Top 5 things to do at Singapore Night Festival 2025

Find your kampung chill in a quiet bamboo sanctuary in the city. Travel back to the era of soft neon lights in Singapore. Get up close to a 2.5m-wide luminous crab sculpture that draws from the region’s crustacean folklore.

With more than 80 experiences, the 2025 edition of the Singapore Night Festival (SNF) – which takes place over three weekends from Aug 22 to Sept 6 – continues to be an energetic affair. But the 16th edition, themed Island Nights, also invites the public to slow down, recharge and recall Singapore’s rich maritime and island heritage.

“When we think of islands, Singapore might not be the first thing that comes to mind. People think of Bali and Phuket,” says first-time festival director Qazim Karim, 36, who admits Singapore is known more for its hustle and bustle.

But he hopes 2025’s theme of Island Nights will encourage busy Singaporeans to pause, reflect and unwind a bit more. “There’s nothing wrong with chilling,” he adds.

One of the festival’s highlights is Kampong Chill by husband-and-wife artist duo Yok & Sheryo. The interactive bamboo sanctuary at the outdoor plaza of Capitol Singapore promises a different experience of time. Enter the circle and watch candles burn or witness a totem glow brighter the more silent it gets.

The artists say: “We believe that slowing down is an act of rebellion, and that it’s okay to daydream.”

It is a respite from the three festival villages that will be teeming with food, drink and performances. Check out Armenian Street for a traditional nasi ulam (Malay herb rice salad) by Ulam or MahaCo Dosa Bar’s spin on the traditional dosa with lamb rendang; Retro District at Bugis Street Art Lane for vintage collectibles and photo booths; and SMU Campus Green for performances at the SMU Arts Fest.

This is the first time the festival is being organised under HeritageSG, the National Heritage Board’s new subsidiary. Organisers hope that, as one of the oldest night festivals in the region, SNF can foster closer collaboration with people in the region, including taking Singapore artists abroad to other festivals such as Malaysia’s George Town Festival.

The 2025 edition is featuring for the first time a Vietnamese artist. Tung Monkey, also known as Le Thanh Tung, is presenting a 2.8m-tall sculpture of a boy reclining outside Funan mall. Penang-based puppetry collective Ombak Potehi, presented in partnership with George Town Festival, will showcase a glove puppetry adaptation of Journey To The West.

By hosting the inaugural Alight – A Southeast Asian Light Network Conference on Aug 21, Mr Qazim hopes that Singapore can be a hub and “thought leader” for regional light art. Conference speakers include digital artist Isaiah Cacnio from the Philippines and designer Adi Panuntun from Indonesia.

Along with international artists, Singaporean artist Chris Chai will present a collaborative work at Waterloo Centre Artspace.

With so much to experience across the Bras Basah-Bugis precinct, The Straits Times picks the top five experiences not to miss at Island Nights.

1. Snap photos with eight Night Light installations and five facade projections

Outside Plaza Singapura mall, catch artist Yang Derong’s cyborg twist on the swordfish attacking Singapore. He says of Cyberswordfish V2.0, which is made from digital waste from an e-waste recycling company in Tuas: “Imagine all our e-waste got together and became drones flying over our sky – attacking and disrupting all our PayLah, PayNow and devices.”

Continuing the marine creature theme, check out artists Koh Kai Ting and Aw Boon Xin’s Jiwa Laut in Armenian Street. Get up close to a 2.5m-long luminous crab sculpture that draws from stories around the crustacean. In one popular Malay tale, high tides are caused by a crab that lives in a tree named pauh janggi.

Neon lights once dotted Singapore’s streets, but they have given way to today’s harsher LED lights. At Bugis+ mall, artist Maegzter (Megan Foo) – who apprenticed under a Taiwanese neon master in Hsinchu – uses neon lighting in Waves Of Time: Splash On Our Skyline to evoke the sea once heard in the precinct and the lights of yesteryear.

Take a selfie in creative studio LABSIXFIVE’s infinity room outside Raffles City Shopping Centre, which draws from local visual elements and is part of Two Sides Of Our Island.

Catch Jeremie Bellot’s projection mapping project, Mosaic, on the facade of the National Museum of Singapore. Weaving themes of astronomical phenomena and navigation, the spectacle is accompanied by composer Ena Eno’s music.

2. Lepak at Kampong Chill

Described by the artist duo Yok & Sheryo as a “time-squandering establishment”, spend time at this bamboo pavilion outside Capitol Singapore to escape from the rush of the city centre and the whirlwind of the festival. Expect to learn skills that are deemed socially frivolous from workshops, such as one on breathing, in this installation that invokes island living.

