Event: Singapore Arts Festival 2008
Date: 23rd May to 22 June 2008
I plunged into my first experience of The Singapore Arts Festival as a spectator, or in better terms, a supporter of the arts! It was not my first experience at an arts event or spectacle. Having played patronage to last year’s Singapore Film Festival and other international and renown performances like the famous Broadway play “West Side Story” ,“Swan Lake on Ice” and the local act “The Last Emperor”.The Singapore Arts Festival was most definitely impassable.
Attending Singapore Arts Festival took on a different twist as this was done as a project. It made this event/ project so much more enjoyable rather than just going for an assigned performance and not knowing the quality and quantity of effort in staging such a big event.
31 Years of Art History
Researching on the event led me to discover the rich and long history to the Arts Festival. It was given birth in 1977 by the National Arts Council (NAC) to celebrate the local art’s talent from diverse communities in Singapore. Celebrating its 30th year in 2007, this festival has indeed transformed and shaped Singapore’s cultural landscape into one that is so richly filled and inspirational to aspiring artists. As a result, locals have been casted under the spell of the arts, thirsting more and more of these festivals. As each year pasts, the festival only seems to be generating bigger works and artists that are certainly quenching our thirst.
Background & Role of The National Arts Council
The National Arts Council, organizer of Singapore Arts Festival is aimed at nurturing and developing the arts- By identifying, developing and providing total support for artists and arts group through grants, arts housing subsidies, commissioning of works, and overseas touring and promotion. The governmental organization also supports and promotes arts businesses and investments by developing local companies and products, and facilitating new arts businesses.
To enhance the vibrancy and diversity of Singapore's arts scene, NAC organizes platforms like Singapore Art Show, Singapore Biennale and large-scale festivals such as the Singapore Arts Festival and the Singapore Writers' Festival to provide a platform to showcase local talents together with international artists.
Adopting a structured approach for the annual event, the Council analyses and evaluates the local and global arts environment, consequently mapping effective strategic paths to develop the each year’s festival scene. Research and data-gathering on the arts industry are consistently carried out and trends are regularly monitored. It is done also to reveal strategic opportunities for the Council and the arts, subsequently delivering cultural benefits to the community at large.
The stakeholders in the event
There are many stakeholders to this event. Apart from the major sponsors and official partners, there are another group of stakeholders that contribute to the success of the event. Audiences and spectators play a large role because without them, the festival will not be achieving its objectives and goals. This year’s festival saw around 22,000 tickets being sold and saw 598,478 people turning up including the 400-plus free events throughout the month.
Another group is the performers and their entourage- painters, sculptors, dancers, theater actors and other cultural workers. In making a well-received and well liked festival, performers are highly important in making the festival happen.
OFFICIAL SPONSORS
OFFICIAL TV STATION
OFFICIAL RADIO STATION
OFFICIAL ONLINE MEDIA
PREMIER PARTNERS
MAJOR SPONSORS
SPONSORS
Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Singapore
Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre
VITAGEN LESS SUGAR
FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS
Clarke Quay
Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Focus Media Singapore (Pte) Limited
French Embassy in Singapore
Italian Cultural Institute
Jurong Point Shopping Centre
LEGO Singapore Pte Ltd
National Environment Agency
SMRT Corporation Ltd
Tan Chin Tuan Foundation
The Heeren Shops
VivoCity
Wotif.com
VENUE PARTNERS
Esplanade - Theatres On The Bay
Housing and Development Board
United Overseas Bank Group
Target Market
Coinciding with the June school holidays, children are one of the many target market in this year’s outreach. With a 15 special activities specially put together called “Kids Fest”, kids as young as 3 years- old are able to participate in them.
Other target markets would be art lovers. With the many array/types of categories brought to this festival, namely Theatre, Dance and Music. Ranging from experimental and avant-garde performances to main stream traditional and contemporary, audiences can certainly enjoy a holistic selection. The age group of people who appreciate the love of art would be subjective because there is no definite age!
Marketing Strategies
Positioned as an international festival with a distinct Asian identity, the Festival emphasizes on collaborative ventures between different genres, between artists and between counties and cultural backgrounds. As a celebration of cultural diversity and artistic innovation, its shows range from the classic to the contemporary and cutting edge.
Using the 8 ‘P’s learnt, NAC has aggressively marketed this year’s event up a notch. Stretching the S$7 million with more performances this year compared with previous years, diverse programs staged both indoors and outdoors were implemented.
