This year's Skechers Sundown Festival is featuring only Singaporean artists, unlike previous instalments' focus on Asia-wide talents.

The annual music festival, which is in its eighth edition, has a multi-genre line-up which includes pop-rock duo Jack & Rai, a familiar name in the local live music circuit; indie rock band Farrago; club circuit veteran Jason Chung; host/ singer Lee Teng; as well as bilingual singer-songwriters Derrick Hoh and Ling Kai, who have released music in Mandarin and English.

Up-and-coming names such as singer-songwriter Jean Goh, rapper Axel Brizzy and indie band Ashdown will also perform.

It takes place today at City Beach Resort in Labrador Park.

Having an all-Singapore line-up is a way to help home-grown acts here get gigs overseas, says Sundown organisers Red Spade Entertainment.

The festival's event partner, Unusual Productions, has ensured that festival producers from China and other countries around the region will be at the performances and on the lookout for "potential collaborations".

Festival director Rudolph Van der Ven, who is also Red Spade's business development director, says: "We are leveraging on the regional role Sundown Festival has played over the years in the hope of launching the careers of our local artists beyond our shores."

Previous editions of the festival have included regional artists such as South Korean acts AOA, BtoB and Teen Top as well as Japanese rockers A9, formerly known as Alice Nine.

Attendance at past editions has ranged from 4,000 to 5,000 and the organisers are hopeful that today's event will attract the same numbers.

The timing for an all-Singapore line-up is also apt, Mr Van der Ven adds. "With the National Day spirit in the air, we thought this would also be a good way to celebrate our local music scene."

Pop-rock band The Summer State, who are also performing at Taiwanese music festival Fireball Fest on Aug 26, are hoping their Sundown set will lead to more overseas shows. Bassist Edwin Waliman says: "It's great to hear that the organisers of the show want to help Singapore acts get gigs regionally because, as musicians, all we want to do is to share our stories and songs with as many people as possible, regardless of the locations.

"The physical interaction at a gig allows us to connect with people on a level that recorded music can't, so we hope this will open more doors for Singapore talents."

Besides the live performances, other activities include a workout session using drumsticks.