Music Events
As of international acts coming into Singapore, we’ve got quite a bit of things happening too. For starters, there’s the FEYST ’08 Singapore featuring numerous workshops and showcases happening here and there, the Asian Xchange zone at ZoukOut will also bring acts from regional countries into Singapore and finally the most anticipated music festival of the year for all you metal and rock fans, Baybeats.
Moving on, we’ve got So Happy Productions launching the first So Happy Music Festival. The aim of this project is to bring together all things great in the indie sub-culture scene. You can expect a gathering of like-minded people appreciating music art and just good ol’ times. Featuring a line-up official and side shows comprising mainly local acts and a handful regional acts, the festival will span over a duration of one month or so, starting from July.
First off, we’ve got the Esplanade presenting “The Studios”, opening with The Wright Stuff – commissioning an original programme from Bani Haykal and David Charles on Wright’s words, using interactive technology and sound. The Studios will also see Zai Kuning coming in to touch on extreme elements of performance and new media in a programme investigating the potential of sound in space. Not forgetting, check out Sonic Experiments in The Studios together with our live acts at the Indie Fest located at the Waterfront. After that, keep yourself posted for the official New Music Assembly Myspace page to see when they load-up information on the NMA bands playing and Battle of the Bands.
Music enthusiasts and party goers, you’re in for a treat, as we’ve got some exquisite music entertainment lined up for you right here. Pay close attention, and mark the dates on your calendar for some of these highly anticipated events coming your way.
Concerts by Local Artists
While we are unable to enjoy live and loud music performances by local underground bands in a rowdy bar setting or hit stadium shows just yet, the idea of catching local music live is not entirely far-fetched. This July, Bandwagon presents a blessing for our local music scene throughout the past 50 years, a series of live sets by bands that have defined the various eras of Singapore. Bands that will be performing at the Baybeats Specials! will include The Boredphucks, Heritage and The Oddfellows and many more. This online event is part of the series of secondary events that lead up to the annual Baybeats Festival and will take place for three consecutive Saturdays at 8pm on Bandwagon’s YouTube channel. The event is free so you have no excuses to miss it. A little music culture lesson for the uninitiated might just persuade the stubborn uncle in the void deck below to keep it down with the er-hu, just for one Saturday.
International Music Festivals
In the international music festival scene, we hope to bring the action to you by streaming them live to your screens. One of the highlights of the year in Southeast Asia is definitely the ZoukOut Festival. ZoukOut is an annual dance music festival held in Singapore and organized by Zouk Singapore. The first ZoukOut was held in 2000 at the space outside Zouk and has since been held annually, usually on the first weekend of December. The festival has won numerous awards over the 10 years since its inauguration and has constantly been voted as the No. 1 dance festival in Asia. Also, across the causeway is Future Music Festival Asia. This relatively new festival (2012) is organized by Australian promoters Future Music and Livescape. It is the Asian leg of Australia’s largest music festivals – the Future Music Festival. This festival has proven to be popular in Australia and instantly became a hit in Asia. Both of these festivals attract a huge crowd from around the world. With an audience as diverse as Singapore, the atmosphere created by people of different race, culture, and nationality coming together and partying to the same music is truly a unique one. Moving into the arts sector, visual arts festival Art Stage Singapore will also be one to look out for. This festival is part of the Singapore Art Week and will take place in the later part of the year. What makes the live stream of this festival special is that it will be the first digital edition of the festival, which is themed around “Art Will Survive”. This festival showcases visual arts through various digital art mediums ranging from videos, digital paintings, and more. Other notable mentions include Singapore Rockfest II and Ultra Singapore. Dates for both events are yet to be confirmed due to the current situation, but do look out for announcements. Ultra Singapore, which may be held in September, is an electronic music festival that was first set up to create a festival in Asia similar to the Miami Ultra Music Festival. The festival has been a success, and Singapore, being an international city with a majority cosmopolitan of people, should attract a large international audience.
Sports Events
With the recent surge in popularity of competitive video gaming, Singapore has become a hotspot for hosting events in which some of the world’s best gamers come to compete. The most notable of these events is the annual Wargods Dota tournament held at the Marina Bay Sands, in which World of Warcraft players from all around the world come to try to prove they are the best. Marina Bay Sands is also set to host the inaugural Singapore Esports League (SEL) Asia 2020, which will host three seasons of different games over the course of the year.
