It will start a week early this year so students can catch shows before mid-year break
By
Tara Tan, ARTS REPORTER
South African male choir group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, which won their third Grammy award on Feb8 this year, will be one of the featured acts at the Singapore Arts Festival starting on May 15. -- PHOTO: AGENCE-FRANCE PRESSE
ARTS lovers have two new reasons to attend performances at the Singapore Arts Festival this year: cheaper tickets and a programme packed with audience-friendly performances.
Ticket prices are 20 per cent cheaper across the board and early birds get up to 30 per cent discounts on tickets.
CONFIDENT DESPITE RECESSION
'This festival has been around for 30 years and we take heart in that we have weathered well in previous recessions and troubled years.' Festival director Goh Ching Lee
The festival also features performances that appeal to a wide cross-section of Singaporeans, including those by Grammy award-winning South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, monks from the Shaolin Temple who will blend the martial art with dance and internationally renowned hip-hop dance group Grupo de Rua from Brazil. Another big pull: acclaimed Chinese director Lin Zhaohua's staging of the classic Chekhov play, The Cherry Orchard.
The month-long annual festival is starting a week early, on May 15, so that students can catch the shows before they go on their mid-year school holidays.
These changes, said festival director Goh Ching Lee, were made in response to feedback from the public. In previous years, arts lovers had complained that the programme was inaccessible.
Attendance for last year's programme averaged 74.2 per cent, down from 81.2 per cent in 2007. This year, Ms Goh is aiming for 80 per cent.
She said the festival this year has a gentler edge and aims to provide cultural respite in the economic gloom.
'We have made a conscious effort to invite greater diversity in programme choices that will appeal to a broader range of taste and interests,' she said.
'In the current recessionary climate, we need a more evenly balanced programme with more choices for people. We hope to bring cheer and uplift the public mood.'
One way is by keeping ticket prices down to encourage more to attend performances.
Last year, the cheapest tickets cost $25. This year, they will be $16.
Read the full story in today's edition of The Straits Times.
