O1 June 2O12

That Friday, I went to The Festival Village together with my classmates.
We entered the event site from The Esplanade, without knowing what to expect.
Because there isn't a clearly defined entrance, we walked into the event without knowing. It was only at the Ticketing & Info Booth that we realised "this is it! This is the event!" We then laugh at our how blur we were.

The entrance to the event is actually the flea market beneath the Esplanade Bridge (It was where we exited too). I think that it is actually a smart for the flea to be located there. Offering 2 chances (when you arrive & leave) for the event goers to spend on the merchandises. They have all sorts of things for sale, ranging from clothings to handmade accessories to pieces of drawings.

Walking further in to the village, was the Festival Cafe, where Cold Stone Creamery & Tully's Coffee was situated. Initially, I was ecstatic upon seeing the signature Cold Stone Creamery logo, but that happiness went away almost immediately when I realised that the pricing of that yummy treat is a little pricier than that at their store in Orchard Central.

We explored the area - Main stage, Black Box, Festival Bar ..

Finally, something that caught our attention! Tangle @ the Kids Arts Village! The whole area was so colourful. Alive. Happy. Tangle is a space where the little ones have fun! So many of them trying to untangle themselves from the colourful mess. An extremely adorable scene!

Moving on the the performances, "XII - In Search Of 13". It was practically a wrestling match between the icons of Singapore on certain issues that Singapore is facing. The performance that we caught was a match between Merlion & Haw Paw Villa, Merlion as the government  & Haw Paw Villa representing the voices of the locals. The battle was about the government wanting to tear down several HDB blocks to make way for better infrastructures such as the MRT. However, this will be done at the expense of the local, an old man that had stayed in his old flat for 30 years. The government's stand is that they are doing so for the benefit of the locals, improving the infrastructures for their convenience. However, to the elderly, he values the memories of the old flat more than anything else.
It set me thinking.. Who should win? Both sides have a reasonable cause of winning. Everything is changing, should we take even away the last memories that the man has? 
In the end, the merlion won. The flat will be torn down. A rather sad ending I would say..

Singapore Arts Festival is a really good exposure to different forms of arts and it is especially good because it is brought down to Singapore's level. It is some thing where we can relate to, not just an exhibition of an expensive art piece by a famous artist.