We reveal the performances and schedule of Singapore Night Festival 2016, featuring highlights from light art installations, live music stages, and interactive activities around the annual festival
This August, festival-goers in Singapore can rejoice as the highly anticipated Singapore Night Festival (SNF) presented by The National Heritage Board is making its return to the Bras Basah-Bugis precinct for the last two weekends of the month. The ninth edition of this outdoor nocturnal extravaganza is all set to entice the crowds with eccentric light installations, impressive performances and a myriad of immersive activities at the heart of the island’s vibrant arts and heritage district. And if it’s as any good (or even better!) as its previous instalments, you surely cannot miss this!
The essentials
Singapore Night Festival 2016 is happening on the last two weekends of the month (19 and 20 Aug; 26 and 27 Aug) at the Bras Basah-Bugis precinct. This year’s theme is Inventions and Innovation – with a hint of sci-fi and fantasy, the theme is chiefly steered by the zeal behind the creators’ journey of discovering the new and unconventional.
So what’s gonna happen?
For two whole weekends, festival-goers can be enthralled by a slew of unconventional light art installations around the art district – plenty of Insta-worthy photos, that’s for sure! There’ll also spectacular performances by a stellar line-up of local as well as international artists. Museums in the vicinity will also be opening their doors ’til late. On top of that, what’s a festival without food and drinks? So get ready to be spoilt for choice with the smorgasbord of delicious food and thirst-quenching drinks you’ll stumble upon at the festival ground.
What’s new?
The ninth edition of the SNF aptly brings you nine highlights that you must catch:
House of Curiosities by Sweet Tooth by CAKE Theatrical Productions
The House of Curiosities is a two-hour event decked with performances, interactive activities and a magical fashion show. This steampunk-inspired spectacle is based on the tale of The Mechanical Heart that includes adventure, man-made machines and the will of the human mind and spirit to discover and invent. It will take place at the Cathay Green on both weekends. This is a ticketed event; tickets can be purchased via SISTIC.
The Wheel House by Acrojou
The Wheel House is a jaw-dropping, rolling acrobatic theatre performance about friendship and survival in a dystopian future, with its focal point on a stunning circular home that’ll move alongside with the audience. It will happen at the mainground on the first weekend.
LES AQUAMENS by Machtiern Company
This roving performance features two men dressed in suits whose heads are stuck inside in a jar of swimming goldfish, and they’ll be wandering around town as they attempt to communicate with festival-goers (try to keep a straight face!). But on a more serious note, once you peer beyond the fish, this performance aims to question the fundamental importance of communication. It will happen around the precinct on the first weekend.
KEYFRAMES by Groupe LAPS
Witness the façade of the stately National Museum of Singapore come to life as LED figures excitedly move around the building and re-enact games from the past. It will take place at the National Museum of Singapore on both weekends.
SUAVECICLO by VJ SUAVE
Follow this roving performance of a tricycle projecting animated stories on open spaces, trees and buildings in the beautiful arts district. It will take place around the precinct on the second weekend.
JOURNEY by NOVAK
Presented by award-winning creative studio, NOVAK, this work will showcase the seven different magical landscapes from Victorian novelist Jules Verne’s novels that’ll eventually be mapped onto the façade of the Singapore Art Museum. It will happen at the Singapore Art Museum on both weekends.
Festival Village
In conjunction with Weekend Noise that’s happening on the first weekend, head over to the Festival Village to catch stellar performances from Noise alumni musicians like Stopgap, Linying and HubbaBubbas, and also three emerging Australian acts – Alice Ivy, Tali Mahoney and Frida. Here, you can also indulge in carefully curated epicurean and shopping experiences with over 30 flea market booths and almost 20 F&B stalls. This is happening on both weekends at Singapore Management University (SMU) Campus Green & University Square.
The Bloc Party @Armenian Street
Deemed the party of the SNF, The Bloc Party @Amernian Street offers a mixture of exhilarating programmes – from motorcycle convoys by Harley Davidson Singapore to a medley of back-to-back music acts called Isms & Schisms presented by The Substation. This is happening on both weekends at Armenian Street.
INVASION by Close-Act
This interactive magical spectacle will require the audience’s involvement. Set in a mythical world where large magical creatures are flocking around – would you stay or go when they come at you? It will take place at the National Museum of Singapore front lawn on the second weekend.
Whether you’re an arts aficionado who wants to indulge your inner culture vulture, or someone who merely wants to jump on the bandwagon on the SNF hype (hey, we don’t judge!), we’re pretty sure that this year’s Night Festival has something for everyone – be it arts, music, food or shopping. So wait no longer; ring up your festival buddies and start jotting these dates down!
Singapore Night Festival 2016, August 19 & 20; August 26 & 27, at Bras Basah-Bugis Precinct. Further deets can be found on the event’s official website.