Historically, the first attempt at staging an arts festival in Singapore took place in the late Fifties. It was a gala one-time affair featuring local and regional talent in a showcase of the performing arts.
It was not until 1975 that the Singapore Festival of Arts in its present form was conceived and mooted by Mobil Oil Singapore. The Young Musician's Society in conjunction with the Ministry of Education were the organisers. The prime objective of the Festival's originators was to encourage, improve and create an awareness of the arts in the nation.
From the outset, the Singapore Festival of Arts was conceived as a people's festival — a celebration of the arts for the people and by the people. To promote that close symbiotic relationship between artistes and audience, a state of rapport when performers give of their best before an appreciative audience, the Festival was widely publicised with its own distinctive and attractive graphic identity. High standards of performance, on the other hand, were encouraged by merit awards.
When the Festival finally came to fruition in May 1977, everyone was pleasantly surprised. The response from both artistes and audience was overwhelming. There were over 1,300 participants from 77 groups and every single one of the seven nights was a sell-out.
The Ministry of Culture organised the second Festival in the following year when it saw further growth. There was increased participation by local groups and more foreign artistes. Altogether, over 2,000 participants from 100 groups took part in the 1978 Festival. The scope of the Festival was also enlarged to include the visual arts. An exhibition featuring the works of local and leading Asean artists was held.
The response which this second Festival drew firmly placed the Singapore Festival of Arts as the premier event in the Republic's cultural calendar. But to better accommodate the Festival's expanded size and scope, it was decided to hold future Festivals once every two years.
The 1980 Festival is the biggest yet and, we hope, the best. Drama has been included for the first time in the performing arts programme. For the visual arts, we have introduced an Asean salon of photography.
Our guest artistes this year include distinguished performers from Australia, Austria, Japan, Korea, Rumania, Sweden and the U.S.
The Ministry of Culture is grateful to numerous cultural organisations both at home and abroad for their cooperation and to the Ministry of Education, the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, the National Museum, the National Theatre and the People’s Association for their assistance in organising this and past Festivals.
The Singapore Festival of Arts is made possible by a generous grant from Mobil Oil Singapore, the sole sponsor of all three Festivals, as part of its long tradition of corporate patronage of the arts.
(Source: Ministry of Culture Programme)