From tambourine dancing to “worship parties”: 40 years of Festival of Praise and 10 years of FOPx

This Friday, March 20, believers from across generations and denominations are invited to unite in worship at Suntec City. Together, they will celebrate four decades since the first Festival of Praise (FOP) worship night was held, and 10 years of FOPx, the youth movement that grew out of it.

FOP was an event that brings the churches and the generations together. Many recall the tambourine dance performances and banner parades at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in the 1990s.

On the other hand, those of the TikTok generation are familiar with FOPx worship nights, which resemble outdoor raves with flashing lights, loud music and thousands of jumping youths.

A Festival of Praise highlight in the 1990s was the tambourine dance, with hundreds of dancers from different churches worshipping the Lord. Photo courtesy of Mrs Esther Wong.

Clips of FOPx’s annual outdoor worship night have gone viral on TikTok. It has been held on the lawn of St Andrew’s Cathedral for the last seven years. The 2025 edition attracted some 4,000 youths from more than 200 churches.

But the heart behind the worship-driven event remains the same as it was in the beginning.

The genesis in Jerusalem

The annual Festival of Praise was birthed when God stirred the heart of the late Rev Dr Canon James Wong in Jerusalem in 1985. 

Canon Wong, a consummate Charismatic evangelical, serial church planter and revivalist was leading a contingent from Singapore and Indonesia in joining tens of thousands of believers from many nations to celebrate the Christian Feast of Tabernacles. In the streets of Jerusalem, worship was exuberant with music, banners, tambourines and dancing.

Canon James and his wife Esther (faces circled) with the Singapore and Indonesian contingent holding up their banner in the streets of Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of Mrs Esther Wong.

“In Jerusalem, he saw the joy and the unity of different nations coming in,” Mrs Esther Wong, his wife, told Salt&Light.

Rev Jonathan Wong, the older son of the Wongs (and current Vicar of St George’s Church), told Salt&Light: “One of the main ways Christians see the Feast of the Tabernacles was the in-gathering of the harvest. That is, the church moving out to the nations, to the Gentiles. That captured (Canon James’) imagination and his heart.”

Canon Wong wrote in his 2010 book, The Charismatic Renewal In Singapore: “As it was not practical to expect a large number of Singaporeans to go to Jerusalem to participate in this annual praise and worship event, I thought it would be a tremendous blessing if we could organise such a celebration for the churches in Singapore.” 

Said Esther: “His heart was to unite churches from various denominations in worship.”

To Canon Wong, “praise and worship are an important part of building the spiritual atmosphere”. He hoped the event would raise the quality of praise and worship music in the local church scene as well as inspire more local songwriters and singers.

“My dad was the consummate networker: He would call up different people and say, ‘Hey, do you want to participate?'” said his son, Rev Jonathan.

Festival of Praise would become one of the most significant annual Christian events in Singapore.

At that time there was a great hunger for such an event. There was no event that brought people together for worship, though there were evangelistic rallies and other activities. And it was a time that few churches had developed worship ministries, Ps Jonathan pointed out.

Pastor Benny Ho, Senior Pastor of Faith Community Church in Perth observed: “FOP could well be the seedbed for public worship gatherings and nationwide prayer movements in Singapore.

“It helped bring visible unity to the Singapore Church and was instrumental in introducing modern worship culture,” he said.

“Now that FOP has transited to FOPx for younger people, it can become a key platform for rallying the next generation of worshippers in Singapore.” 

Glorifying the Lord as one

The first Festival of Praise was held in 1986 in the hall of St Margaret’s Primary School.

FOP started with Chapel of the Resurrection and her daughter churches, and with some charismatic and pentecostal churches joining in.

Rev Yang Tuck Yoong, current chairman of Festival of Praise, still remembers the moment.

(Canon Wong, the first Vicar of Chapel of the Resurrection, mentored young Yang Tuck Yoong and Kong Hee, who would go on to found megachurches Cornerstone and City Harvest respectively.)

