&Friends Manila 2025 review: A good start for a new event

It brought together some of the best content creators with a star studded music fest as backdrop

Komiks creators Sskait, Hunghang Flashbacks, Little Things PH, Aeonix, Yokify, and Libreng Komiks engage in a lively discussion during the "Color Me Surprised" panel on day 1 of And Friends.

The first ever &Friends Festival at the Okada Manila was such a celebration of pop culture and digital content creation. It united some of the world’s best digital creators with the best of Filipino talents in the field. Held over two days in the country’s most prestigious luxury casino resort, paired with perhaps the loudest return of the EDM megashow scene in the country with a Zedd as major headliner with the biggest ever lineup of musical acts under the roof of Cove Manila, the event proved to be the largest and most importantly, the most well managed pop culture and music festival in the country.

Massive crowds at Cove Manila await the set of Zedd on Day 1 of &Friends (Credit: Philippine Concerts/FB)

One of the best parts about the Expo at the AndFriends Festival would be the lineup of headliner content creators at the event. Some of the finest figures in the world of digital content were brought in to meet their Filipino fans. Some of them are visiting Manila for the first time while some others like the vtuber Shoto as well as twitch streamers Dish, Tuonto, and AnthonyChenn are returning to the country. In addition, some major local content creators have also converged at Okada’s Crystal Pavilion. Many of them came not only to meet some of the best international creators but also they came to have all sorts of meetups with each other as well as do collab content and much more. All sorts of creators were very well represented at the event from artists to cosplayers to vtuber fans to gamers, not only in the panels but also just walking around the expo grounds. You never really knew what or who you would run into. Above all, it seemed to be an event that brought some of the finest creators of content together in one roof, especially with the backdrop being the nicest luxury casino resort in the country. In fact I did meet one great creator at the event: Cholo Tolentino, the Philippine country head 

The author with Gank PH country head and geek content creator Cholo Tolentino

The lineup as well has to be the most well managed parts of the event. There were guests for every interest, every fandom, and every kind of lifestyle imagined. Not to mention, they did such a good job of blending the best of local Filipino creators and some of the global talents that have been beloved by Filipinos. The “Color Me Surprised” panel at Day 1 was the first of many panels and it featured local komiks makers. It also happened to be the most unhinged panels because the artists were passing around what work they started and the results were not what you were going to expect. 

Same goes for the “Food Wars” panel with top internet chefs such as IGumDrop of the US, Donut Daddy of Australia and our very own Jujumao in a hilarious taste testing challenge. Donut Daddy’s running jokes at the taste test segment left me laughing very hard.

The komiks artists showcase their playful creations at the "Color Me Surprised" panel, engaging the audience with their imaginative and witty drawings.

IGumdrop, Donut Daddy, Kenny Song, and Jujumao engage in a discussion about their food content during the vibrant "Food Wars" panel, energized by hosts Sophy and Rebyckzo.

IGumdrop shares a joyful moment with the author during her return to Manila.

Vtuber Shoto brought the house on Day 2 of the event with his highly anticipated return. I felt the energy of Shoto’s Filipino fans or his “Guildies” who turned up in full force for his panel. He shared some of the things he has been up to since his last visit to Manila. Shoto’s talk made for some amazing interactions among the crowd, which was much bigger than the first day. There were technical errors causing a minor significant schedule change but nevertheless, Shoto’s big show went on and it added even more excitement and anticipation to many of the Guildies in the crowd

Shoto enjoying his time onstage with the Filipino Guildies during his panel

All these panels were brought together by amazing hosting by content creators Sophy Mapua and Rebyckzo. Both had lots of great energy, kept the crowds engaged, and kept every panelist very well engaged. Even with technical errors at some point, the energy of the two added even more vibes for the event.

There was also an eclectic number of booths at the event, catering to all sorts of interests from toys and collectibles to komiks and drawings. Some of the creators at the event also had their own booths selling their signed prints, merch made by or for them, and taking pictures for meet and greets. Speaking of which, the lines for meet and greets were also very well managed, I was able to line up to see IGumdrop and I did not feel like I was lining up for a long time because the crowd flow was very smooth and orderly. I also managed to meet content creator Dish very early in the morning while the crowd was not very thick and had a lovely time with her.

Anyway back to the booths. Tito Steef’s retro gaming hub seemed to be the most attractive of the booths at the event with many eventgoers heading there to grind on some timeless games after a full day’s browsing through the event. Locally had an impressive stand featuring fruit shakes inspired by the brand’s various flavors. Various vendors have turned up including a seller of blind book packs with such bespoke tastes in literature, as well as tons of merch related to Shoto and Ironmouse. The Renaissance Faire Ph also made an appearance at the event as well. 

Day 1 had a bit of a low crowd turnout at the Expo at opening as it was a Friday and people had work and school. However later on in the afternoon, more people began to show up, the crowd slightly thickened at the Expo, and more people turned up as the raves at the Cove got underway. Zedd’s set had a massive crowd proving once and for all that EDM was not dead in the Philippines, it only got better. I was unable to go to those as my media pass tier did not cover the concert but I heard many great things about it and boy, was the Cove packed for Zedd!

It was during Day 2, a Saturday, that the most crowds showed up at the Expo. It was very much evidenced by the amount of people turning up for the Free Primogems Here panel with Dish, Tuonto, and AnthonyChenn as well as the panels for vtubers Shoto and Ironmouse in which the Creator Stage was filled to the brim with many of their fans and followers. 

There was only one problem though, and that was some technical errors on Day 2 while Shoto was preparing for his segment. This led to a change in the schedule but it seemed not to affect the overall vibe.

Overall I would have to say that &Friends was quite a wonderful experience. There may have been a bit of a technical glitch at one point but that did not ruin the fun of the event. 

&Friends did well on its promise of bringing friends together, from the experience of meeting the content creators that became your virtual friends, browsing through merch and jamming with your real friends, or making some new friends among the crowd that shared your interests. At the end of the day, it was all about celebrating friendships of all sorts, from real to virtual, with music, panels, and more.