Singapore has a massive fan following when it comes to football, with the local S-League doing its best to compete with the top European leagues. This makes some of the bigger football matches played at the National Stadium and the Jalan Besar Stadium interesting options for live streaming. Notable past fixtures have included Juventus vs the Singapore Olympic Squad and Brazil vs Cameroon. The National Stadium was built in 2010 with the intention to bring in more world-class events to the country, and so far it has been successful in doing so.
Football Matches
For those who want to watch football live and on location, Singapore also holds several football events every year, with teams from many different countries traveling to Singapore to take part in friendly matches, invitation cups and sometimes for training during the off-season of their respective leagues. While finding information on live video streams of these events is rather hard, if you have cable TV in Singapore, there is a good chance that there may be a live broadcast of certain games.
Football, also known as soccer in North America, is an incredibly popular sport in Singapore. Many people in the country are huge fans of football and there is no shortage of football events throughout the year, especially now since most of these events are open for live streaming Singapore. Whether it’s the Malaysia Cup, the World Cup or the English Premier League, it is very likely that the average Singaporean football fan would be able to link you to a website where you can watch a live stream of the current game.
Esports Tournaments
Large-scale esports events are still a rarity in Singapore, but the past few years have seen an increase in frequency and caliber. The most notable ones would be the Garena Cyber Games, which host a variety of competitive computer games. But some may argue that WCG Asian Championships held in 2005 for both DotA and War3 were the most memorable as that was the only time Singapore had a taste of hosting a world renowned esports event. More recently, the World DotA Championship held its finals in Singapore at the Suntec Convention Centre. These events are huge for they attract teams from all around the world to pit their skills against each other. This gives local esports enthusiasts a rare chance to witness international competitions as well as providing local teams a taste of top level competition. With the growing popularity of esports and the success of these events, it is expected that more will come in the near future.
Tennis Championships
The Singapore Tennis Open is an international event, and as such, should be well-received by fans across the world. In speaking about his hopes for the event, Kei Nishikori was optimistic that his fans would be able to attend, and if not, watch from home. He understands that there is significant fan interest in Singapore, and that it could become a great foothold for tennis in a region where it is not firmly established. Other players have voiced similar comments, including American John Isner, who expressed a desire to visit Singapore and play in front of its fans. The event will be held at the OCBC Arena in Singapore Sports Hub from Feb 22-28. With 10 years of experience under its belt, the ITF has continued to organize more than 600 tennis events per year worldwide, which include the ATP and WTA circuits, and the Junior and Senior tourneys. With these in mind, the ITF has the capability and experience to deliver a successful tournament, while fulfilling obligations to the players and fans alike. In distributing a wide array of competition, from Juniors to Seniors and Pros, fans from all walks of tennis can become engaged and motivated. This is an aspect that the WTA has faith in, as Nishikori has belief that involvement of WTA players will be beneficial to the growth of tennis in Asia, since it is an attractive new destination for most. This ATP250 event will feature a 32-man singles main draw, and a 16-team doubles competition. Offering prize money and ATP/WTA ranking points, the Singapore Tennis Open will be an attractive spot for players aiming to gain promotion, maintain their status, or perhaps simply prove themselves on the professional circuit.
Cultural Events
To further enhance the appeal of Singapore’s culture to both Singaporeans and international visitors, the most recent years have seen a mass of Theatre Productions adapted from various scripts in different languages. An excellent instance would be the play “Gemuk Girls” which saw 10 different shows in English and Malay. This script was originally penned in Malay by playwright Haresh Sharma and was translated into English by the author himself. Gemuk meaning “fat” in Malay, revolves around an overweight girls’ school basketball team and is a social commentary about self-image and the decision that each of us makes about the chips on our shoulders. The translation of the play serves as a great tool for bridging mother and second tongue languages as well as creating an increased awareness and opinion from different social demographics about the play’s poignant issue.
