Back to MoCAF: What Draws Guests to Return
For returning guests, a MoCAF return is a return worthwhile—a homecoming to something intimately familiar.
Words Bridgette Yutuc
Photos courtesy of Mika Tadena
July 12, 2025
Every July, as the city bustles with anticipation, something familiar and ecstatic is making a return. It’s MoCAF (Modern and Contemporary Art Festival) season again!
But if you’ve been here more than once, you must've started to notice a loop of familiar, recurring faces. We met them in the halls of the fair, curated booths, and spontaneous conversations—art enthusiasts, collectors, curious souls, families, and friends.
Some have attended MoCAF since its inception. Others stumbled in once and found a creative sanctuary they never knew they needed. So we asked, why do they keep coming back?
Space that embraces
As an art lover slash singer-songwriter, 29-year-old Tish seeks to be truly immersed in the local
“I always seek new inspiration from different art mediums and to meet other people and artists through the event,” Tish said. “I love it especially because I'm also one who enjoys contemporary art, and I noticed that MoCAF really supports that type of art,” she added.
Tish also shared her sentiments about the event’s atmosphere, describing its laid-back vibrancy. “Everyone's social, everyone's kind. Everyone's going through different booths, exhibits, and areas. It's just easy going.”
In essence, it is exactly what MoCAF strives to be. It doesn’t rush you or demand that you see everything at once. There’s no pressure to chase the next booth or tick every box. Instead, it invites festivalgoers to slow down, absorb, and relish the art experience personally and deliberately.
Creative agility
29-year-old Fine Arts graduate Gabrielle said this is her second time attending the festival. For her, the most striking factor of MoCAF is the sheer talent on display.
There’s a certain awe that settles in when you’re surrounded by art, and for Gabrielle, more than admiration, it's a fuel. “You're gonna be really amazed by all the art that surrounds you. As an artist, it inspires me in a way that it really just makes me motivated to keep pursuing my art and my own practices.”
As a kindred art lover, Gabrielle was able to grasp the essence of what MoCAF truly stands for.
“It's really nice to see all the artists here and the diversity of each art piece. It's not just paintings, it's really fascinating to see the sculptures. It's also really interesting to see the different artists per generation,” she shared.
“You can see, as well as the genres, you have the classics and the contemporary. So it's really nice to see how art has evolved throughout the years. As well as the different fortes of different artists. You can really just think like art is really very expansive and it's for everyone.”
More than its diversity, MoCAF takes pride in its ability to constantly morph with the times. Agile in its form and fluid in its focus, it bends with the cultural and creative currents. It is built to listen, respond, and refine, ensuring that it remains not just relevant but refreshingly ahead of the curve.
For returning guests like Tish and Gabrielle, perhaps returning is the joy of witnessing a transformative art enclave that matches the pace of the evolving creative landscape, whether on a canvas or in conversations.
And regardless if you're a connoisseur or just a curious soul, a MoCAF return becomes a rediscovery—of new mediums, new voices, and even new layers of the self.