2007 was a year of music festivals with five different music events spanning February to December—a feat likely to be repeated this year. Since ZoukOut last December, we have seen other festivals like Mosaic Music Festival and Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival being held here just last week. And we all know that ‘80s music-inspired Singfest is making a comeback this August, with another music festival in the pipeline this November by the same people who brought us Prive and Hacienda; and ZoukOut most probably returning to Siloso Beach this year (you heard it here first). And, that’s only for music. For film, fashion and the arts, there’s the annual Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore Fashion Festival, New Zealand Film Festival, Singapore Arts Festival and M1 Singapore Fringe Festival (phew!). Are festivals the cultural highlights of the island or is it just too much nasty booze, food and toilets? Or are we, as consumers, too hard pressed for choice when festival period comes-knocking? We quizzed three of the city’s most prominent music festival organizers and opinion leaders—Hacienda and Prive’s Michel Lu, Zouk’s Tracy Phillips and Kinemat’s Donovan Wong—for their take on music festivals here.


Leading to and within the first few months of 2008 itself, we’ve already seen festivals like ZoukOut, Mosaic and the recent Worldwide Festival. With more to come in the following months, do you think there are too many dance music-oriented festivals for a small country like Singapore, or too little?
Donovan Wong: I don’t think we have that many festivals here and being small is also not a problem. I personally think that we should have more festivals—the more, the merrier as it will be good for Singapore. When else can you get a range of quality acts and productions at such good prices?
Michel Lu: Are there too many music festivals? So far, each of these festivals have a different focus and consequently a different following and audience. To me, ZoukOut is not a music festival per se but a mega dance party driven by DJs and some live acts. Singfest is more commercially inclined, while WOMAD and Good Vibrations are both not happening this year. Worldwide Festival is a nice eclectic mix but more inclined towards DJs and should be (to me) like a “better quality” ZoukOut, but with a more diverse vibe. All these festivals have a different focus and their own place, so I think it is ultimately a good thing for Singapore.
Tracy Phillips: These festivals create a different experience and help add variety and vibrancy to the scene so they’re an earmark of Singapore’s development. Being costly endeavours and requiring considerable attendance to be profitable, it’s important that they’re well targeted, planned and spaced out across the calendar year so that customers and corporate partners are ready to give their support.

Are Singaporeans really ready for so many festivals (be it music, film, arts or food) on a regular basis?
DW: I won’t say that we’re 100 percent ready yet but the people here are getting savvier, especially those who have lived and studied abroad. These groups of people have very much been exposed to the festival culture of countries like Australia, US and UK when festivals happen during the summer season. We don’t have that “culture” yet so I think slowly exposing this “culture” regularly will help a lot.
ML: Absolutely. Singaporeans (and people who live here) are getting savvier and targeted niche lifestyle events are very much in demand.
TP: Festivals appeal to a broader audience and particularly over different categories like music, film, art and food, and they appeal to a very wide audience. The festival culture needs time to be cultivated so you have to start somewhere. Time and ticket sales will tell whether or not they are sustainable, or if organizers will need to regroup or even join forces to have a stronger appeal and foundation.


Won’t consumers suffer from festival fatigue? Doesn’t the novelty wear off after a while?
DW: Event promotion and timing is key so that people won’t say it’s just another festival. We do have a good mix of music festivals here, each with their own niche.
ML: I do not feel that music or music festivals are “novelties”... Music is an important part of a city’s heartbeat and its pulse is fundamental to its “coolness.”
TP: At the end of the day, it’s all about the quality of the product that you’re offering and knowing your niche and market well. I don’t even think novelty factors anymore since we’ve experienced a broad range of festivals for several years now.
Organizing a festival requires a lot of funding and there were many instances of big and mediumsized music festivals losing quite a considerable amount of money due to the lack of sponsors and audience numbers. Should event promoters be looking at organizing smaller “boutique” events?
DW: For an organization like Kinemat, funding does affect us a lot. We made quite a substantial loss last year for one of our big events. I think finding the right corporate partner with the same vision or some form of governmental support (STB) would really help in organising big scale events, as these events would also push the idea of Singapore being the region’s entertainment hub. As for smaller or big events, I don’t think it matters so much as long as you have a good lineup of acts and a solid marketing plan.
ML: Yes again—you have hit the nail on the head. The idea is not to organize massive events just for the sake of getting a big turn out. It is to focus on the soul of an event and to stay true and to stay faithful to your audience.
TP: You often need the scale, in order to justify bringing in big names and if you are just targeting underground acts, you may not have a big enough audience, so it’s never easy to strike the right balance. It’s important to keep a close eye on costing and to fi nd corporate partners who share your vision as sponsorship is an integral part of a festival’s success. We don’t have the market to just rely on ticket sales alone, especially when you want top-notch production too.

More Music Fests to Check Out This Year

Baybeats (Aug 29-31) at Esplanade. For the uninitiated, Baybeats is the premiere regional indie and alternative music festival. The best bit about it is that’s it’s free! Expect a smorgasboard of live local acts like Morning Utopia and PeepShow.

Keppel Bay Music Festival (Nov) at Keppel Bay. The event, which is still in its conceptual stage, will tentatively be held this November at Keppel Bay. It will be billed as a soul, funk and jazz-oriented all-day event, though festival organizers are still keeping mum about details of the line-up and the festival proper. “Our line up will focus on nonmainstream acts, and which are sophisticated and cutting-edge, which will attract an older audience who are clued up and savvy to the latest trends,” says organizer Michel Lu.

Singfest (Aug 2-3) at Fort Canning Park. This mother-of-all-rock-and-pop festivals (especially ‘80s music) is set to return to Fort Canning this August. Organizers are still in the midst of finalising a line-up. Stay tuned for more updates.

ZoukOut (Dec) at Siloso Beach. Everything is still hush-hush at this stage, but ZoukOut is definitely happening again this year contrary to previous reports saying that Zouk is looking for other venues due to a construction of a water park on Siloso Beach. “We have not ruled out Siloso Beach since the Wave Park will not be completed by then,” says Zouk’s Tracy Phillips. “No definites yet though,” she added.