His presence was part of the Singapore Arts Festival's first Arts Where We Eat initiative to take the arts to hawker centres and wet markets.

Besides Frenchman Jean-Louis Cort�s, 52, the line-up also featured a guzheng performance, balloon sculpting and a guitar-and-song showcase by 12-year-old music prodigy Erwin Adam.

Naval diver Ben Phua, 32, out at the market with his wife and son, gave the thumbs up.

'It's great that I can come out with my son to enjoy the arts. Normally, we wouldn't take him to town for such things.'

When it was Cort�s' turn to perform, a large crowd gathered and whipped out their camera mobile phones to capture the action.

Explaining his flushed face and bare feet, he said: 'In cold places, I'd put on my shoes. But in warm places, I'd take them off.'

Terence Lee