Singapore Arts Festival - Hydro Sapiens
Introduction
The Singapore Arts Festival (SAF) is the largest singular event in Singapore’s arts calendar, inviting artists from more than 20 countries, offering more than 500 activities attracting up to 700,000 attendances! The festival lasted from 23 May to 22 June 2008 holding events namely, Opening of Festival Maze, KIDSFEST, Water Fools, Arts on The Move, Arts Where We Eat, Asian Showcase, Visual Arts, Singapore Street Festival, North East District Arts Festival, Filpside and lastly, the Closing Celebration Hydro Sapiens.
I visited the 45 minutes event Hydro Sapiens performed by the award-winning Dutch Group “The Lunatics” who have been performing in all kinds of places throughout the world. The musical was performed entirely on floating platforms and boats at Bedok Reservoir, bringing the audience a spectacular splashing experience, themed with love, betrayal and jealousy. Apart from the main storyline, the performance teaches the power of water and its importance.
Background of the Organiser
The National Arts Council Singapore (NAC) is the organiser of the Hydro Sapiens event, set up as a Statutory Board in September 1991 to guide the development of arts in Singapore having a vision to develop Singapore as a distinctive global city for the arts and a mission to nature the arts and make it an integral part of the lives of the people of Singapore.
To realise their vision, NAC adopts five strategy thrusts- Nature and Develop Arts, Develop Capabilities and Resources, Stimulate Broader and More Sophisticated Demand for the Arts, Facilitate Internationalism and Enhance Global Connectivity, and Advocate the Importance of the Arts. NAC supports five art forms- theatre, dance, music, visual arts and literature. Many events are organized by the NAC, namely, the Singapore Arts Festivals, Music Competitions, Singapore Biennale 2008, etc.
The Singapore Arts Festival (SAF) is the largest singular event in Singapore’s arts calendar, inviting artists from more than 20 countries, offering more than 500 activities attracting up to 700,000 attendances! The festival lasted from 23 May to 22 June 2008 holding events namely, Opening of Festival Maze, KIDSFEST, Water Fools, Arts on The Move, Arts Where We Eat, Asian Showcase, Visual Arts, Singapore Street Festival, North East District Arts Festival, Filpside and lastly, the Closing Celebration Hydro Sapiens.
I visited the 45 minutes event Hydro Sapiens performed by the award-winning Dutch Group “The Lunatics” who have been performing in all kinds of places throughout the world. The musical was performed entirely on floating platforms and boats at Bedok Reservoir, bringing the audience a spectacular splashing experience, themed with love, betrayal and jealousy. Apart from the main storyline, the performance teaches the power of water and its importance.
Background of the Organiser
The National Arts Council Singapore (NAC) is the organiser of the Hydro Sapiens event, set up as a Statutory Board in September 1991 to guide the development of arts in Singapore having a vision to develop Singapore as a distinctive global city for the arts and a mission to nature the arts and make it an integral part of the lives of the people of Singapore.
To realise their vision, NAC adopts five strategy thrusts- Nature and Develop Arts, Develop Capabilities and Resources, Stimulate Broader and More Sophisticated Demand for the Arts, Facilitate Internationalism and Enhance Global Connectivity, and Advocate the Importance of the Arts. NAC supports five art forms- theatre, dance, music, visual arts and literature. Many events are organized by the NAC, namely, the Singapore Arts Festivals, Music Competitions, Singapore Biennale 2008, etc.
Role of events to NAC
The SAF plays a role of place marketing and tourist attraction.
Playing the role of place marketing, the festival helps create positive images of Singapore as a global city of arts. With events promoting the arts culture, there will be unique contributions to an expression of Singapore’s identity and culture, economic development and nation building. The festival also attracts residents living nearby the places where the events are held.
Playing the role of a tourist attraction, the festival helps attract quality/sophisticated tourists who appreciate arts in Singapore. The festivals also increase visitors spending and length of stay to visit the various events of the festivals. It also helps to stimulate broader and more sophisticated demand for the arts. As NAC is committed in building new audiences and broadening arts participation and exposure, event will be used as a tool to bring arts closer the community and to engage different people to inspire a life-long interest in the arts in them.
Stakeholders!
The Stakeholders in the event are the National Arts Council, Public, Participants, Audiences, Volunteers,Official Sponsors/Event Partners (http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/sponsors.asp)
Target market!
The target market of the event is specifically those who have interest and appreciate arts and those who have been following the events of the Singapore Arts Calender/Festival.
Marketing Strategy!
NAC adopts 6 ‘P’ out of the 8 ‘P’s in Events Marketing, namely – Place, Product, Partnership, People, Price and Promotion. Taking the Hydro Sapiens event for example.
The SAF plays a role of place marketing and tourist attraction.