Singapore has a very vibrant mix of ethnic cultures from the Chinese, Malay, Indian to the West. A great way to experience the culture is through the various traditional dances and performances. The annual Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts featured a contemporary dance drama performance by Norhaizad Adam and Adelina Laras. Titled “Ketika Batu-batu Menangis” (When The Stones Cry Out), it was inspired by the struggle and determination of the less privileged and disabled people in the community. The Bharatanatyam dance performed by Apsaras Arts featured a compelling repertoire by Rukmini Vijayakumar to portray the dual nature of the warrior prince and ideal king, Rama. This performance is a major leap from their previous recitals and serves to manifest the company’s immense progress in the dance form. A collaboration between Chinese and Indian dancers, “The Thread that Binds” has brought together Subashree Thanabalan and Zhang Xiao Li to create a revolutionary dance in the fusion of Bharatanatyam and Chinese contemporary dance. This is a prime example of how cultures and traditions are not necessarily lost in translation when an innovative approach is taken towards traditional forms.
Dance Performances
In Singapore, the annual da:ns Festival is a much anticipated event for all. The festival brings together international and local dance companies and artists in a full display of diverse and contemporary dance styles. This year in October, Singapore’s very own contact improvisation group, Sigma, and RAW Moves will be participating in the festival at the National Museum of Singapore. Inspired by the museum’s recent exhibitions, the two groups will be performing dances that directly or subtly incorporate the ‘art of ideas’. So if you’re a frequenter to the museum, this will definitely be an intriguing event to catch. Each performance will be followed by an interactive session with the choreographers and dancers, giving audiences the opportunity to learn more about the works presented. As a matter of fact, it is absolutely essential for online viewers to log onto the festival’s website for the full listing of online and offline events. With a myriad of alternative and contemporary dance events taking place throughout the month, audiences will not be short of dance performances to choose from.
Theatre Productions
Practice Theatre, a relatively new theatre company, has decided to cancel their run of Jean Anouilh’s “Antigone” in an effort to keep the local arts scene alive. Instead, they have chosen to live stream daily rehearsal sessions of the play on their Facebook page so that audience members may still enjoy this interpretation of the classic play. This is highly recommended for literature students studying “Antigone,” as it will give them a chance to see the play come to life and better understand the text. This will be especially helpful for students confused by the text, as there will be a Q and A session with the director and cast discussing their interpretations of the play.
The Singapore Repertory Theatre has made available the full video of “Still Life,” a production of their High Flying Birds series. “Still Life” is a very intimate and touching play about an elderly English couple who immigrate to Bournemouth. The play deals with several issues, including growing old, cultural displacement, and dearly departed pets. Watchers of this production may find themselves able to relate to the elderly couple. Additionally, this play is a fantastic learning resource for A-level students studying Theatre Arts, as it is an excellent embodiment of minimalism. SRT has additionally made available another production, “The Tempest.” This enchanting production was recorded at the start of SRT’s journey to bring Shakespeare to a wider audience in Singapore. The adaptation provides a perfect introduction to the works of Shakespeare and has since toured several schools and public venues. Due to unfortunate circumstances, the tour of “The Tempest” was cut short, making the video a rare and valuable commodity. This will be available until 26 April, and as a bonus to students, an online learning package will be provided to help prepare students for their N or O level examinations.
Art Exhibitions
In contrast to more formal art exhibitions, The Substation is hosting an exhibition of graffiti art in Singapore. The Substation believes that art is for everyone and, thus, has planned an event that allows all members of the public a chance to go home with a piece of art. During the week of the exhibition, artists will paint on a wall made of Styrofoam, which will be torn down and sold in chunks on the final day of the week. This fun and casual event is perfect for promoting awareness of art, as well as offering artists a chance to interact with the public. On a similar note, Alliance Française is hosting an exhibition of comic art by French and Singaporean artists. The theme of the exhibition is “Imagining the Future” and is aimed at anyone interested in the genre, which is one that is often overlooked in the traditional art market.
Art exhibitions are a medium through which artists showcase their work. Many people find it necessary to view an artist’s work in the flesh before they decide whether or not they like it. The Singapore Tyler Print Institute is holding a special exhibition to showcase some of Marilyn Monroe’s never-before-seen photographs. On top of viewing the photographs, guests are free to interact with the exhibitors to learn more about the story behind the photos and the process by which they were digitized. This event is especially valuable for artists, as they get a chance to view the progression of a piece from its conception to its final product.
