XiangHui is a Senior Producer at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and the festival lead of A Tapestry of Sacred Music 2025. Capturing the liminal moments before a performance and cinematic stills of artists in motion, he delivers nuggets of information from the perspective of a festival insider, sharing anecdotes from behind-the-scenes of Esplanade’s most unique festival.

This shot of an entryway marks the start of everything. It is the path through which our first performers will take as they step into our courtyard, to inaugurate the festival with a ceremony of auspiciousness. It also reflects the POV of the festival planning team who have assembled, awaiting the start of a three-day rollercoaster ride. While we may have laid the tracks and shaped the vision, the festival can still take some unexpected twists and turns. The audience—once only a hypothetical construct in our planning discussions—has now materialised, transforming the Esplanade Courtyard into a vibrant, expectant gathering.

A masked figure spits out a ball of flame in the dark of night; the thovil ceremony is a healing ritual that is of cultural significance in south Sri Lanka. It is entrancing to experience with the rolling of hypnotic drums, dance and fire.

“It wouldn’t rain”, we were told. And since this was a sacred music festival, I never fretted too much about the weather. If ever there was an occasion for us mortals to accept our earthly limitations, this felt like one, meteorological phenomena being outside of our control. We have done our part, planned thoroughly, and gave our best efforts. If it were not to be, so be it.

But this time, the stakes felt different. Over 300 volunteers had taken time off to help recreate the procession of the Nine Emperor Gods, pouring in their resources and energy to share endangered temple art forms with a wider public. Months of discussion had led to this moment, and the thought of it all being washed away was a heavy one. As storm clouds gathered above the deities’ palanquins, we huddled in a small briefing room, setting our contingency plans into motion.

Turns out, it's not unusual for a rain to happen before the procession of the Nine Emperor Gods—the devotees say that it is the gods’ way of cleansing the path. Just before it seemed hopeless, the rain abated. With the green light given, the organised chaos of the procession sprang to life. Vibrant LED-lit palanquins began their swaggering journey toward the stage, casting dancing lights along the path. A sigh of relief escaped us as the thunderous clash of processional gongs erupted all around, signalling that it had truly begun.

Ganesh, our senior production coordinator, knows the festival like the back of his hand, and poured his heart and soul into it. He was deep in the trenches during those six-hour planning sessions where we pieced together the crazy jigsaw puzzle which is our programme schedule. He bridged communications between various teams, and tackled anything from troubleshooting show crises to physical tasks like shifting barricades.

Sometimes, Esplanade might seem like a monolith from the outside but in truth, every win is built upon the presences of invaluable individuals like this man. Behind the smooth rhythm of the festival was his indispensable, often unseen, contribution. Here’s a photo of him smiling triumphantly as the temple palanquins were sent off at the end of all the processional excitement.

You get to see some pretty unusual sights working on the festival, like this cluster of dervishes in their sombre cloaks, waiting backstage for their cue to go on.

From the backstage monitors, we watch with anticipation as the audience drifts in, filling the Concert Hall for the 8pm performance.

It is a quiet luxury to savour for a moment, the stillness of the foyer while all the action unfolds inside the Concert Hall. This calm is made sweeter by the assurance that the audience is seated, the programme is underway, and everything is running smoothly, in capable hands.

The finale of the festival took place at the Esplanade Concourse, where for an hour it was transformed into the marbled hall of a dervish lodge.

It’s quite apt that this photo turned out the way it did—barely illuminated, our reality cloaked in darkness. At the end of the day, our team flops onto office chairs like overcooked noodles, forming an impromptu gathering. This is not a debrief, just a quiet surrender to the collective inertia that follows a long day. Before anyone can muster the energy to go home, a bit of low-energy banter and shared snacks are requisite for unwinding to occur. It is a beautiful moment where everyone is simply enjoying each others’ company and presence.

It’s only once a year where you’ll get to see the festival logo beaming off the walls of the Esplanade Concert Hall, and each time it’s a poignant feeling reminding me that another year of planning has passed by, and the flowers of our labour have blossomed.