Playing the role of place marketing, the festival helps create positive images of Singapore as a global city of arts. With events promoting the arts culture, there will be unique contributions to an expression of Singapore’s identity and culture, economic development and nation building. The festival also attracts residents living nearby the places where the events are held.
Playing the role of a tourist attraction, the festival helps attract quality/sophisticated tourists who appreciate arts in Singapore. The festivals also increase visitors spending and length of stay to visit the various events of the festivals. It also helps to stimulate broader and more sophisticated demand for the arts. As NAC is committed in building new audiences and broadening arts participation and exposure, event will be used as a tool to bring arts closer the community and to engage different people to inspire a life-long interest in the arts in them.
Stakeholders!
The Stakeholders in the event are the National Arts Council, Public, Participants, Audiences, Volunteers,Official Sponsors/Event Partners (http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/sponsors.asp)
Target market!
The target market of the event is specifically those who have interest and appreciate arts and those who have been following the events of the Singapore Arts Calender/Festival.
Marketing Strategy!
NAC adopts 6 ‘P’ out of the 8 ‘P’s in Events Marketing, namely – Place, Product, Partnership, People, Price and Promotion. Taking the Hydro Sapiens event for example.
Place, involves the location, setting, atmosphere and destination features are considered. The location of the Bedok Reservoir is very accessible with the availability of buses and Bedok MRT station. The settings done in the Bedok Reservoir were the platform stages on the water. The reservoir has a serene atmosphere with a captivating cities’ skyline as the backdrop which aids a lot in creating a very beautiful view. The destination feature of the reservoir matches the event as it has a ready supply of the event’s main prop- water.
Product it mostly a service and the quality of the event is essential, Hydro Sapiens is performed by the award winning Dutch group The Lunatics’ which will be of definite quality.
Price, the admission for the Hydro Sapiens was free. I feel that the free admission gave a boost in attracting a lot of audiences to the event, especially the residents living nearby the reservoir.
Promotion involves advertising, public relations, sales promotions and destination/event image. The event is mainly advertised through the internet through various websites like the SAF and PUB websites. It was also advertised through the media like the Channel News Asia, creating articles and online forums.
Partnerships, there is joint marketing involve and stakeholders in producing the event (Point 4 shows the stakeholders involved in the event).
People involves the cast, audiences the host and guests. With The Lunatics’ as the cast, I believe it attracts the fans of the lunatics to the event. The host starts the event and when important guests are invited, it shows the importance of the event and will inevitably boost the attraction rate of the event. The number of audience shows the success of the event as well.
Rating the organisation of the event? Why?
I would rate the Hydro Sapiens event 7/10. The performance involves comedy, action, musical, romance, betrayal, having an assortment of all genres. The musical not only involves water, but fire as well. The stage was so near the audience that we can feel the heat as well. I was very impressed with the performance by The Lunatics’. After the performance, there was also shuttle bus service to Bedok MRT station which I think is appropriate. It improves the accessibility to the place.
Even though the musical was spectacular, there were many disappointments. The location of the event was not specified in the advertisements. The venue stated was just “Bedok Reservoir”. They missed out the fact that the Bedok Reservoir is really huge (880,000m² surface area). I had a hard time locating the place as I alighted at the other far end of the reservoir. There were only 2 ushers stationed leading the people towards the event at the end I was at. During my LONG walk towards the event, I realized that there were no other ushers or signs around.
I feel that the seatings were not enough. There were many spectators around the place and they had to be left standing behind. When I had finally found my sit, half of the show had already ended, it was very disappointing.
The potential of the event by the organiser to meet tourist demand
The arts festival is a HallMark Event which is of high demand and high value, it enhances awareness, create interest and attract attention.
SAF carries a high growth potential as there is no limits to art, it can be changing constantly to meet the different demands of the tourist. These days, people are widely exposed to arts appreciation and awareness which increased the market share to be attracted to the SAF. SAF plays the role as an image enhancer as well, it works towards NAC’s vision to develop Singapore as a distinctive global city for the arts. There is also community support as many volunteers can be found volunteering for the events. Volunteers can help advertising the event to their family/relatives which can lead to more people visiting the event.
With the above, SAF has a high potential in meeting tourist demand.
How the value of the event could be raised to be align with the tourism mission of Singapore
The tourism mission of Singapore is to develop and champion tourism, so as to build the sector into a key driver of economic growth for Singapore. The main purpose is to improve economic growth for Singapore. To improve economic growth, the succession of the event is important.
There are many improvements that can be made to the event (hydro sapiens). Firstly, they can specify the location of the event, changing it to “Bedok Reservoir, Behind Sheng Siong Supermarket”. Secondly, the organiser could charge a fee of $2 to $10 as for myself, I would not mind paying to view the performance as long as proper sits were provided. Thirdly, more guests like the celebrities can be invited to boost the visitors rate to the event.
