Feature: Luna Musikalawaig — Where Moon, Music & Nature Converge

Luna Musikalawaig isn’t just a festival name—it’s a vision. From Luna (moon), Musika (music), and Kalawaig (river), it’s a constellation of art, sound, and nature. Held at Ki Bathala Gardens, Talakag, Bukidnon, Luna Musikalawaig is the renewed spirit of the Summer Peace Festival, its original heartbeat.

This year, we returned not to cover, but to document it through The Factory’s lens. The story wasn’t just on stage—it was in the wind, the river, the people.

A Festival Close to the Earth

Luna Musikalawaig spans two days in the lush terrain of Talakag. It’s a gathering that invites you in, not as an audience, but as a wanderer, a listener, a soul breathing with the land.

Past editions show the festival’s evolution from its Summer Peace Festival roots. In 2014, the 3rd Mindanao Summer Peace Festival drew about 800 participants. It began in Centrio Garden, CDO, then camping moved to Ki Bathala. Its aim was to simply bring people from different walks of life together in nature, through music and artistry.

Performances have ranged wide: Mush Project, Arthur, Bullet Dumas, Kaapin, and many more. Local creators also set up artisan stalls, freedom boards, quote trees, and encouraged bathing in the river (with only organic soap).

Walking down to the Kalawaig River is part of the ritual — a 10-minute trek across rice plains, into a riverbed of stones and quiet current.

Why It Resonates

When Dawn and I were young correspondents for Launchpad Magazine, one of the early events we covered was Summer Peace Festival. We watched this world from the outside — framing, reporting, learning. Over time, we carried that memory as a spark.

Coming back now, as The Factory Studio, felt like reclaiming that spark. We didn’t just cover an event—we lived it. We allowed the music, the river, the walk, the bonfire, the light and shadow to shape our images.

In that air, there was kindness, curiosity, peace. People welcomed strangers as friends. The jungle whispered in the reeds. And the music sat patiently between trees, not imposed, but invited.

Our Narrative Through the Lens

I imagined capturing light-drenched forest paths, moonlit silhouettes, creative souls in motion—the frames where art and nature don’t compete, but become one.

Our shoot didn’t force images. We followed. We waited. Some of my favorite frames are the quiet ones: a hand touching leaf, someone pausing mid-step, a soft laugh in a moment of stillness.

We documented not just what the festival is, but what it means: a space where culture and creativity feel home. Where art isn’t separate from life — it is life.

Thanks & Full Circle

A deep thank-you to Michelle Lua for inviting us into this space of trust. Her belief in creative communities — in letting art breathe, not battle — is part of what makes Luna shine.

We came back to a festival we once covered. Now, we tell it from within. That feels like home.