Canon James (seated, second from right), with Pastors Yang Tuck Yoong and Kong Hee (standing, third and fourth from right). Ps Lawrence Khong, who co-founded unity movement Love Singapore in 1995, is standing, second from the right. Photo courtesy of Cornerstone Community Church.

“Several churches came together, mainly Anglican. About 600-plus people gathered and what a celebration it was,” he said.

“Each church made and decorated flags, had tambourine dancers in their costumes and shofar blowers. It was all very celebrative and joyous.

A highlight of early FOPs was a parade of banners; the winning design would be announced towards the end of the evening. Photo courtesy of Tony Tay.

“I still remember weeping as our Lord Jesus was glorified.”

Worship that kept growing

In 1997, Canon Wong appointed Kong Hee, Senior Pastor of City Harvest Church to take his place as chairman of FOP. Ps Kong had been involved in the festival since around 1994, and eventually became the vice-chair. 

Ps Kong had grown up under the teaching of Canon Wong, who was his Pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd at Marine Parade Centre.

Ps Kong Hee (left) with Canon James Wong at FOP. Photo courtesy of City Harvest Church.

“At its peak, I think FOP involved 130 churches,” he told Salt&Light. “At that time Singapore had about 400 churches, so almost one-third of the churches were together in one place.”

FOP had a threefold purpose, Ps Kong recalled: “First was to worship as the Church. Second was to foster the unity of the Church. And the third was to hear a prophetic word for the Church. So Canon always asked the guest speaker to release a prophetic word to encourage the Singapore Church.”

The festival grew from year to year, and the Singapore Indoor Stadium became its venue for a number of years. “There was wonderful praise and worship by Darlene Zschech and Hillsong, Delirious!, Parachute, Graham Kendrick,” he recalled. “You felt like part of a big family, worshipping in the spirit, by the Spirit.”

Ps Kong’s best memories of being involved in FOP was the committee, which included the late Rev Dr Chia Beng Hock of the Assemblies of God, Deacon Foong Daw Ching of the Church of Singapore, Rev Ezekiel Tan and Venerable Daniel Wee, CHC Pastor Choong Tsih Ming and producer-songwriter Clement Chow.

Rev Dr Chia Beng Hock. Photo courtesy of Mrs Esther Wong.

“The camaraderie was so strong; it was a warm and wonderful committee,” he told Salt&Light. “There was a mutual love and honouring of each other. And Canon was a joy to work with.”

What fruit did those years of FOP bear? “FOP kept the spiritual momentum of the Charismatic renewal – which started in Singapore in 1974 – going and strengthened it,” said Ps Kong. 

The “most happening” annual Christian event

In a 2011 interview, on the 25th anniversary of FOP, Canon Wong had said: “One of my goals of the Festival Of Praise was to unite the body of Christ in Singapore and pray for blessing on our nation and its government. This is why we moved the FOP dates from October to August, to coincide with our National Day celebrations.”  

As attendance grew, the event moved to successively larger venues – to the Mandarin Hotel ballroom, and subsequently to the Harbour Pavilion at the World Trade Centre. Around that time, other churches began to be officially involved.

Festival of Praise eventually was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in the early 1990s.

Young people queued from as early as 3pm to enter the Indoor Stadium which had a seating capacity of 12,000, recalled Esther. Photo from 2018.

“From a boisterous assembly of Charismatic Christians gathered for a time of communal praise, it transformed into a concert-style setting in a stadium, assisted by an elevated stage and large omnidirectional screens,” observed Georgie Lee and Galven Lee in their book, Unfolding His Story: The Story of the Charismatic Movement in Singapore. 

Tamil churches in Singapore joined in, along with churches from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Ps Yang told Salt&Light: “Because FOP was interdenominational, we drew from a very large spectrum of churches in Singapore. It brought in a dimension of praise and worship that was fresh and exciting, and Singapore was introduced to some of the most well-known worship teams which was a wonderful experience.”

