Caylee Chua: Singapore’s First Renaissance Fair, Creative Grit and How a 24-Year-Old Built a New Festival Culture – E652

Caylee Chua, multidisciplinary artist and founder of Strawberry Champagne Sparkles, joins Jeremy Au to share how she built Ren Faire SG: The Origin from a niche idea into Singapore’s first Renaissance Fair. She traces her journey from crafting fairycore jewelry to designing an immersive festival that blends artistry, performance, and community play. Caylee explains how early inspiration from overseas fairs sparked her vision, how months of quiet TikTok posts built the first wave of support, and how strict venue rules forced her to redesign logistics with precision. They discuss why Singaporeans crave spaces for imagination, how grassroots creativity grows when subcultures meet, and why young founders can move fast even without industry backing. Their conversation explores the mix of cosplay, crafts, DnD, book culture, and youth communities that shaped the fair, the emotional work behind cold outreach and rejections, and the courage required to keep building when early metrics stay small. Caylee also reflects on curating performers, choosing Fort Canning as her launch venue, and creating an accessible fairytale aesthetic that encourages families and newcomers to rediscover wonder through craftsmanship and play. 01:59 Discovering Renaissance Fairs through global festivals: Caylee explains how US and European fairs mix historical reenactments, fantasy costumes, live music, and immersive outdoor spaces. 07:35 Planning logistics under strict rules: She walks through tough constraints from the parks authority, including truck access limits, safety marshals, tree buffers, and weekday-only setup windows. 09:51 Choosing Fort Canning after venue rejections: Other parks blocked her plans, Marina Barrage felt too modern, and only one Fort Canning lawn delivered both ambience and affordability. 12:03 Designing a fairytale-first theme: She leans into approachable fairytale fantasy so families, casual fans, and newcomers feel welcome without needing deep fandom knowledge. 15:20 Curating performers with an open call: She reviews video auditions, selects musicians and street cast with the right energy, and balances skill, costume fit, and stage flow. 18:29 Building early marketing momentum: She starts socials early, grows an email list, mobilizes supporters to reshare posts, and uses community filming to power Instagram and TikTok reach. 28:48 Staying brave when early posts fall flat: She pushes through silence, posts daily despite tiny views, and keeps her conviction until the algorithm and word of mouth finally amplify her work. Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/caylee-chua-magic-in-singapore Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VakR55X6BIElUEvkN02e TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea Spotify English: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TnqkaWpTT181lMA8xNu0T Bahasa Indonesia: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Vs8t6qPo0eFb4o6zOmiVZ Chinese: https://open.spotify.com/show/20AGbzHhzFDWyRTbHTVDJR Vietnamese: https://open.spotify.com/show/0yqd3Jj0I19NhN0h8lWrK1 YouTube  English: https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyAu?sub_confirmation=1 Apple Podcast  English: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/brave-southeast-asia-tech-singapore-indonesia-vietnam/id1506890464 #RenaissanceFairSG #CreativeFounders #GrassrootsCulture #FestivalBuilders #ArtMeetsCommunity #YouthEntrepreneurs #BuildingInPublic #CreatorEconomySEA #SingaporeCulture #BRAVEpodcast