The seventh edition of FIFTH WALL presents contemporary dance, multimedia art, talks, and parties in NBS Park from October 22 to 25.
Filipinos have a word, gigil, for the clenched-fist urge to squeeze something so adorable or infuriating that the body has to do something about it. This month, the contemporary dance platform FIFTH WALL makes the feeling a focal point of its four-day festival, FIFTH WALL FEST Edition VII, moving to NBS Park to give itself a bit more room.
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What To Expect At FIFTH WALL FEST Edition VII
The seventh edition runs from October 22 to 25, 2026. It gathers live performances, multimedia installations, talks, and parties around a single question about what happens when people can no longer contain what they feel. The curators answer with a progression built from three everyday Filipino words, which are pigil for restraint, ipon for buildup, and sabog for release. Together they trace how tension gathers, shifts, and eventually finds its way out through movement, space, and time.
FIFTH WALL began as a virtual project in 2020. Founder and director Madge Reyes has spent the years since coaxing dance away from the conventional stage. This year’s lineup brings in seven artists working across performance, film, and contemporary art, including Al Garcia, Bunny Cadag, Ea Torrado, James Clar, Tarzeer Pictures, Timothy Axibal, and Tohru Dance, each offering a different reading of gigil.
Visitors who prefer the moving image can head to two new video installations, Spectral Spectator by Tarzeer Pictures and 0001 by Timothy Axibal. The internet sensation Tohru Dance will be featured thanks to a partnership with the Japan Foundation, Manila for Club GIGIL, a two-part program that pairs an artist talk with a community jam and is free to attend with registration.
James Clar makes his first foray into live performance with Manila After Dark. Reyes choreographed the FIFTH WALL co-production, which combines cinema, movement, and light and takes its inspiration from Ishmael Bernal’s Manila by Night (1980). Al Garcia’s Lore puts embodied cultural memory in conversation with artificial intelligence, while Bunny Cadag’s The Singer, arriving for its Philippine premiere, treats the trans body as a sanctuary for feminine predicament and queer remembrance. Ea Torrado’s Brown Madonna “queers” and “Filipinizes” two icons of the divine feminine: the Virgin Mary and the pop star Madonna.
A New Space To Dance
The move to NBS Park marks the first time the festival has been set up in the space. Reyes says the team wants to keep giving artists the freedom to experiment and audiences a chance to see dance beyond the traditional stage, and she expects the park to push that goal toward something open, immersive, and distinctly Filipino.
National Bookstore President and CEO Adrian Ramos calls the partnership a natural extension of the belief behind the park, which holds that Filipinos deserve more places where cultureCultureshared traditions, beliefs, values, customs, arts, and social practices that define the identity and way of life of a community, society, or nation.Go to Culture Glossary, creativity, and community can come together, and he hopes the space keeps growing as a home for discovering ideas and meeting artists.
Where To Get Tickets To FIFTH WALL FEST VII
Tickets for individual festival experiences go on sale online and onsite through HelixPay, and walk-ins are welcome throughout the festival period. Ticket holders can also show their festival ticket at Astro to buy the Chicken Lolli & Pop, a chicken lollipop served with a craft soda in either Orange or Lemon Lime.
FIFTH WALL FEST Edition VII has no interest in telling anyone what gigil means, and it hopes each visitor will work out for themselves what they hold back, what builds up inside them, and what happens when it finally gets out.
Tickets for individual festival experiences go on sale online and onsite through HelixPay. Walk-ins are welcome throughout the festival period. Ticket holders can also show their festival ticket at Astro to buy the Chicken Lolli & Pop, a chicken lollipop served with a craft soda in either Orange or Lemon Lime.
The full FIFTH WALL VII program, schedule, and ticketing details are available through the festival’s official channels, including fifthwall.ph.
Banner photo courtesy of FIFTH WALL
Frequently Asked Questions
FIFTH WALL Edition VII is a four-day contemporary dance festival featuring live performances, multimedia installations, talks, and parties centered on the Filipino feeling of gigil.
FIFTH WALL Edition VII runs from October 22 to 25, 2026, at NBS Park. This is the first time the festival is being held at the space.
The festival features Al Garcia, Bunny Cadag, Ea Torrado, James Clar, Tarzeer Pictures, Timothy Axibal, and Tohru Dance.
The program includes James Clar’s Manila After Dark, Al Garcia’s Lore, Bunny Cadag’s The Singer, Ea Torrado’s Brown Madonna, video installations by Tarzeer Pictures and Timothy Axibal, and Club GIGIL with Tohru Dance.
Tickets for individual festival experiences are available online and onsite through HelixPay. Walk-ins are also welcome throughout the festival period. The full FIFTH WALL VII program, schedule, and ticketing details are available through the festival’s official channels, including fifthwall.ph.
