by D.Y.

The Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) has been an annual highlight of the local Arts calendar, inviting artists and enthusiasts alike to create meaningful experiences through its extensive programmes. Yet, this year’s edition is looking to be a particularly exciting one as the mantle of Festival Director is passed on from Natalie Hennedige to first-timer Chong Tze Chien. Running from 15 to 30 May 2026, this year’s edition marks the first of Chong’s ‘three-act’ tenure, with each year corresponding with a different theme. Tying it together is the central tagline: ‘Let’s play!’, highlighting the festival’s unwavering spirit as it approaches its Golden Jubilee in 2027. 

Specific to this year is its theme: Legacy, which highlights a resounding sense of appreciation for the history of local Art creation. With that being said, Chong’s gratitude is not a passive one, stating how his programming has been guided by the principle of ‘looking back to look forward’. In doing so, he hopes to revive the nostalgic Festival Atmosphere that anchored SIFA (or as it was then known as the Singapore Arts Festival)  in its earlier years while updating it with a contemporary sensibility fitting of today. As such, his programming is grounded in five pillars, including the Festival Stage, Festival Play!Ground, Festival House, Festival Late Nites and most notably, the return of the Festival Village. With palpable anticipation, Chong underlined how the Village would be arguably the centerpiece of his iterations of SIFA, acting as an outdoor hub for its other complementary programmes while maintaining a lively atmosphere for conversation and interaction – akin to the 80s and 90s.

Besides the Village, other highlights include the Play!ground which will not only play host to the Festival opening but also involve a roving component – transporting the Festival to the heartlands of Punggol Coast. There, young families and other audiences can look forward to a Parade alongside other commissioned works. Then, at the Festival House, young and young-hearted audiences can also anticipate the return of Little SIFA with works such as its anchor piece, The Lighthouse by Patch Theatre from Australia. Utilising analog light to create immersive spaces, The Lighthouse invites audiences to imagine, explore and realise their own sensory adventures within a terrain of light and sound.

On the other hand, the Festival Stage will be the main indoor space for performance. Leading the international line-up is the epic fashion drama: LACRIMA by Caroline Guiela Nguyen from France. Depicting the inside workings of the Haute Fashion industry, Chong describes the performance as not only ‘cosmopolitan’ (referencing its multilingual mode), but an attempt to ‘bring back spectacle’, highlighting the work’s scale on both a practical and emotional level. Mirroring the depth of emotion, the stage will also host a reimagination of the Ibsen classic Hedda Gabler by the National Theatre Company of Korea. By ‘transposing the work to the Korean patriarchal structure’, the company’s first female artistic director, Park Jeong Hee is positioned by Chong to find new cultural resonance within the century-old proto-feminist work. This chain of reimagining classics continues with the Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet by Teatro La Plaza (Peru), which is performed by a cast of actors with Down syndrome. A play-within-a-play, this interpretation sees the cast bring their personal stories to the stage as they band together to answer the age-old question: To be or not to be.

In terms of local productions, it was also revealed that a co-comissioned restaging of Strangely Familiar by homegrown T.H.E Dance Company, would take the Festival stage. The dance piece will explore the intersection between the digital and lived reality of our lives and highlights Chong’s commitment to providing opportunities for artistic refinement. This sentiment is then echoed through a new hallmark two-year model for developing local commissions. In his words, Chong highlighted how this model would ‘take pressure off the work’, underscoring his lived experience as a commissioned artist. The first year of this programme sees selected works through an exploration of one of its artistic aspects, culminating in the showcase of a completed performance (unlike traditional works-in-progress). After a milestone review, the second year will then allow the work to mature further, evolving from the first year to a fuller form. 

It is therefore this active spirit of evolution that Chong has worked into his programming moving ahead. To many, SIFA is a lot of things: a national platform for local art; a bridge for international productions to cross over; And in recent times, a laboratory for developing art to experiment and find their footing. But to Chong, SIFA at its core is simply as its name suggests: a festival – one that celebrates its immense heritage while speaking to the present; one that is equally ambitious and grounded; And ultimately; a festival that is as much about playfulness as it is about respect and focus. A festival of contradictions – Chong has envisioned a bold, self-reflexive celebration of SIFA’s past, present and future, thereby suggesting a promising awareness of where the Festival sits today and in the years to come. With a focus on balance and a confident grasp on execution, this edition of SIFA is definitely one to watch as it sparks new conversations revolving around SIFA: ones that are filled with revitalised vigour and an eager potential.

Featured Image credit: Tuckys Photography

SIFA 2026 runs from 15th to 30th May 2026. More information and tickets to be released here