1) Product
I felt that Singapore Arts Festival had a good market orientation. It was customer orientated, competitor focused, and had cross-functional coordination which was long-term in vision and profit-driven. Already established as one of Asia's leading arts festivals, the SAF gathers internationally acclaimed and local artists annually for a month long celebration of cultural diversity and artistic innovation. The Festival presents among the best and latest in artistic developments around the world, ranging from the classics to the highly experimental group acts like Temple which I attended to The Lord of the Rings Symphony: Six Movements for Orchestra, Chorus and Soloists. As mentioned earlier, Kids Fest is also catered to the young and free performances at situated mainly around the Esplanade area gave locals or potentially keen art fans a glimpse of how the festival was like.
2) Place
Venues were used like The Esplanade (Both Indoor & Outdoor), Drama Centre, Timbre@The Arts House & Substation, Victoria Theatre, Jubilee Theatre, Raffles City, The National Museum, Vivocity, Boat Quay, HDB Hub, Little India, Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre and various places in the heartlands of the North East District.
Most of the venues were held around the city area surrounding the main stage, Esplanade. However, special mention should be brought to places like the HDB Hub, Little India, Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre and the heartlands of the North East District because the performances that were taken place there were free. Locals would have certainly experience the festival brought a little closer to home. This was a good strategy so as to reach out to the masses of people who are unaware of the festival.
3) Promotion
Many collaterals, posters, banners and even exhibits were marketed months prior to the opening of the festival. Brochures and booklets were placed at Sistic Outlets, Esplanade as well as other prominent art venues. Banners were hung on street lamps around the city area and exhibits like the maze was strategically placed outside Raffles City to generate publicity in promoting the event.
4) Price and Partnership
While there was a good line up of performances, I found out that there were mix reviews on the pricing of the tickets. This year, the cheapest ticket was $25 whereas last year’s was $20. However, there were many partnerships with many organizations for attendees to enjoy rebates that would ease the steep pricing.( Refer to appendix for Ticket Discounts)
5) Programming
In any event, it would be without a doubt tedious planning put into the arrangements of the program line-up for this festival. Ms Goh Ching Lee, Festival Director, had the tedious task. This year’s programs were thought by some to be off beaten. I personally did feel the same sentiments when I caught the world premiere of the theatre performance, Temple. But I am sure there were many other programs that many could relate in their own way or other because of the array of genres from Chinese Opera to Ballet. In addition, a special collaboration with the National Environmental Agency was done to bring art to places where we eat. Performers and buskers were seen at prominent eateries like Tampines Round Market, Newton Food Centre, Tiong Bahru Market and East Coast Lagoon Food Village.
6) People
Crossing paths with many people during my visits to source for information around The Esplanade, I came across many volunteers. One such group was a batch of students from Republic Polytechnic. There were there to volunteer their time to promote the event. Telling foreigners as well as locals about the events lined up and how they could get their tickets. There were very affable and hospitable. They definitely left an impression on me.
7) Packaging & Distribution
Tickets to the events were only made available through SISTIC. Sistic provides options of buying tickets over the telephone, online or at their 23 Authorized Dealers spread throughout the island. Sistic is certainly a good outsource because of the good distribution network that is very important when selling tickets.
Rate of the Organization
National Arts Council, a government statutory board, did a job well done as a whole. There was careful planning of the pre-festival marketing and a review of the festival when it was over. What impressed me most was when i receieved the SAF Survery form. This was a good effort made by them in getting a form of feedback by patrons.Though there were some unexpected reviews and statistics, NAC took it in their stride and has strived to improve and try to adapt to what their target market wants. The NAC is indeed a respectable board that has truly broaden and advocate the importance of the arts in Singapore by organizing a major and international event such as this. .
Potential of the event to meet tourist demand
The demand of tourists coming to the Singapore Arts Festival would be more positively impactful, if the prices of the tickets would be lowered for future SAF. However, this would not hugely affect the demand. More importantly, NAC has to engage in more renowned and international acts to keep the tourist demand constant. As well, NAC has to constantly keep a look out of the growing trends and desired movements of the arts scene internationally. As a result, this would, be without a doubt, a huge generataion of economic revenue generating from tourist's receipts throught the duration of the month long festival.
Recommendations
Like the Edinburgh International Festival, an internationally recognized festival, Singapore Arts Festival so too can make an impact in the global arts scene. Infrastructures like the Esplanade and our other concert halls have been set in place in being capable of holding a festival of such a large scale. The $7million set aside for this event is almost equivalent to the Edinburgh International Festival. There is indeed an immense potential for the Singapore Arts Festival to be an iconic destination to visit for some good entertainment!
