Before there was Verve, there was A.C.I.D (Arts Celebration in Diversity). In 2011, we brought the Arts House to life with a multi-art showcase of exciting emerging artists, inviting the public to experience the vibrant local arts spectrum in a radiant galore of programmes.

From 2011 to 2015, Verve was held at the Arts house. Throughout the years at Art house, Verve has focused as a gathering place for audiences to discover the local arts. It also aims to promote art as a medium for discovery among artists and the audience. Verve’s themes for this period of time were Cross Roads, Art of Play, Best of times and Kaleidoscope.

In 2012, the festival was rebirthed as ‘Verve’. The theme that year was ‘Cross Roads’. The year also saw the inaugural Oh! Verve Drive fundraising event.

When Verve turned 6, we went West. Verve became a community arts festival connecting different people within the Bukit Batok East neighbourhood. From 2016 to 2019, Verve at Bukit Batok East Community Club, aimed to connect residents through shared and common experiences and interests.  Together with our co-curators from Fei Yue Senior Activity Centre, the festival alsoalso promoted intergenerational mingling through the arts. Verve’s themes during these years were Strings, Converge, Rasa Sayang and Throwback 659.

We turned 10 the year COVID-19 ravaged the world. With the theme “TENacity”, artists and participants exchanged their unique expressions of braving the now. Reflecting this spirit, the festival broke new digital ground in 2020.