Special Events
As a fashion capital of Asia, Singapore holds numerous fashion events every year. One of the biggest fashion events would be the Audi Fashion Festival Singapore. The Audi Fashion Festival is a showcase of world-class collections by top international and Asian designers, and it is the only fashion festival in the world to feature both menswear and womenswear collections. It provides a platform for young and talented local designers to network with members of the creative and fashion industries from the region to be able to show their collections to a larger audience. The local fashion scene has been heating up with designer stores and fashion malls, and this event contributes to putting Singapore on the world map of fashion. This event is free for public access; goers can obtain a basic ticket in order to get a good view of the runway and standing tickets for festival grounds access. The festival often gets world-famous supermodels and also features performances and showcases by various international and local musical acts. This event is an exciting and eye-opening experience to all who attend it.
Award shows are an important way to recognize creativity in cultural performances. There are several award shows streamed from Singapore, such as the Star Awards by Mediacorp, which awards entertainers for their performances in television. The Singapore Hit Awards is an annual event held by Singapore Press Holdings, awarding musicians from Singapore. While this event is not a live-streamed event, it is a televised event that showcases the best in Singaporean Mandopop music and is available for live streaming Singapore on certain websites. The Singapore Hit Awards has also been broadcast in countries such as Taiwan, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. This represents a good opportunity for people overseas to learn about this event and discover some of Singapore’s music.
Award Shows
With regards to the Asian Television Awards at Caldecott Hill, local celebrities get the chance to be seated amongst the elite of Asian media and stardom. This is a rare occasion where Singapore’s local entertainment industry mingles with top media companies from around Asia.
Award shows such as the Asian Television Awards and the Singapore Entertainment Awards are examples of events that engage Singapore with the rest of Asia. While these events are held indoors and are not fully inclusive of the public, the significance of these award shows is that it welcomes stars from around Asia to Singapore and are televised to many countries, hence promoting Singapore as a cosmopolitan city with vibrant entertainment to the rest of the world.
While award ceremonies are on a high rise for being held in exotic Asian countries such as Thailand, Hong Kong, and Japan, it’s not often that Singapore gets labeled into the list of holding prestigious events such as these. But all that is about to change as Singapore’s top entertainment and media companies join their efforts to stage their very own Asian-styled awards presentation.
Fashion Shows
Fashion is an important part of the Singaporean culture. The fashion industry is growing rapidly, with more and more local designers gaining international recognition. The exposure opens a lot more doors for those involved in the industry, and is great for Singapore’s image. Live streaming fashion shows can showcase local designs to an international audience. It’s a cost-effective way for new designers to gain recognition and quite often the buzz generated from it can aid in obtaining sponsorships for future endeavors. During a live streaming fashion show, viewers will get to watch the new collections come down the runway and can immediately make purchases after the event. This is a great marketing strategy. Live fashion shows can attract both local and international customers. For a local customer, it’s a great way to see up and coming local designs. For an international customer, it’s a chance to see local designs without having to be in Singapore. Often live fashion show events will involve some form of audience interaction, such as a Q&A or lucky draws and giveaways for those who are watching.
Charity Galas
Typically, of an evening’s worth for the well-off and beautiful, the charity gala transformed into something open to all – all online, that is. Intellectual Property (IP) Week 2021 will play host to a virtual charity gala on 25 January, where the majority of funds raised will go towards supporting the local arts and community within Singapore. Although attendees need not don their ballgowns for this one, virtual tables are available for a minimum booking of S$800. With table sponsors receiving a three-course meal from Capella Singapore and a bottle of champagne and wine, this is most certainly an evening to enjoy with your isolation pod. For those whose recent online purchases consist mainly of loungewear, fear not – you may still contribute to the fundraising efforts of the IP Community and do more in saving the art community in Singapore during this COVID-19 period. Co-organised by IPOS and the IP Office of Singapore (IPOS), the Charity Gala aims to raise funds and awareness for “The Gift of Innovation – The Legacy IP Fund”, which seeks to build a strong foundation in promoting innovation and an appreciation for IP through education and outreach initiatives focusing on the strategic use of IP, with youth and non-profit organisations in IP-identified significant sectors, e.g. using arts and culture.
