SINGAPORE: The Singapore Sports Festival will introduce the Singapore Sports Hub to the public when the facility fully opens in June and rugby will be the first sport played at the new National Stadium.

These are part of a calendar of sporting and entertainment events unveiled by the facility’s management on Thursday.

In the works are 13 sporting events, starting with the Singapore Open 2014 badminton tournament in April, and 11 performances by artistes Taylor Swift and Jay Chou as well as the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.

The list is not exhaustive. Some planned events have not been listed as promoters have reserved the right to make the announcements.

Negotiations to bring in sporting events are also often protracted.

“The venue is going to be very (heavily) booked, more so than many other venues around the world,” said Lim Teck Yin, CEO of Singapore Sports Council.

Mr Lim said some of the challenges they faced include maintaining the turf conditions and the readiness of the stadium as there is not a lot of time for recovery.

The Singapore Sports Festival will take place in the middle of June and Acting Culture, Community and Youth Minister Lawrence Wong said on his Facebook page that this will be for Singaporeans to “experience the full suite of amenities and activities at the Sports Hub”.

It will be headlined by world-class floorball, swimming and rugby.

The inaugural World Club Rugby 10s will be the first event to kick off at the new National Stadium and it marries the speed of the 7s with the intensity of the 15s.

It is just one in a whole slew of top-class rugby events lined up this year and beyond.

The Singapore Rugby Union has also put in a bid for the 2018 Rugby World Cup to be hosted here.

It also hinted at a mega rugby event that will start next year and run for the next decade.

The event is being timed to commemorate Singapore’s 50th year of independence but Singapore Rugby Union refused to reveal more due to ongoing discussions.

Low Teo Ping, president of the Singapore Rugby Union, said: “Just last weekend, when we had our National League Championships, we had close to a thousand spectators who were there to cheer their respective local teams to play so people are just looking forward and waiting for big events, international events to really support.”

After that, one of the region’s fiercest football rivalries will be reignited when Singapore host Malaysia on the eve of National Day.

Singapore will also host the group stages of the AFF Suzuki Cup at the end of the year.

The Lions are looking forward to playing at the Sports Hub’s new 55,000-seat stadium.

“I’ve never played at the old Kallang stadium. This is the new Kallang stadium. It will definitely be a morale booster for the team and for myself,” said Singapore national football team defender Safuwan Baharudin.

The Sports Hub will also be home to 11 National Sports Associations (NSA), ranging from swimming to gymnastics.

The Singapore Sports Council said there is still space for other associations, should they decide to find a new home.