Disclaimer: I found the way I wrote mine very different from the rest. I hope you are notexpecting lines straight out of the notes. If you are, please don’t get a heart attack or something. (:
Singapore Art’s Festival 2009
The Singapore Art’s Festival is Singapore’s answer to a more vibrant, expressive community. It is a month long event hosted in various locations around the island, with an audience of about 700,000 all dedicated to the growth, appreciation and beauty of almost any form of art. The festival truly reinvents the word “art” from painting exhibitions, fireworks, elegant dance troupes, massively huge performances with larger than life props to death-defying (or rather just very dangerous) stunts.
The Singapore Art’s festival is not just a platform for the growing arts scene in Singapore, it is also a catalyst. With performances by performers from 20 countries, the conservative art scene in Singapore is never left the same with each passing year. I have observed that art in Singapore has become much bolder and in more abundance than ever before. As our small, conservative community opens up, some forms of art that may be deemed deviant or taboo like tattoos are slowly being accepted.
Singapore Art’s Festival 2009
The Singapore Art’s Festival is Singapore’s answer to a more vibrant, expressive community. It is a month long event hosted in various locations around the island, with an audience of about 700,000 all dedicated to the growth, appreciation and beauty of almost any form of art. The festival truly reinvents the word “art” from painting exhibitions, fireworks, elegant dance troupes, massively huge performances with larger than life props to death-defying (or rather just very dangerous) stunts.
The Singapore Art’s festival is not just a platform for the growing arts scene in Singapore, it is also a catalyst. With performances by performers from 20 countries, the conservative art scene in Singapore is never left the same with each passing year. I have observed that art in Singapore has become much bolder and in more abundance than ever before. As our small, conservative community opens up, some forms of art that may be deemed deviant or taboo like tattoos are slowly being accepted.
My Experience
Of the many venues on different days, I attended the opening ceremony at marina barrage on the 15th May 2009. The main show that night was Hélios II by the French troupe, La Compagnie Malabar. It is a performance about mythical insects and worshippers of the sun.(It is not as lame as it sounds)
I stood amongst the thousands on the roads of marina barrage cheering and absorbing the atmosphere as a towering praying mantis slid behind the stilt walkers. The flamboyant choice of colors against the night sky truly brings out the magic within the myths.
At first glance, the roads may seem too congested and the event a total failure in terms of crowd estimation and choice of venue, venturing within the crowd, I found an atmosphere of shared awe and excitement. The coziness to me is really part of the atmosphere. Whether or not the organizers planned for such a tight space is beyond me, but it works. It feels like being part of the parade. There were non-stop performances that night and it bid farewell by a spectacular show of fireworks.
A Similar Festival
The Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) is very much like the Singapore Arts festival. Both festivals are still very young and unlike those festivals that have almost matured to a tradition. As such, both festivals still need government funding and many sponsors, making their marketing mix very similar to each others.
Product
Both festivals have very similar product in this case, a grand showcase of local and international art.
Place
While Singapore’s Art’s festival has numerous indoor and outdoor venues, SPAF like almost all their performances in a theatre. That may bore many of the young ones and interfere with the hype that could be generated in a more informal setting.
Partnership
In order to fund their big ambitions and expensive marketing, both festivals sell sponsorship spaces to many brands. Positioning themselves as young, vibrant and fresh, they seem to also have sponsors that are more hip and cool and Krispy Kreme. To hit their sponsorship amount, thru observation from Singapore’s side and research from Seoul’s side, I found many advertising spaces and billboards that carry’s their sponsor’s brand. They also feature their sponsors independently at their website unlike the Edinburgh festival and the Mardi Gras.
Promotions
Both festivals offer the international tourist a chance for an all expenses paid trip to the festival. However I feel if possible, collaboration with the airlines to bring tourists in at a special rate for this event would be much better. Both festivals advertise very widely to the international audience as well as local audience. They both advertise online via their own website, tourism board website of their own country, Youtube and even on Facebook.
The difference however, I feel is the inferiority of the advertising itself. Despite having a much larger population in Seoul, the attendance was poorer than that of Singapore’s. The advertisements I reviewed does not create much hype about the event. The website is also too plain for my personal preference.
Price
Singapore’s Art’s Festival offers many free shows or shows with tickets costing as cheap at $16. But SPAF, having their shows in a theatre makes it more expensive and inaccessible by many.
Best Practices
I feel that one of the best practices are the consistency of entertainment. For many years running now, Singapore Art’s Festival has invited top artist to perform here and each time, on a grander, more amazing stage. I feel that this practice gives the audience more confidence in venturing to Singapore. They come knowing that a grand spectacle awaits them. This in terns also gives sponsors another reason to commit to a long term sponsorship knowing that they will get higher and higher rate of recognition each year.
Another of their best practices would have to be build up to the festival itself. The advertising not just let people know of the dates and venue of the event. The organizers did a very good job on hyping up the people, promising a good show.
Finally, it is the use of popular online communities like Facebook. In today’s context, there are people perpetually glued to the internet, making television and radio advertising obsolete for them. I feel it is a great thing that such big events use Facebook to reach their target audience. Some events organizers may think it is degrading to themselves to do so, but I think it is simply keeping up with times.
Tourism Benefits
The benefits for this event are huge, especially for a country like Singapore. Drawing crowded of about 700,000 annually; this brings in a boost in the country’s Gross Domestic Market. This will also attract foreign investors to see Singapore as an Arts Hub and invest here. The spin off created in the event can help stimulate a stagnant economy and improve employment.
For a conservative society like Singapore, creative events such as this will pave the way for aspiring local artist and develop creativity in young minds. Such events also allow networking. This can be an exhibition for the performers as if Singapore is looking to host an international event like the Youth Olympic Games, we know where to locate the best performers to coach the locals or even perform their acts here. Organizing an event of this scale also allow local event planners to show the world that Singapore is capable of hosting such major events.
The Stakeholders
The stake holders in the Singapore Art’s Festival are the Sponsors, Event Organizers, Suppliers, Crew, Government, Venue Owners, Performers and Spectators.
In Conclusion
The Singapore Art’s Festival is a very successful and sustainable event. It helps Singapore not just from present and future economic gains; it also paves the way for more creativity from our country. It is a very thought through plan that is starting to mature in Singapore. I foresee a bolder, bigger and grander event next year.
