Mid-Autumn Festival and Bicentennial celebrationscome together for a month-long extravaganza of high-octane stage performances, cultural activities for the public to enjoy and a mouth-watering taste of Singapore’s food heritage. Themed “Bicentennial Mid-Autumn Festival 2019“ ( 欢庆开埠两百年 花好月圆庆中秋) , experience the one-of-its kind festival that celebrates Singapore’s Chinese heritage with nostalgia and anticipation.
Be whisked back in time with a magnificent display of installations that traces Singapore’s journey to nationhood from the year Sir Stamford Raffles set foot in Singapore, to the dawn of independence, to a digital world that marks Singapore’s foray into the future. Besides the main streets of Chinatown that will be lined with uniquely Singaporean motifs such as attap huts, Samsui women, HDB flats, Changi Airport and the iconic Singapore skyline, the bustling South Bridge Road will be festooned with colourful ribbon-style lanterns for visitors to bask in the carnivalesque atmosphere.
Main highlights of the festival include a daily dose of lion dance performances for the first time and a trail where visitors can eat their way through 19 hawker stalls that are mainstays in the local hawker culture with at least 30 years of history each.
The Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2019 organised by the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee (KA-KS CCC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board begins with the Official Light-Up and Opening Ceremony on 31 August 2019 which will illuminate the entire Chinatown till 28 September 2019.
The Mass Lantern Walk promises to be a lantern-toting, nostalgia-inducing activity where revellers will be greeted by larger-than-life LED mascots and characters dressed in iconic Singaporean get-ups from the fifties and sixties. Another event not to be missed is the Nightly Stage Shows where audience members will be treated to electrifying lion dance performances every night for 30 minutes. Instantly recognisable Xinyao ( 新 谣 ) medleys will fill the air as singers serenade the crowd with all-time favourite songs from the eighties that have established themselves as hallmarks of Singaporean music.
For those hungry for a taste of local cuisine, Chinatown is home to some of the most famous and historical hawker centres in town such as People’s Park Food Centre and Singapore’s largest hawker centre, Chinatown Complex Food Centre. Join the Heritage + Food Trail to savour popular local dishes such as fishball noodles with a 73-year-old recipe and visit stalls helmed by second and third-generation hawkers whose stalls originated from push carts in olden-day Chinatown. The oldest stall is Toh Kee Roast Meat that has been serving up their signature crispy, juicy roast duck for over a hundred years — a cultural gem that deserves a mention in Singapore’s 200th anniversary.
Some other key highlights of this year’s festival include:
- Lantern Painting Competition , with a NEW open category that is free for the public to register and with cash prizes to be won
- Festive Street Bazaar , with over 200 street stalls selling traditional delicacies such as decadent mooncakes and goodies
- Curated Photography Opportunities along Popular Food Street and Kreta Ayer Square for visitors to admire beautiful, life-sized lanterns up close and take part in a social media photo contest
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