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Monday, August 24, 2015

Singapore Night Festival 2015

Singapore Night Festival is back and the festive grounds around Brash Basah precinct and the museums are lighted up once again! SNF2015 has been divided into 5 main zones.

1) National Museum of Singapore - Main festival zone glitter with lights, music and art
2) Armenian Street - Expect the unexpected, edgy and experimental on this festive ground
3) Cathay Green - Performances under the stars
4) Singapore Management University - Festive Village with local bands and buskers plus flea market and food kiosks
5) Singapore Art Museum & Queen St, National Design Ctr, DECK, Waterloo St & School of the Arts - Feel the buzz

Grab a copy of the festival guide before you head down! As huge turnout of crowds is expected, it is advisable to wear light clothing and comfortable footwear. We brought along two big water bottles to keep ourselves hydrated. Having a mini torchlight or install the torchlight app on your mobile device will be helpful to guide you through the night. Our kiddos are not first timers attending the Night Festival, hence they knew it will be a long but exciting night hopping from one museum to another.


Zone 4: We headed to the SMU grounds to check out the local buskers and food kiosks at the Festival Village. Audience rested on the big colourful bean bags and relax as jazz and pop music filled the air. It is heartening to see everyone taking a step back, rest their feet and let time pass in the midst of the busy city landscape.



Zone 1: National Museum of Singapore is the heart of Singapore Night Festival. We arrived an hour earlier before most of the activities commence at 7.30pm. Heading straight to the museum was a good choice as we get to explore the exhibit first.


"And So They Say" showcase a video portraits of 25 seniors sharing their experience and learning. To view the video, simply wind the crank handle of the film projector. The other three parts of this installation is located at the Singapore Art Museum, National Design Centre and School of the Arts.


The children looked intensively at the video as if they were learning the teachings and listening to the stories of their grandparents.

"Luma City" - a popular playing ground for the children! Gladys wanted to play with the gigantic toy cars and hence we spent 45 minutes (being first in line) waiting for the doors to open at 7.30pm. Due to the high volume of visitors, parents please note that there is a time limit of 3 minutes per entry to avoid disappointment. In addition, only 4 children and their parents are allowed per entry.


Upon entering Luma City, take off your footwear and leave your belongings at the side. After picking your car, the lights will be switched off! Start pushing the car which will leave a glowing trail on the ground. Although it was a brief moment of happiness, Gladys had fun being a 'driver' in the dark.


hmmm.. the room was so dark that I cannot locate our girl and her car!

"Tennis Swing" - Initially I thought it was merely an art installation for display purposes only. Upon closer look then I realised visitors can enter the playground and have a swing! (Time limit of 3 minutes per entry applies).


Unlike the other swings that we have experienced at the playgrounds, the seats are cushioned with tennis balls. Interestingly, it didn't feel as hard or uncomfortable as I thought it would be. There is also a speaker on top of each swing where you will hear tennis balls being hit by racquets.


"A Little Nonya's Dream" - This is a cute video showing the sleep visions of a Nonya girl which is absolutely adorable! Go to the Salon, Level 1 at National Museum to catch the whole video.



"The Anooki Celebrates Singapore" - The Anooki, world's smallest Inuits are here to give their special birthday tribute to Singapore! This is my personal favourite and main highlight of the Singapore Night Festival! Do not miss catching them running across the facade of National Museum as they bring us cheer and joy.


"Le Desir Et La Menace" - Gladys can still recall the scary divine faces on the same Banyan tree at SNF2014. She was a little worried that the same faces will appear but was happy to see the chirpy and bright birds collection instead.


"Drawn in Light" - A beautiful 12m-wide installation, rotating above the ground! Made entirely of metal wires hand bent into the form of a typical Amsterdam-style canal building, the continuously moving glowing display blends in beautifully with the backdrop.


Zone 2: If you love music, fun and party, head down to Armenian Street! This zone is the hippest among all and part of the street is closed during the commencement of Singapore Night Festival.



Peranakan Museum - Seems like our yearly visit at each Night Festival. Loving the glow at its facade as always.


"Illuminate" - Enter the dark room and be fascinated by the outfits designed by students which glow-in-the-dark. It was a pity that we wore dark clothing (should have wear white), and missed out capturing ourselves "glowing" in the illuminate room.


If you have taken a lot of photos at the Singapore Night Festival, do not miss the Instagram Booth where you can have your favourite photos printed out for free! Our happy loot for the night!


"Between You and Me" - This Taxi is one that we didn't get to hop on. Apparently, registration was full when we enquire. :( Part of the interactive 1-to-1 performance where the journey begins at the Random Room, The Substation. Between You & Me is an invitation to step into an alternate world that looks almost exactly like the one you just stepped out of. Sounds really complicated and I guess you can only feel it when you experience it.


We spent 3 hours roaming around the festival grounds at Singapore Night Festival 2015 on our first night! Hopping through 3 zones, it was quite an accomplishment! If you have not experience the light installations at this year's SNF, do not miss catching them this final last weekend!

Singapore Night Festival 2015
Date: 21 - 22 Aug & 28 - 29 Aug 2015
Time: 7pm - 2am
Bras Basah, Bugis

17 comments:

Mummy Kless said...

Need to go this weekend for sure!!!!!!!! Such a detailed post. :)

Jiahui said...

Wow looks like you walked A LOT that day at the festival! :) And it looks like great fun too!

Unknown said...

I like the tennis ball swings! They look like fun.

Unknown said...

I also spent lots of time queueing at Luma City. I was kind of shocked when I entered and saw 4 boxes in the middle but lots of adults (they dont have children) standing at the side looking on.

Waiwai Leung said...

So happening! Think my children would be amazed by the lights!

Claudia said...

Hope they'll continue with this festival for many years to come. Girls are too young to enjoy it now and mama can't go alone at night to these festivals. And those cars in Luma City looks like that? Don't remember they had the black tape around when we went some months back. My girls love pushing them around.

KennPaula Nicolas said...

Phoebe, this event is also great for our big kids! We still have time to visit and experience SNF. Thank you for sharing :-)

Phoebe said...

I am thinking if I should go again :p

Phoebe said...

Oh we did! Luckily we prepared our own water bottles..and our kiddos were prepared to walk :D

Phoebe said...

It's pretty fun to swing when so many people staring at you. Swinging with your family is the best moment.

Phoebe said...

Yes! We waited for 1 hour and I was pretty surprised that there were only 4 cards. Nevertheless, my girl had fun crashing around the area and falling down from her car.

Phoebe said...

They will love the Anooki!

Phoebe said...

I'm hoping it will continue for years to come too as this is one event that my older kids love to go!
Actually I'm not sure why there are black tapes around the cars. Wondered if it was necessary but my girl had fun despite for the short few minutes.

Phoebe said...

Yes! My boy is going into teens and this is one event that he is willing to participate! :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing all the details! I don't think we can make it down (sob) so this is like living vicariously through reading about your experience. Definitely looks like A LOT OF FUN! I hope we can make it down next year...

Phoebe said...

We missed the some of the SNF as my kids were not well or too young. Hopefully next year it will be an even more exciting one. :)

simplylambchops said...

I must remember to make time to visit this event next year! Have been seeing videos of The Anooki on FB and I love it so much!

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