Every end of year, tons of exciting events to celebrate Christmas and to mark the beginning of a new year are held islandwide. It’s considered one of the most festive periods in Singapore and shortly afterwards, there’s Chinese New Year, another widely celebrated holiday. Here are some events that you might have missed during the year-end season.
Orchard Road Christmas Light Up 2016
What would Christmas be without the annual Orchard Road Christmas Light Up? The whole Orchard Road district will be decked out with bright and beautiful lights all over, Christmas trees will be put up in each and every single corner and malls will be competing against each other to win the “Best Dressed Mall” award.
For more details, you can check out our full article on the Light Up right here which was published quite recently.
Christmas Wonderland 2016
You can catch wonderful Christmas performances by local bands, indulge yourself at the flea market and food street and play carnival-style games. Visitors willing to pay more can visit the ice skating rink and the Hi-5 performance stage.
Snowing In Gardens By The Bay?
Other than the mini activities, a Christmas version of their famous Garden Rhapsody light show was held at the SuperTree Grove. These tall man made tree-like structures called SuperTrees, will entertain guests with a variety of lights, lasers and Christmas classics and modern Christmas hits.
The star of Christmas Wonderland is of course, the blizzard happening hourly at the luminaries displays. Sure, it may not be real snow (it’s foam) but the atmosphere of snow-like foam everywhere is indeed quite an amazing experience. The blizzard is what makes Christmas Wonderland, a wonderland after all.
Celebrate December 2016
A stone’s throw away from Gardens By The Bay is the Esplanade Theatres which held its annual Celebrate December concert series. Get entertained by a variety of local and regional performances to mark the end of the year and the beginning of a brand new year.
Visit the Esplanade promenade area and you can pen your wishes for the new year on gold-coloured pieces of film called Bell Charms. And on New Year’s Eve, Celebrate December will officially come to a close with a countdown party at the Outdoor Theatres. More info on Celebrate December coming soon to a standalone article.
A 3D Projection Mapping Show at the Fullerton Hotel
On the facade of the historical Fullerton Hotel, a 3D projection mapping show took place on the final week of December to mark the end of the year. It happens daily and at every hour from 8pm. Though the show is quite short at about 5 minutes per screening, it was still enough to attract quite a number of curious onlookers and passers-by.
The multitude of colours and 3D imagery made the show very exciting to watch and worth every single minute of your time. It also made the transition from 2016 to 2017 an exciting one indeed.
New Year Celebrations at the Civic District
Recently, the Civic District or the area around the Padang which consists of City Hall, Old Supreme Court and the Victoria Memorial Hall, has been pedestrianised and made it out of bounds to heavy vehicles as part of the government’s initiative for a more car-lite society.
This also means more events can take place here such as the New Year’s Eve celebrations that took place recently. Guests could enjoy free movie screenings of movies like Kung Fu Panda 3 and X-Men, participate in a free Zumba workout class in front of the National Gallery and enjoy the flea market and roving performers.
Celebrations here are much quieter in contrast to the official Mediacorp Countdown celebrations held at Suntec City making the celebrations in the Civic District a more family-friendly one.
Fireworks at the Marina Bay Area
What would a New Years celebration be without fireworks? No matter which part of Marina Bay you are currently located at, you can view full 360 degree views of the fireworks that take place all around the bay area.
Best of all, the displays are completely free and plenty of MRT stations are located nearby which end pretty late. Lots of bus services ended late as well so you don’t have to fork out extra for a taxi or a night bus home.
Conclusion
All these exciting events were definitely a great way to say goodbye to 2016 and hello to a brand new 2017. Of course, a new year means a whole lineup of new and existing exciting events coming up. Here’s to a more exciting 2017!