Entrance Is Free at This 2-Day Matcha + Arts Festival in Manila

(SPOT.ph) If you somehow skipped the wave of matcha meetups that flooded the Metro over Valentine’s weekend (whether it was by accident, or in quiet protest against the PDA season), here's another chance. Wet Market is staging a Matcha and Arts Festival in Manila on February 23 and 24.

Wet Market's Matcha and Arts Festival is a two-day festival happening on February 23 and 24, Monday and Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. This will be taking place on the first and third floors of 3 Torre Lorenzo, 994 P. Ocampo Street, Malate, Manila, near De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde's Design and Arts Campus.

The festival brings in 15 matcha shops from in and around Metro Manila, who will be bringing in their whisked drinks and matcha powder tins. You're in for a treat, whether you just love to drink or you're one to ceremoniously whisk your own micro-foamed latte at home. Also to be featured at the festival are 41 local artists selling anik-anik and more—think stickers, prints, ceramics, keychains, and other charming finds you definitely don’t need but will absolutely convince yourself you do. R.I.P. to our wallet.

The good news? Entrance is free—because you'll need every peso as you go through the festival.

Let’s go through all the matcha merchants at the Matcha and Arts Festival. We’ve conveniently included the bestsellers for each, so you can make a game plan of which stalls to hit first and what to buy from them (that is, if it’s not sold out yet).

• Boost Bar: The recommended drinks are Wicked (P250), a strawberry matcha; BBL (P200), a berry-forward smoothie; and Kiwi Me Softly (P150), an iced black tea infused with kiwi.

• Gaijin Matcha: Try the Banana Pudding (P260) that's topped with banana pudding; Earl Grey (P205), a two-toned drink of Earl Grey and matcha; Banatcha (P225), which uses banana and cinnamon; Ube (P220), which uses real ube halaya; and Shoyu Caramel (P230) that's topped with kinako cream.

• Kuma: For your matcha powders, Kuma has tins of Honmei and Miru from Yame; Yugen from Kyoto; Kirei from Kagoshima. They also have more single cultivars, such as Kanaya Midori from Kyoto, Okumidori from Fukuoka, Tsuyuhikari from Shizuoka, and Okumidori 2.0 from Izumo.

• Kura Matcha: Kura's bestsellers are the sea salt drinks, the Sea Salt Matcha and Sea Salt Hojicha Lattes (P255 and P245), which are your teas topped with a salty, sweet foam; and the Wakaba Latte (P275), which uses a Seimei Cultivar from Kagoshima, Japan.

• Matcha House: Matcha House's bestsellers are the Kinako Cream Matcha (P250), which uses matcha, oat milk, and roasted soybean cream; and the Ube Matcha (P250), an oat matcha latte with ube jam.

• Oh, Hey There Matcha: The matcha cafe has long been known for its Banana Pudding Matcha (P290), but if you want something more creative, go for the Cereal Cookie Dough Pudding Matcha (P295).

• One Cup Matcha: One Cup Matcha is another matcha shop where you can get a Banana Pudding Matcha (P285). What's unique to this shop is their Sakura Matcha (P250), a matcha latte that's sweetened with a syrup made from cherry blossoms.

• Slo Matcha: Slo Matcha's bestsellers are the Sea Salt Matcha or Hojicha (P240) and the Miso Caramel Matcha and Hojicha (P230).

• The Matcha Co: Best to watch out for The Matcha Co's pop-up exclusive strawberry-matcha drink, which uses an ichigo syrup made with Japanese strawberries and a matcha-infused whipped cream. Other drinks you should try are the Cloud Crunch, Seasalt, Kinako Kuromitsu, and the Extra Rich Matcha Latte, which has a whopping six grams of matcha.

• Tora Matcha: Go to Tora Matcha and try their Matcha Oat (P200), or for something sweeter, the Agave Matcha Oat (P200). You can also try the Sea Salt Matcha Oat (P240) for that playful mix of umami, sweetness, and saltiness.

• Tsukiyo Matcha: For drinks, try Tsukiyo Matcha's Shirakami Matcha (P230), an umami-forward matcha latte that's topped with creamy sea-salt cold foam. For powders, they have the Matcha 01 - Shiori 30g (P880), a first-harvest yabukita matcha from Shizuoka, Japan.

• Waypoint: If you love the banana-matcha combination but need something other than the usual banana pudding, go for the sweet warmth of Waypoint's Banana Bread Matcha (P280). They also have the Osmanthus Matcha (P280), which has golden florals and a honey sweetness profile.

Expect a solid selection of food and desserts, too. Ararô Gelato will be serving their Taho Made Legen-dairy (P225)—essentially a taho gelato, with a soy gelato base, arnibal, and sago pearls. You can also drop by Poke Bubs for a hefty OG Spicy Poke Bowl (P390), a salmon poke on a bed of furikake rice. Don't miss Sweet Cherie's cookies, like the bestselling NYC Cookies (P80/piece), and their Burnt Basque Cheesecake (P250) for pairing with your matcha.

The festival is bringing 41 local artists to one space. Most will be selling their own merchandise—prints, stickers, keychains, and more—while some will be offering live portraits, photobooths, fortune telling, and other fun activities.

• 10 Cent Art

• 124ilu

• 3am Art by Lei

• Anii Sprout

• art of nini

• Art Thena

• artbypudge

• Artsy Andeng

• Astodoodles

• Bloom de Lacuna

• Chikurii x Magpili Studios

• cremesfactory

• crittercaffe

• Cullux

• ERMITANYA

• Finnybee

• Flos Blooms

• Friendly Bearzz

• Hardinikol

• Into The Garden

• Keeyana

• kneeyow

• koobeen

• Kuya, Pa-Edit!

• Labuli

• Lalala

• Leleribo

• LEYANSQUARE

• Likhang Anik-Anik

• litolnerd

• namisofties

• Orchidée

• Paging Courage

• paninibreads

• Photo Booth by PB&J

• pink poodle

• Pixie Prints MNL

• Reiso

• Rikuaa

• RUI. thesingledrop

• softasdune

• The Freeform Objects

• The Purple Penguin PH

• WE ARE STILL PRETTY

• Wet Market: Pasalubong

• ZeroFourWheels

For more information, check out Wet Market's Instagram page.