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SINGAPORE: One of Singapore's biggest festivals, Womad Singapore, has decided to suspend its festival activity for now.
Womad Singapore celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, but will give the next couple of years a miss, returning only in 2010. This, say organisers, is so they can "refocus" the targets of the festival.
"To take it up to the next level, we've got to re-strategise what we would like Womad to be," said Sarah Martin, Womad's regional operations director for Asia. "We've reached a stage where the market forces are such we need to rethink how we do it, rethink our budget, sponsorship and do it with Womad's best interests at heart," she added.
But fans and performers say not having Womad this year isn't quite the same.
Said Licia Sucipto, manager of percussion band Wicked Aura Batucada, who have played at Womad several times: "What made Womad different was that it attracted non-fans to the festival, as well as fans. Womad was a good way to educate people about world music."
But there are those who say they won't miss it. "People are no longer interested (in Womad)," said sales manager Francis Chen.
Added marketing executive Martin Seow: "I've been to three Womads and honestly; you can't really distinguish one from the other. It looks all the same to me."
Others though, beg to differ. "If they can come up with something even better than before, then why not? I'd still go," said sales executive Wee N K.
Womad Singapore started out in 1998, and was one of the first big festivals to be held here. But since then, it's been vying for the public's attention with other festivals like the Mosaic Music Festival, Baybeats and SingFest.
Last year's Womad drew a crowd of 18,000, whereas Mosaic attracted 90,000 and Baybeats averaged 80,000 although the latter was mostly a free festival.
Future plans, said Martin, may include a shift of venue, but nothing too radical will be introduced. "We're not reinventing the wheel," she emphasised.
"Womad is a celebration of diversity, that will always be what we're about. We want to be bigger and better, we haven't even done half the things that we would like to do," she added.
The key to all that is funding, she said, which is a bit of a Catch-22 situation.
"To achieve a bigger vision you need funding, but to get that funding you need to present that bigger vision. It does not happen overnight," she explained.
Nevertheless, she assured this postponement is not permanent. "We're proud to say we've reached a real pinnacle with where the festival stands right now. We're the longest running private event in Singapore.
"Will there be a Year 11 for Womad? Yes it's just not this year. The vision is for 2010 and that's where we will be." - TODAY/ar
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