Singapore Arts Festival 2009

The Singapore Arts Festival 2009 concluded on Sunday, 14 June 2009 with an overall Festival attendance of close to 800,000; an increase of about 200,000 compared to last year. The Festival also achieved a record 92.5 percent house attendance, the highest since 1986. There were 14 sold-out productions out of the 26 ticketed core productions, and 43 sold-out performances* (or 70 percent of all indoor theatre performances), the highest since 2000.

The National Arts Council, organiser of the Singapore Arts Festival, also reported findings from a commissioned audience survey covering both the core productions and outreach programmes which showed that:

• 9 out of 10 respondents found the Quality of Performance to be “good” and “excellent”
• 9 out of 10 respondents found the Quality of Programmes to be “good” and “excellent”
• 9 out of 10 respondents agreed that the Festival contributed to Singapore’s positioning as a global city, which is a marked improvement of 13 percent from the 2006 survey.

“We are very pleased that this year’s Festival has surpassed expectations on many levels for different stakeholders, including not least our sponsors and partners, the arts community as well as the wide of range of audiences from arts enthusiasts to first- timers, students and adults, residents and foreigners. The record 92.5 percent house attendance, high total attendance and survey findings show that this year’s carefully balanced programming has proved both accessible yet cutting-edge, in fulfilling the Festival’s mission of bringing the arts to everyone,” said Mr Lee Suan Hiang, CEO of the National Arts Council.

“Despite the economic downturn, this year’s Festival has remained committed to the long term goal of developing arts appreciation among diverse Singapore audiences. This was done through a programme that combined ticketed core productions with a very extensive high-quality free outreach programme of over 400 performances island-wide, a hallmark of the Festival and a rare feature among arts festivals around the world,” Mr Lee highlighted.

“Looking forward, we aim to sustain this level of commitment and maintain the quality, affordability and accessibility of the overall programming to deliver an increasingly valuable Festival, that will be appreciated by more and more audiences and help make Singapore a global city for the arts,” Mr Lee added.

Header Photo: Final Fantasy. Visual Courtesy of c2002-2007 SQUARE ENIX CO LTD.

Top Photo: Anna Karenina- Finnish National Ballet (Finland)

Middle Photo: Sutra. Photo by Hugo Glendinning

Bottom Photo: Magic Flute (South Africa)

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