Lastly, improvements can be made to the marketing and promotion of the event using blogs as its tool. People can be gathered to create a blog of their own regarding the Singapore Arts Festival. The best few can be pick and link through the NAC websites, this can attract the younger crowd as blogging is very popular now and widely used by them. NAC can also request for their advertisements to be placed in the blogs of famous bloggers. The usage of blogs saves money as well. However, there are limitations like blogs only reach out to a certain age group such as the older crowd. They may not be exposed to blogs and that will not benefit them. Blogs can be very subjective and there will definitely be critics and people might end up not visiting the events.
Price, the admission for the Hydro Sapiens was free. I feel that the free admission gave a boost in attracting a lot of audiences to the event, especially the residents living nearby the reservoir.
Promotion involves advertising, public relations, sales promotions and destination/event image. The event is mainly advertised through the internet through various websites like the SAF and PUB websites. It was also advertised through the media like the Channel News Asia, creating articles and online forums.
Partnerships, there is joint marketing involve and stakeholders in producing the event (Point 4 shows the stakeholders involved in the event).
People involves the cast, audiences the host and guests. With The Lunatics’ as the cast, I believe it attracts the fans of the lunatics to the event. The host starts the event and when important guests are invited, it shows the importance of the event and will inevitably boost the attraction rate of the event. The number of audience shows the success of the event as well.
Rating the organisation of the event? Why?
I would rate the Hydro Sapiens event 7/10. The performance involves comedy, action, musical, romance, betrayal, having an assortment of all genres. The musical not only involves water, but fire as well. The stage was so near the audience that we can feel the heat as well. I was very impressed with the performance by The Lunatics’. After the performance, there was also shuttle bus service to Bedok MRT station which I think is appropriate. It improves the accessibility to the place.
Even though the musical was spectacular, there were many disappointments. The location of the event was not specified in the advertisements. The venue stated was just “Bedok Reservoir”. They missed out the fact that the Bedok Reservoir is really huge (880,000m² surface area). I had a hard time locating the place as I alighted at the other far end of the reservoir. There were only 2 ushers stationed leading the people towards the event at the end I was at. During my LONG walk towards the event, I realized that there were no other ushers or signs around.
I feel that the seatings were not enough. There were many spectators around the place and they had to be left standing behind. When I had finally found my sit, half of the show had already ended, it was very disappointing.
The potential of the event by the organiser to meet tourist demand
The arts festival is a HallMark Event which is of high demand and high value, it enhances awareness, create interest and attract attention.
SAF carries a high growth potential as there is no limits to art, it can be changing constantly to meet the different demands of the tourist. These days, people are widely exposed to arts appreciation and awareness which increased the market share to be attracted to the SAF. SAF plays the role as an image enhancer as well, it works towards NAC’s vision to develop Singapore as a distinctive global city for the arts. There is also community support as many volunteers can be found volunteering for the events. Volunteers can help advertising the event to their family/relatives which can lead to more people visiting the event.
With the above, SAF has a high potential in meeting tourist demand.
How the value of the event could be raised to be align with the tourism mission of Singapore
The tourism mission of Singapore is to develop and champion tourism, so as to build the sector into a key driver of economic growth for Singapore. The main purpose is to improve economic growth for Singapore. To improve economic growth, the succession of the event is important.
There are many improvements that can be made to the event (hydro sapiens). Firstly, they can specify the location of the event, changing it to “Bedok Reservoir, Behind Sheng Siong Supermarket”. Secondly, the organiser could charge a fee of $2 to $10 as for myself, I would not mind paying to view the performance as long as proper sits were provided. Thirdly, more guests like the celebrities can be invited to boost the visitors rate to the event.
Lastly, improvements can be made to the marketing and promotion of the event using blogs as its tool. People can be gathered to create a blog of their own regarding the Singapore Arts Festival. The best few can be pick and link through the NAC websites, this can attract the younger crowd as blogging is very popular now and widely used by them. NAC can also request for their advertisements to be placed in the blogs of famous bloggers. The usage of blogs saves money as well. However, there are limitations like blogs only reach out to a certain age group such as the older crowd. They may not be exposed to blogs and that will not benefit them. Blogs can be very subjective and there will definitely be critics and people might end up not visiting the events.
PICTURES
The Performance
Flames & FireWorks !
Signs & Posters ~One of the Ushers at the other end of the Reservoir. * Thank goodness she was there if not we would have left for home*
Flags placed around the area where the event is held.
Others.Crowd of that day
Registration booth
There were toilets available
Evidence of visitation !Myself!
Some other classmates who visited the event as well.
The photos that I had taken were not very clear. The following 2 websites shows very beautiful pictures of the event. Enjoy!
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4119779
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=388341&goto=nextoldest
References:
1. http://www.singaporeartsfest.com
2. http://www.pub.gov.sg
3. http://www.channelnewsasia.com
4. http://www.siww.com.sg
5. http://www.youth.sg
6. http://www.nac.gov.sg
7. http://www.clubsnap.com
