Sifa 2025 Fifteen Singapore commissions and a pavilion in Bedok

The annual Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa) returns with a record 15 commissioned local works, including an ambitious 50m by 30m pavilion at Bedok Town Square that will take cutting-edge performances to a heartland crowd.

- Clement Yong

From May 16 to June 1, people can look forward to performances in festival director Natalie Hennedige's recognisably post-modern aesthetic, blending theatre, visual art, dance and music. They delve into heavy-hitting topics on the occasion of Singapore's 60th birthday, such as the country's maritime heritage and the 1965 separation from Malaysia.

In a festival that celebrates "doing it our way", classics like George Orwell's Animal Farm and William Shakespeare's King Lear will be given fresh spins by Singapore artists. A gigantic sailboat will traverse Empress Lawn near Victoria Theatre, the site for Little Sifa designed for families and children.

Themed More Than Ever, Sifa 2025 is the culmination of Hennedige's four years in charge of the tentpole performing arts festival organised by Arts House Limited.

She says: "Why do we need the arts more than ever? More than ever, worlds open. More than ever, we need to raise wise children. I wanted something that was open and emphatic at the same time."