These included Bob Fitts, Rick Ridings, Don Moen and Planetshakers.

“It was almost like bringing Taylor Swift in,” Esther quipped.

Anointed evangelists from around the world who came to speak included Rev David Yonggi Cho and Rev Dr Ed Silvoso. 

Ps Jonathan Wong at a Festival of Praise.

“Because FOP was always tied to Feast of Tabernacles, there was always an evangelistic component. So even though it was worship-driven, it had a sense of winning the lost and bringing the nation together,” Ps Jonathan said.

“Festival of Praise was the most happening annual event in the Christian calendar,” Pastor Andrew Yeo told Salt&Light. He was 15 years old, and three months new as a Christian, when he attended his first FOP, Today, he is Director of Festival of Praise Fellowship Singapore, and helms its new wineskin – its youth movement, FOPx.

Andrew Yeo leading worship at the Festival of Praise – an answer to his prayer during his first FOP when he had no musical experience. Today, he is a Pastor, song writer, artiste, and has a music ministry in Southeast Asia.

The interest in FOP was so overwhelming that 1,500 people had to be turned away, recalled Ps Jonathan. In subsequent years, video screens were set up outside the stadium so that everyone could join in.

Even organisers of Singapore’s National Day Parade took notice and came one year to study what made FOP exciting for the audience, Ps Jonathan told Salt&Light.

A programme booklet and other publicity materials for the earlier editions of Festival of Praise.

Behind the large gatherings was an inter-generational effort from churches of different denominations. Children, for instance, were included in the banner-design competitions and helped to sell programme booklets to raise funds.

“It was a family thing,” Esther recalled.

In a 2008 interview, Canon Wong had said: “The Festival of Praise bridges the gap between the young and the old. By far, majority are young people, but older parents and even grandparents come along and join us in worship.

A cell group from Chapel of Resurrection with their elaborate creation. The banner was based on the Book of Revelation. Photo from 1990, courtesy of Tony Tay.

Canon and Mrs Wong at Festival of Praise in 2007.

The 2012 concert, which was to be held at CHC was cancelled amid challenges faced by the church at the time.

Subsequently, the festival returned in a smaller format.

Ps Jonathan remembers discussing the evolving nature of church and ministry with his father, Canon Wong.

“We would talk about it – how many more years do you want to keep doing FOP on such a large scale? The church is changing,” he said. 

“My dad’s passion was for the next generation. He always felt you need to raise the next generation. So I think that FOPx was a natural transition.”

A new wineskin: FOPx

In 2016 – three decades after Festival of Praise began – FOPx was birthed out of a vision to unite youth ministries across different denominations to pray, worship, and minister to the next generation.

Pastor Andrew and youth leader Isaac Ong recall the genesis of the refresh. They were having a conversation at a youth camp, when Isaac said he missed the days of a conference when youth ministries from different churches gathered to worship and pray.

“Maybe we should do something like that,” Isaac suggested.

Isaac Ong leading worship at FOPx in 2016.

But Ps Andrew wanted to hear from the Lord. The next day he received confirmation – a call from his Senior Pastor – Ps Yang who said: “Why don’t we focus on the next generation. Gather some of the Youth Pastors. We’ll buy lunch.”

They expected about 10 people. Instead, 45 Youth Pastors turned up – the start of fellowship, friendship and support that became the heartbeat of FOPx.

At the next meeting, 100 Pastors came, each representing a different church.

The first FOPx conference in 2016 involved 65 churches. Over the past decade, the movement has connected with more than 390 churches.

“Speakers invited to FOPx conferences are not just inspirational, but good Bible teachers.” They have included speaker and author Nick Vujicic who has tetra-amelia syndrome, Australian evangelist Christine Caine, and Ben Fitzgerald (pictured), a leader of a movement that champions the Gospel across Europe.

