Ben&Ben and Ed Sheeran to Co-Headline OFFLIMITS Festival in Abu Dhabi

Folk-pop collective Ben&Ben joins the elite roster of Abu Dhabi’s inaugural OFFLIMITS Festival. They’re set to take the stage alongside global heavyweights Ed Sheeran, OneRepublic, Sevdaliza, and Kaiser Chiefs on April 26 at Etihad Park. This landmark booking marks both Ben&Ben’s first international festival appearance and their second creative collision with Sheeran, following their supporting turn during his Manila stop last year in March. 

The nine-piece ensemble arrives armed with their ambitious new album The Traveller Across Dimensions, poised to test their intricate folk arrangements against OFFLIMITS’ deliberately genre-blurring ethos. Where their previous performances at Expo 2020 Dubai’s Jubilee Stage and Coca-Cola Arena played in front of local and diasporic Filipino crowds, this festival presents a broader challenge: converting uninitiated listeners through the universal language of soaring harmonies and percussive fervor.

The festival’s multicultural audience demands something more nuanced than nostalgia. Their solution? A setlist that recontextualizes their signature sound. Expect Tagalog lyrics to ride atop Sevdaliza-inspired electronic textures and folk cadences to lock into Kaiser Chiefs’ Britrock grooves in the festival.

As the first Philippine act to co-headline a major Middle Eastern festival, Ben&Ben carries more than just their instruments. OFFLIMITS’ bold hybrid of music, art, and lifestyle programming provides the ideal stage for this evolution.

Elijah Pareño

Music Writer

Elijah Pareño is the Music Writer of Rolling Stone Philippines. He writes daily music news, features, reviews, and radar stories of the website.

In addition to music writing, Pareño has written about the behind-the-scenes writers and producers from the P-pop scene, interviewed hip-hop artists like Shanti Dope and Zae, and featured up-and-coming artists for the Music Forecast 2026. Aside from music, Pareño has written about the state of affairs that affects pop culture. He wrote a movie review for 'Mortal Kombat II' and reported and interviewed photojournalists at the September 21, 2025 protests in Luneta and Mendiola.

Prior to working in Rolling Stone Philippines, Pareño was a freelance writer for 3 years and independent live music promoter

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• In This Article:
• Ben&Ben
• Ed Sheeran