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Singapore Arts Festival 2009 – Singapore Streets Festival 2009

a) Selected festival : Singapore Arts Festival 2009 – Singapore Streets Festival 2009

The Singapore Arts Festival is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. Singapore Arts Festival is organised by the National Arts Council, being one of the major events in the regional arts scene.

This year, Singapore Arts Festival is held during a period from 15 May to 14 June. Stretching a period of one month, Singapore Arts Festival incorporates of different genres of Arts. Both local and overseas participants are invited to perform during the period of the festival.

Other than many of their main performances, Singapore Arts Festival also do have associated programmes which cater to other needs of the Arts audience, ranging from different age group. Personally, I have chosen to take part in one of the associated programmes, Singapore Streets Festival.

Singapore Street Festival is a social and community project, aimed at creating a platform for local youth talents in the performing arts, visual art forms, lifestyle trends, entrepreneurship, technology, health and environment. Singapore Street Festival attracts me the most due to it dealing with youth like us and providing a platform for us to dare to dream and make youth dreams realistic.

b) Comparison between local festival and overseas festival in terms of marketing strategy

I would like to compare the both Singapore Arts Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Hong Kong Arts Festival, founded in 1973, is a focus programmes for the Culture of Hong Kong, in order to provides a wide range of art programmes from all over the world. Choices for the Hong Kong Arts Festival, include the Classical Musical or Chinese Music, World Music, Western Opera, Chinese Opera, Drama, Dance and Family Choice to the Art lovers. Many foreign performers and groups had been joined for the previous festivals.

Singapore Arts Festival

Hong Kong Arts Festival

v Product : Different genre of Arts performances target at different age group and interests. v Place: Location ranging from Esplanade, Marina Barrage, Merlion Park, Tampines, VivoCity, Plaza Singapura and SCAPE, showing Arts can be held in every corner in Singapore. v Programming: Ranging from Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Outreach Programmes. v People: Involving Audio technician, both dedicate audience and passerby audience, not forgetting the host of every programme and the performing guest. v Partnerships: Incorporation with National Arts Council, National Youth Council, Singapore Tourism Board and various venues and locations. v Promotion: Advertising through mass media, internet via official websites vPackaging and Distribution: Incorporation with Marina Mandarin Singapore for ArtsFest Club Members. Being ArtsFest Club Members, they are entitles with many more discounts at other F&B and Retails outlets. v Price: There are both ticketed and non-ticketed programmes available. Singapore Streets Festival‘s programmes are mostly non-ticket. However, every event comes with a price tag including those that are free as participants will need time, travelling cost and losing opportunities.

v Product: Different genre of Arts performances target at different age group and interests. v Place: Loaction ranging from various famous theatre and multiple venues. v Programming: Ranging from Music, Opera, Dance, Theatre and Family. v People: Involving Audio technician, both dedicate audience and passerby audience, not forgetting the host of every programme and the performing guest. v Partnerships: Incorporation with Hong Kong Jockey Club, Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Hong Kong Tourism Board. v Promotion: Advertising through mass media, internet via official websites. v Packaging and Distribution: Incorporate with MasterCard to entitle discounts to patrons. v Price: There are both ticketed and non-ticketed programmes available.

In conclusion, personally I felt that Singapore Arts Festival had done a better job than Hong Kong Arts Festival. Due to me had not participated in the Hong Kong Arts Festival before, I could only get as many information as I can from the internet. Personally, I am very much enjoy in the Singapore Arts Festival as it is really a island wide festival as I mention about them using different venues in Singapore. Product wise, as name mention, both festivals are ‘selling’ the different genres of Arts and also cultivate the interest of the public to Arts. However I felt that Singapore Arts Festival had an exciting range of the genres of Arts that engage more youth and youngsters to participate. By doing so, it could maintain the sustainability of Singapore Arts Festival.

c) Best practices of the festival

One of the best practices of the Singapore Arts Festival will be the excellent use of locations. The one-month festival had been held over several venues concurrently. These places include Marina Barrage for the opening event; Esplanade, Merlion Park, VivoCity, Plaza Singapura, Raffles City for performances and arts exhibitions; lastly Yishun Stadium for the closing ceremony.

By the excellent use of locating different performances at different venues, shows that Arts could happen any where at any time.

Another best practice of Singapore Arts Festival would be the excellent incorporation with associate programmmes, school programmes, festival chats, feastival forums and festival workshops. By having all this different types of programmes happening concurrently with Singapore Arts Festival, it had greatly promoted the festival out to the general public. It thus helps the general public to gain more awareness towards Arts and develop more interest in Arts.

d) Stakeholders

Singapore Arts Festival stakeholders include:

• Host Organsation: National Arts Council and National Youth Council
• Host Community: The crew handling at different venue of the performances.
• Sponsor:

o Official TV station: Channel 5

o Official sparkling beverage: CocaCola Light

o Premier Partners: Singapore Tourism Board, Tote Board and Shaw Foundation

o Major Sponsors: Lee Foundation, Hong Leong Foundation, VivoCity, WingTai Asia, Raffles City, Suntec Singapore and SMRT.

• Media: Mass media advertising, via both television and also internet advertising.
• Co-workers including host, performing guests, security guards, related personnel.
• Participants and Spectators, both dedicated and passerby.

e) Reflection of main purpose of the festival

The main purpose of the Singapore Arts Festival is nonetheless in promoting the beauty of Arts to all fellow Singaporeans and also to our overseas tourists. Singapore Arts Festival did not only focus on local Arts performances, they do also invite overseas artist and performers to add colours to the Arts.

Arts is a international language links up people worldwide. Arts had also be so diversify that most things or performance had been classify as an Arts. Ranging from visual arts, behavioural arts and performing arts, there would definitely be one that we will get interested in.

f) Tourism benefits received by Singapore through the festival

Singapore Arts Festival other than being a local major event, it had been also well known overseas. It had been an annual event that would attract a target group of tourist who are greatly interested in the Arts performance.

In Singapore Arts Festival, both local and foreign troupes of performances are invited. Thus, it had made it similar to an annual Arts Hub that gathers different genres of Arts performances locally and worldwide. This would greatly attract tourists who enjoy Arts and hence boost up the tourism figures for Singapore.