Throughout its long life as a festival, Wanderland has acted not just as an event where music-lovers can gather, but also as a mirror of our tastes, reflecting back to us what we value and enjoy in indie music. That explains how indie acts like Death Cab for Cutie, Foals, and The Naked & Famous were able to appear in Wanderland’s lineup. For roughly two years, we lost that event, that mirror. If Wanderland was to make a comeback, it would have to pull out all the stops.
And pull out all the stops they did. Wanderland 2023’s lineup is absolutely stacked with acts that, when put together into the span of a weekend, seem to capture our pop and indie zeitgeist. Carly Rae Jepsen and Phoenix? Men I Trust and Dashboard Confessional? This year’s Wanderland is going to feel like 2004, 2012, 2015, and 2019 crashing into each other, in the best way. Talk about making up for lost time.
We spoke with the Karpos Multimedia team about the motivations for bringing Wanderland back, the plans that went into making the lineup so stacked, and the joy of making live shows happen again.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Karpos Multimedia. But you made a splash last year with Salo Salo Fest, and are making a Wanderland comeback this coming March. What were the factors that influenced and inspired your return to the scene?
The 2022 national elections was a major factor in our decision to return. When we saw how the campaign period was able to draw massive crowds out in public, we knew it was the right time to get back into the scene.
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Can you describe what the first few meetings of the team were like?
There were a lot of honest conversations that had to be shared with the team about the company then. It was no secret that a lot has changed since the pandemic — there was even a point when we were unsure about making a return at all. But when we did, we knew that those conversations were needed so we could rally each other up and help rebuild the business together. When we started to get the ball rolling, there was no more looking back.
Overall, how did it feel, getting the old gang back together?
It was sentimental yet new — happy to get back to doing what we love but we were all feeling a little rusty to be honest! There were definitely things we had to relearn, adjust, and adapt to mounting and promoting concerts and festivals again. It feels great getting to do it with fresh faces and those who made a comeback to the team.
It feels like this Wanderland lineup is more stacked than ever before. How do you decide on headliners? And how did you curate the lineup and playtime schedule for this year’s Wanderland?
Yes, this is the most expensive lineup yet! We wanted to come back strong so we chose artists that could attract both our loyal Wanderers and new Wanderers as well. Being in the business for about 10 years now has allowed us to make a name in the live music industry where we have been fortunate enough to connect with promoters, agents, labels, and artists from all over the globe. Curating a lineup will always have a hint of the team’s personal preference but so many other factors come to play as well, such as touring schedules, requirements, etc.
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A ticket to Wanderland essentially allows a customer to experience 22 acts (11 per day), plus different booths and live art. How important is value for money for the Wanderland experience, and how were you able to load that much value into a single ticket?
We always valued Wanderland as being more than just a music festival — it’s our essence, so we try to stay true to that every year. That’s also why Wanderland is a thematic festival, so that our community always has something new to look forward to.
With economic situations and consumer behaviors changing, it’s honestly been quite the challenge to find the sweet spot of making price points attractive to our market while still making it practical for us. But we work hard to keep up the standard, make our Wanderers happy, and have them experience that a Wanderland ticket is worth every peso.
Aside from the eclectic lineup, what else can concertgoers expect from this year’s Wanderland?
Reliving that wanderful feeling of being in a festival, surrounded by good music, good people and just overall good vibes. We’re right back where we called a timeout in 2020, so you can expect that we’re finishing it with a win. We might throw in a couple surprises you have to watch out for!
