Singapore Arts Festival is the biggest cultural event on Singapore’s arts calendar with artists from dozens of countries. It features  hundreds of activities – a 4-week infusion of performances and events that inspires and captures the public imagination of the city. The festival first started in 1977 as a national arts festival celebrating the local arts activities of Singapore’s various communities. During the decades, the Festival has a crucial catalytic role in the development of the artistic and cultural life of Singapore.

The Festival also helped to transform the city’s cultural landscape, turning it into one of Asia’s major cultural capitals and gave new cultural platforms, events, and movements that help underpin the lively cultural scene in present Singapore.

Nowadays the Festival is described as a bold, progressive and innovative spirit, committed to commissioning new works by Singapore, Asian and international artists, exploring among others, contemporary issues related to history, memory, migration, and urban living and encouraging regional and international artistic exchanges and collaborations. The Festival also includes events of free outdoor performances island-wide, bringing the arts to the doorsteps of Singaporeans.

The Singapore Arts Festival continue to exist as the largest singular event on Singapore’s arts calendar, including artists from more than 20 countries, offering more than 400 activities and attracting up to 500,000 attendances and events that inspires and captures the public imagination of the city.