sandwiches like kesong puti inipit rolling out at noon. Coffee uses beans from Yardstick and a custom Current Roasters roast.

Artist- and historian-led walks through the oldest quarters of Manila, on foot through Intramuros, Binondo, Escolta, Quiapo, San Nicolas and Tondo. The route shifts by district and theme, including research-driven editions such as Lakad Pamana, which reads the city through Rizal's novels. This is a grounded way to understand the architecture and layered history of old Manila beyond the usual tourist circuit, and it travels well with visiting family or a culturally curious guest.

Makati's original gourmet weekend market, running every Saturday since 2004 under the trees of Jaime C. Velasquez Park. More than a hundred vendors bring organic produce, fresh seafood and meats, regional Filipino cooking from Ilocos to Bicol, international stalls, pastries, flowers and crafts.

Salon de Ning is the art deco lounge inside The Peninsula Manila, styled after 1930s Shanghai across four themed rooms, with live bands on most evenings. The music runs in two sets, an earlier one from around 7:30pm and a later one past midnight, moving between jazz, soul and retro depending on the night. It is one of the more polished spots in Makati for a late drink with music, and it suits anyone who wants atmosphere without a hard sell.

Behind the plain front of a corner sari-sari store in Poblacion sits a dim, design-led room that borrows the mood of 1930s Shanghai jazz clubs. The cocktail list leans Asian-fusion, with drinks such as the Shanghai Peach Blossom served in small porcelain bowls, and because Offshore Music owns the place, the room shifts from a quiet after-work hideaway to a live-gig venue through the week. This is a bar with a point of view rather than a view, good for a date or a slow nightcap with a friend.

NoKal is a Studio 54-inspired basement room beneath Makati Cinema Square, built around a d&b Audiotechnik system and a music-first, underground sensibility drawn from New York's disco lineage. Its recurring selector nights, among them Roll the Dice, Moving Parts, Nomoclassiq and Face 2 Face, favour minimal house, classic disco and electro breaks over mainstream club fare. For those who care about the sound and the record selection rather than bottle service, it is one of the more credible places in the city for a late night out.

The Long Bar at Raffles Makati runs a daily Sundowner Special: free-flow international beers, wines, cocktails and the signature Singapore Sling, with a Chef's Sampler platter, at 1,100 pesos++ per person. The room is modelled on the original Long Bar at Raffles Singapore, where the Singapore Sling was created, and stays one of the more composed early-evening rooms in the CBD. It suits a quiet drink with proper service rather than a scene, which makes it an easy after-work stop or a calm spot to bring visiting family.

Mono by Phono is a hi-fi listening bar tucked into a quiet residential pocket on the fringe of Poblacion, where soundproofed walls, mid-century reclaimed seating and vinyl in every corner keep the music in the foreground rather than behind the conversation. The weekly programme runs on guest selectors and themed nights moving through jazz, soul, downtempo, post-punk and breakbeat, and Tuesday "Vinyl Choose-Days" let patrons bring their own records and take a turn on the deck. It is a small, considered room, good for a date or a slow evening with a friend who takes sound seriously, and an easy after-work stop since doors open at 8pm.

A high-ceilinged Poblacion speakeasy from drinks consultant Lee Watson, lined with rare bottles, vintage glassware and historic bar books, with a wraparound counter facing the band booth. Live acts run Tuesday to Saturday across jazz, blues and beyond, with a standing Rhythm and Blues night every Wednesday and vinyl selectors taking over on weekends. It is one of the more considered rooms in the city for an evening of proper listening, with cocktails drawn from a 1939 travelogue, and it suits a date or a relaxed night out with visiting family.

A dinner show at Okada Manila's Coral Lounge, where the resort's entertainment cast performs music, dance and aerial acts against LED stage sets. Each chapter is themed on a destination and paired with matching dishes on a tasting menu. It runs Friday to Sunday nights.

An original Filipino musical about Gabriela Silang, the first woman to lead a revolt against Spanish rule in these islands, with Gab Pangilinan in the title role. Barefoot Theatre Collaborative has been developing the piece for years and this is its first full staging. The run opens in November and closes on the sixth of December.

A long-running bridal fair at SMX Manila with suppliers for every part of a wedding, from caterers, gowns and photographers to venues, hair and make-up. Registered guests can join raffles drawn during the fair.

The Philippine Diecast Expo is a two-day show for model car collectors at SMX Manila, with brand booths, a dealers' hall, a collectors' toy gallery, interactive zones and celebrity guests. The organizer lists Liberty Walk, Angie Mead King and Quiccs among the 2026 names.

The Feast's yearly Catholic conference marks its 20th year with three days of worship, talks and community at SMX Manila under the theme "Made For This". There are daily Masses, adoration and confession, a separate Youth Collective track, and an online option for those who cannot attend.

The first Getting Married Bridal Fair of 2027 at SMX Manila, with wedding suppliers from caterers and gowns to photographers and venues, plus raffles for registered guests.