The first day of the Sonata Bisaya Music Festival 2026 brought together established and emerging Bisaya artists at Ayala Center Cebu by Ayala Malls, drawing a steady crowd of local music fans from day to night. The festival gave Cebuano artists a main stage at one of the city’s busiest lifestyle destinations, with a lineup that mixed OPM legend performers, like South Border, with newer acts still building their presence in the local scene.
In Cebu, the local live music scene is building its own stage, finding its audience, and making sure Bisaya artists are finally being heard.
The first day featured performances from The Sundown, Sepia Times, Phylum, and South Border, alongside emerging Bisaya acts including AKN, Khobee, Mahika, Joseph Gara, Bernadeth Jumalon, Coloura, Ferdinand Aragon, Franzel n D’Flayahs, John Armand, Lost Aces, and Oding Kai.
A growing stage for Bisaya artists
For years, Bisaya musicians have continuously produced music that resonates beyond Cebu and the Visayas and Mindanao, with songs having steadily gained traction online, and local gigs that attracted younger audiences. Still, festivals like Sonata Bisaya Music Festival matter because they provide something digital platforms cannot fully replicate: a physical stage where artists and audiences connect in real time.
Watching the performances unfold throughout the night, it became clear how important these spaces are for local musicians trying to grow their reach. Booth activities, crowd games, and audience interactions ran alongside the performances, extending the event beyond the stage program.
Festival-goer Lexy, attending for the second consecutive year, said the experience stood out for how smoothly the event was organized alongside the quality of the performances.
“It was magical. I’d say primarily because a lot of my fave artists were invited to perform,” she said. “The activities and games were fun as well and the hosts were engaging. They really know how to hype up the crowd. From my experience, everything went smoothly.”
Her experience reflected what many attendees seemed to feel throughout the festival: that Bisaya music events are becoming bigger, more organised, and more capable of drawing diverse audiences together.
Representing Cebu’s local music scene
Beyond the performances, Sonata Bisaya Music Festival 2026 represented something larger for Cebu’s creative scene. Events like this continue to prove that local artists deserve spaces that place them front and centre, not merely as opening acts or side attractions.
For Ayala Center Cebu by Ayala Malls, three consecutive years of hosting a festival of this scale is no longer just a programming choice. It’s a statement of place; live music rooted in Bisaya culture and language is exactly the kind of experience that speaks to who this city is and who walks through Ayala Center Cebu’s doors.
For newer artists on the bill, the festival offered exposure before a larger audience than most local gigs can provide. For longtime supporters of the scene, it served as a marker of how far Bisaya music has come in terms of production, attendance, and platform.
And for attendees like Lexy, it already creates anticipation for what comes next. “Next year, for local artists, I wanna see Urbandub or Sansette,” she said.
If this year’s turnout was any indication, the demand for Bisaya music festivals is only getting louder. In Cebu, the local live music scene is no longer emerging quietly in the background. It is building its own stage, finding its audience, and making sure Bisaya artists are finally being heard.
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