“It was like FOP was refreshed on a new page with a new generation of young people,” shared Andrew.

The FOP Board is made up of a diverse group of Pastors and key marketplace leaders. FOPx is helmed by a council, comprising youth pastors and leaders from different denominations, supported by music, ushering and social media teams comprising members from different churches.

“It’s modelling to the youth that unity is possible; we can all work together. Psalm 133:1-3 says when brethren dwell together in unity, therefore God commands his blessings,” said Ps Andrew.

Sharing the fire 

These days, a few thousand youth gather for the annual FOPx worship nights.

“The goal is to create a platform for young people to encounter Jesus,” Ps Andrew told Salt&Light.

“We jump, we love loud music. But we are serious about worshipping the Lord – about the presence of God, prayer and serious about the Word of the Lord. Speakers invited to FOPx conferences are not just inspirational, but good Bible teachers.”

Grammy-nominated Christian rock band Leeland at the FOPx conference and worship night in 2024.

This year’s anniversary worship night – that celebrates the 40th year of FOP and 10 years of FOPx – carries the theme “Generations.”

“The Festival of Praise has always been more than an event,” Ps Andrew said. “It is a legacy of worship, unity and revival across Singapore.”

Isaac, who is on the FOPx council, says the future lies in intergenerational ministry.

“In order for youth ministries to move to the next stage, we cannot function as Gen Z for Gen Z or Boomers for Boomers,” Isaac told Salt&Light.

“We have to think inter-generationally.”

FOPx’s research involving more than 300 Youth Pastors and youth leaders highlighted a desire for more spiritual guidance from experienced mentors, and a need for effective mentorship of youth leaders through intergenerational support networks.

Canon James (in wheelchair) attending the FOPx worship night on the lawn of St Andrew’s Cathedral. “He loved it!” said his son, Ps Jonathan. Canon James went home to be with the Lord at age 82 in April 2022.

A recommendation to encourage unity and understanding among generations was for churches to intentionally hold events that allow young and old to have meaningful time and conversations together. 

The upcoming worship night is meant to be a starting point.

“This event is really the opening of what is to come, rather than us trying to model what it looks like. Because the truth is, we don’t exactly know what healthy intergenerational walking together looks like today,” Isaac admitted.

“But this 40th anniversary worship night is us putting a stake in the ground to say: This is where we are headed.

Thousands of youth gather pray and cry out to the Lord for their generation and the nation on annual FOPx worship nights on the lawn of St Andrew’s Cathedral.

“Before we bring our heads and solutions together, we are just going to surrender to a time of prayer and worship as generations together.”

Isaac warned: “Some people are going to say the music is too loud and fast, others will say it’s too soft and slow, just like they probably did at Festival of Praise. Anything that is intergenerational, anything that is interdenominational – not everybody is going to be pleased. 

“But in light of that discomfort and displeasure, we will be forced to remind ourselves that which binds us together is Jesus,” he told Salt&Light.

“When we sing songs together and love Him together, it’s all of us adoring Him together – the Love of our lives. He may be saying, ‘I don’t need you all to be uniform. I just need you all to be united through your diversity.'”

Additional reporting by Theresa Tan and Chia Poh Fang.

Festival of Praise 40th Anniversary Worship Night

Theme: Generations
Date: Friday, March 20, 2026, 7.30pm
Venue: Suntec City, Engage Theatre 2, Level 4

Believers across generations and denominations are invited to gather for a night of worship celebrating 40 years of Festival of Praise and 10 years of FOPx, the youth movement birthed from the vision to see God move in the next generation.

The evening will feature worship teams, dancers, singers and a choir from 77 churches across Singapore, their ages ranging from 16 to 75.

Admission to the worship night is free, no registration required. (Entry to the FOPx Conference 2026 on March 20 and 21 is priced at S$70.)

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