With enough human density to crowd surf from one end to the other, Artbox Singapore proved to be wildly popular, but not all that fun for a big chunk of attendees, when its fairy lights-ridden enclave opened to the public over the weekend.
Having already enjoyed massive popularity as Thailand’s premier hipster market, Artbox’s iteration on our shores certainly brought over another Bangkok facet: insane traffic. But not the vehicular kind. The phenomenally successful event was just too frickin’ crowded for patrons to actually enjoy themselves. But really, what were you expecting? Of course there were going to be too many people at Artbox Singapore.
Like Super Japan Matsuri 2016 and Singapore Coffee Festival, booming pre-event publicity only led to overwhelming frustration when organizers failed to arrange for the excessive number of people who turned up.
Despite the crazy crowds, folks remained undeterred in their mission to check out the market at Marina Bayfront, and you should almost certainly expect more of the same when it opens again this weekend.
Since setting up trendy pop-up markets are so in these days, we’ve prepared a handy guide on how you too can hold an over-glorified event like Artbox Singapore.
Be overly hyped in the press
In an affluent country like ours, there’s honestly an over-saturation of lifestyle publications catering to the desperately trendy. Make sure you aim for maximum exposure by utilizing the dozens of Buzzfeed clones, clickbait farms and Facebook videos with text at the top and bottom to ensure even the lowest common denominator knows about your event. (Ed: We’re guilty of writing about Artbox, too, but are you really gonna hold that against us? Don’t answer.)
Industrial chic
Remember, there’s no such thing as too many fairy lights or too many repurposed shipping containers. Use as many wooden pallets as you can — folks don’t care about splinters if it all looks nice enough.
Trendy Instagram-worthy food and drinks
Salted egg churros, fried Oreos, rainbow bagels, Dragon’s Breath — millennials just can’t stop inventing newfangled uppity snacks. If there’s one way to attract the masses, it’s by making sure your event is as Instagrammable as possible with gimmicky food that looks better than it tastes. Make sure it’s overpriced, too, because people are gonna buy it regardless.
Be hipster without saying the word ‘hipster’
Sorry, Hipster Festival, but your event totally failed because you crossed the line of being subtle and went straight-up corny AF. So go ahead, feature the usual hipster trappings like vintage products, DIY wares, and throw around the word “sustainability” a lot, but don’t ever actually market your market as one for hipsters.
Have free admission without crowd control
ARTBOX Singapore , Day vs. Night. pic.twitter.com/eqLvsHPz5L
— Xavier Lur (@xavierlur) April 15, 2017
It’s great to be free and open for all to enjoy, but it’s even better if you don’t give a damn about actually having space for patrons to walk through without exchanging armpit sweat. Having a poorly organized layout may be hard on the attendees, but hey, who cares if your event is packed (and by extension, popular-looking)? Fit too many stores in too little space, and you too can have patrons complaining about having awesome views of people’s sweaty heads, arms, chests and shoulders.
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