Jakarta, IO – “Now Playing Festival”, incoming! This annual music festival is back for its third iteration. Created by promotor Nada Promotama in 2019, it is the biggest music in Bandung, with 14 performers in its first lineup and over 23,000 audience members thrilled by its debut.
In 2022, the Festival returned during the pandemic, with 33 performers lined up – and a recordbreaking 90,000+ people coming to watch. It was preceded by the “Road to Now Playing Festival 2023” in Peninsula Island, Nusa Dua, Bali on 29 November 2022. The prequel shows that the event has upgraded the acts by inviting American international rock band Weezer, as well as top local bands such as Noah, Fourtwnty, and The Adams.
According to Nada Promotama Director Emil Mahyudin, the third iteration of the “Now Playing Festival” will be the first international music festival with a 6-day duration in Indonesia – three days a week over two weeks, on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th, and 12 March 2023 in the Pussenif Square in Bandung. This year, these international musicians have confirmed their appearance for the first time in Indonesia, ready to deliver their best performance: America’s Dashboard Confessional, Secondhand Serenade, and Boys Like Girls, and Thailand’s HYBS. They will complement some of our own best musicians – Noah, Tulus, Mahalini, Tiara Andini, Lyodra, Yura Yunita, Kahitna, Project Pop, Rizky Febian, Club Dangdut Racun and many more.
“Now Playing Festival 2023” will be showcasing Bandung’s own bands to indulge our music lovers: its “Bandung Heroes” stage will be filled with the likes of The Changcuters, Kuburan, Utopia, La Luna, and other Pasundan musicians who ruled the national music scene in the past. “We will also host Melly Goeslaw with the AADC set, Jikustik with their three best vocalists through the ages, and the reunited Seurieus band, first back on stage with full formation. We will also have Maliq & D’Essentials in their initial formation, as this event will be the prequel to their 20th Anniversary Concert. You can only see all this live at the ‘Now Playing Festival 2023’ stage,” Emil declared proudly.
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With the first iteration of “Now Playing Festival” focusing on mainstream and indie genres, and the second focusing on Javanese ethnic music x pop fusion, this year’s iteration will expand to include genres like dangdut, which will mesh in a unique way with its “Bohemian: Safety Mode” theme. This time, the side shows will also contribute to local small businesses while entertaining the audience: the culinary festival, face painting, Tarot reading, photo booth, and games. For this purpose, the organizers are fully supported by the Tourism Offices of Bandung City and West Java Province, local Governments, the local Covid-19 Task Force, and the sponsors. Nada Promotama optimistically targets no fewer than 100,000 audience members in the entire 6-day event, comprising of both local and foreign tourists. (des/ast)