What's on in Manila
Events, restaurants, bars, weekend trips and where to train, curated for the people who live here.
Gigs, concerts and festivals worth a night out
The Concerts Lighting Up Manila This Summer
From K-pop arenas to OPM legends and Mitski's first Manila show, here is the summer concert calendar worth planning your weekends around.
Festivals Worth Your Weekend This Summer
The summer festivals worth planning a weekend around, sorted by what you actually love, from electronic dance and OPM to coffee, food, Pride, and pop culture.
This week in Manila
Cine Europa 29: European Film Festival
The country's longest-running European film festival reaches its 29th edition, with feature films and documentaries from EU member states and Ukraine, all subtitled and free to attend. The Shangri-La Plaza leg runs through 3 June, opening with the Czech drama "The Waves" before the festival moves to Rizal Park and regional cities. This is curated, unhurried European cinema for film lovers, easy to reach in Ortigas and well suited to an after-work screening. Seating is first-come, first-served, and the opening film seats from 5:15 PM, so arrive early if you want a good spot.
The Coconut Tree Methodology: Martha Atienza
2263 Don Chino Roces Avenue Extension
Cristina Mejías & García de Marina: Parallel Exhibitions at Casa Azul
Casa Azul
Collectors Plus (6th edition)
2263 Don Chino Roces Avenue Extension
Femme Hommage
MK Tan Centre
Plan a weekend out of the city
How to Escape Manila for a Weekend
The honest truth is that the hard part is leaving and re-entering the metro, not the highway. Here is how to pick the right escape for the weekend you actually have.
A Weekend in Subic
The mixed group weekend where a beach, a marine park, a zoo and a wreck dive all sit inside one clean walkable zone.
Eating Your Way Through Pampanga
The shortest food escape from Manila, built entirely around one full day of eating in the country's culinary capital.
Where to train, and what to train for
Where to Train in Manila
The heat, the humidity and the traffic shape where and when this city moves, so start from the constraints and let them point you to the right discipline and the right place.
Races Worth Training For: The Philippine Endurance Calendar
Pick a target, count back from race day, and start training. Here is the year in road, trail, triathlon, and obstacle racing that a Manila resident can actually reach.
Bouldering and Climbing in Manila
Where to start as a complete beginner, where to chase real height and lead routes, and what a session actually costs across the metro.
Stories
Where Manila Eats Well Now
The Michelin Guide arrived in the Philippines in late 2025, and it confirmed what the city already knew. Here is where Metro Manila is cooking at its most serious, from a two-star tasting counter in Makati to a neo-Filipino bistro in Poblacion.
The Rise of Manila's Listening Bars
Manila has built a small but serious circuit of hi-fi and vinyl bars, where the sound system is the point and the records set the pace. A guide to the rooms worth the trip.
The Best Cafés in Manila to Actually Work From
A short, practical guide to specialty-coffee cafés across Makati, BGC, Poblacion, and Quezon City that hold up for a few hours of laptop time. Good coffee, reliable wifi, real power, and enough quiet to think.
A First-Timer's Guide to Manila's Gallery Row
The contemporary art that matters in Metro Manila sits in a cluster of converted warehouses along Chino Roces Avenue in Makati. Here is how to see it in an afternoon, and where the major museums fit in.
Worth knowing
Climb Central Manila
Fitness · Mandaluyong
Electric Studio
Fitness · BGC
Elite Boxing and Muay Thai
Fitness · BGC
The Bouldering Hive
Fitness · Makati
Pretty Huge
Fitness · BGC
Univers
Shop · Makati
Salcedo Saturday Market
Explore · Salcedo
Sunspace Makati
Wellness · Salcedo
Later this month
MAFBEX 2026: The Brew District & Philippine National Coffee Competition
Gil Puyat Ave. Extension cor. Diosdado Macapagal Blvd.
Renacimiento Manila: Weekend Heritage Walks
Intramuros / Binondo
The Spectacular Mid-Year Auction 2026
Eurovilla 1
Things You Wanted to Say But Never Did: Geloy Concepcion
Areté
Yemaya
The Black Box
Mezcla: Interwoven Cultures and the Mantón de Manila
3F Main Gallery
Cinematheque Director Series
Philippine Film Heritage Building
Cine Europa 29: Open-Air Screenings at Rizal Park
Rizal Park