3. Catch xinyao performances or music in a war bunker

Music lovers will not want to miss a chance to delve into a one-of-a-kind sonic experience at Fort Canning Hill’s Battlebox, Singapore’s only surviving World War II underground command centre built in the 1930s. The 2024 edition of the experimental performance series was sold out.

A collaboration between performing arts company SAtheCollective and Battlebox, Bunker By Night invites audiences to enter the void and listen deeply. SAtheCollective artistic director Andy Chia says: “This year’s Bunker By Night offers two contrasting journeys – a raw, bass-driven ritual (Sept 5, 7pm, $30) and a layered headphone experience (Sept 6, 8pm, $30). Through these nights, I want audiences to feel history and presence viscerally, where past and present meet in renewal.”

At Bras Basah Complex, relive the xinyao years with Our Songs, Our Stories: A Community Singalong Of Xinyao And Folk Music (Sept 5 and 6, 7pm, free).

For Mandopop lovers, check out The Theatre Practice’s jukebox musical Partial Eclipse Of The Heart at the Drama Centre Theatre (Aug 21 to Sept 6, various timings, $48 to $92), featuring songs by musicians Jimmy Ye, Tanya Chua and more.

4. Take your children to a Sky Castle or on a trip with Sang Nila Utama

A sky castle has landed in Singapore after touring Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai.

Walk under the colourful and inflatable arches on Cathay Green with fellow festivalgoers and hear the orchestra crescendo. Art and technology studio Eness’ Sky Castle (Aug 22 to Sept 6, 7.30 to 11pm, $5) is perfect for young children – and visitors can also, for extra charges, look forward to inflatable costumes, cotton candy, stick-on tattoos and more.

The Children’s Museum Singapore is also open for an immersive story room adventure, Nila’s Shimmering Shores (Fridays and Saturdays, 7pm, $10), that will retell the story of Sang Nila Utama. The sensory adventure brings together scents, sounds and movements, and is designed specifically for neurodiverse audiences. It is recommended for children aged four and above.

The Children’s Museum Singapore – usually reserved for children and their families – will also open its doors to everyone (Fridays and Saturdays, 7 to 10pm, free).

5. Learn to hear the world at The Listening Biennial

Do you consider yourself a good listener? The Listening Biennial, curated by artist Alecia Neo and co-programmed with Ethos Books publisher Ng Kah Gay, wants everyone to be a better listener and tune in to sounds that usually escape the ear.

Step into the photo studio of photographer Issy Lim, who is deaf, and have your portrait taken in silence (various timings and timeslots, free). Engage in an imaginary tidal walk for 30 minutes within the grounds of 42 Waterloo Street and uncover the tidal landscape of the urban setting (Aug 29, 7.30 to 10.30pm, free).

International artists are also here to share their listening practices. Thai music publishers and artists from Hear & Found, who work with indigenous communities, will host a workshop that teaches the basis of field recording techniques (Aug 31, 2pm, $5). Their sound installation, Earthsong: Indigenous Harmony From Thailand, is also on at the Stamford Arts Centre and brings songs and sounds from the Karen community.

Three other things to do at the night festival

1. Three puppetry shows

It is puppetry galore at the 2025 SNF.

A contemporary shadow puppetry experience will retell South-east Asian legends at the National Museum of Singapore (Fridays, 7.30 and 9pm, free).

At the National Archives of Singapore, Paper Monkey Theatre will use Chinese hand puppetry to perform The Tiger Hero from the Chinese classic Water Margin (Aug 23, 8pm, free).

Also at the National Archives of Singapore, Penang-based puppetry collective Ombak Potehi performs a glove puppetry adaptation of Journey To The West (Aug 29, 8.15pm, and Aug 30, 7.30 and 8.45pm, free).

2. The Fort Canning Conspiracy

A ghost tour, led by Eugene Tay of Supernatural Confessions, will take participants from The Peranakan Museum to Fort Canning Hill and the old National Theatre. Be regaled with tales of encounters from eyewitness accounts to legends (weekends, 6.30pm, $48).

3. Waterloo Street Stories by #WaterlooStKakis

Arts groups come together to celebrate the rich history of Waterloo Street. Check out audio booths at Centre 42, a performance by dance group P71:SMA and a photo exhibition by Objectifs, among other programmes.

Book It/Singapore Night Festival
Where: Various locations in the Bras Basah-Bugis precinct
When: Aug 22 to Sept 6, various timings
Admission: Free and ticketed
Info: For a complete list of programmes, go to heritage.sg/sgnightfest

This article was originally published The Straits Times.