The Singapore Night Festival is in its 11th edition this year, and most of us have experienced it by now. So what’s new, you ask? Well, we do seem to have an uptick in edgy artwork and live performances on the line-up this time around. Some of the acts are making their Singapore debut, too, so maybe that could be good reason to haul your butt out of the house after dark.
Returning to the Bras Basah.Bugis district from Aug 17 to 25, the annual fest is set to the theme of “Bring on the Night” for 2018, featuring 16 light installations and 27 performances by local and international artists.
Intriguing collaborations include one between local jazz dance troupe EV Dance and engineering firm Hope Technik, in a performance called Let there be __, which sees jazz dancers gliding around in a suit called the Audra Exoskeleton, specially designed to help workers lift heavy weights.
Plus, the lawn at the National Museum of Singapore will undergo a transformation to become a forest below the sea, thanks to the Aquatic Dream installation by Lekker Design and Auditoire. Wrestling enthusiasts can swing by the SMU School of Information systems as well, and catch a bout of simulated street fighter action in the style of a live-action arcade game.
Oh, and if you pass by the back alleys of Armenian Street, Graffiti Alive, an installation by local architectural consultancy firm Arup Singapore, turns the stretch into a happening space with motion sensors and lights.
Those who need a break from squeezing through roads with the crowds can head over to the Festival Village as usual — it’ll be held at SMU Campus Green from Aug 23-25 — for F&B options, gigs by local music acts, and a market hawking sustainable goods.
As for this year’s highlights, we’ve rounded up a couple must-see programmes. Check ’em out below.
Ember Rain by Starlight Alchemy
The local collective is back with its tallest installation yet — an interactive, pagoda-inspired fire sculpture of sorts, featuring a bike that festival-goers can pedal on to create a burst of blazing embers that will tumble down a 5m-tall fire tower.
Aug 17-25, 7:30pm-midnight at Cathay Green.
FierS à Cheval by Compagnie des Quidams
The French outdoor theatre troupe’s “Proud Horses” performance guides you to embrace the enchanting world of larger-than-life animals prancing around to the backdrop of original melodies that make up for the lack of words with their rich soundscapes.
Aug 23-25; 7:45pm-8:15pm at Capitol Singapore, 9:15pm-9:45pm at NMS-SMU Campus Green, 10:30pm-11pm at SMU Campus Green-Queen Street.
Late-Night Texting by Centre 42
The charming blue house along Waterloo Street plays host to more than 30 bite-sized theatre performances, with programmes such as Eat My Shorts by Dark Matter Theatrics, ETA:9MIN by Main Tulis Group, Legends of the Islands by GroundZ-0, and Lovebites by The Second Breakfast Company. BooksActually and Coffee Bandits will also be on site with a pop-up book store and a food truck respectively.
Aug 24-25, 7pm-11pm at Centre 42.
Light Wave by Max Lab
As Max Lab’s first installation for the festival, Light Wave is a visual manifestation of wave energy transmission, welcoming people to come forward and twist the line of suspended light rods, which will in turn trigger waves of dynamic lighting in varying frequencies, coloring the water surface.
Aug 17-25, 7:30pm-midnight at reflection pool above Bras Basah MRT.
Odyssey by Arnaud Pottier & Thimothée Mironneau
Always a guarantee to stop passers-by in their tracks, this new visual projection on the Singapore Art Museum’s facade brings you on a journey through time and space, from a cosmic scale to an atomic one.
Aug 17-25, 7:30pm-midnight at Singapore Art Museum facade.
Orbit by LiteWerkz x 3M
LiteWerkz, which previously produced a couple festival favorites, returns with a solar system-inspired work featuring a massive light beam symbolizing the sun surrounded by planets made of retroreflective materials in their individual orbits. As you stroll amongst them, you’ll find the lights swirl into all kinds of patterns and images that are different at every angle.
Aug 17-25, 7:30pm-midnight at Dhoby Ghaut Green.
Su a Feu by Deabru Beltzak x MOTUS
To get the crowds all pumped up, Spanish percussion troupe Deabru Beltzak joins forces with local group MOTUS to don futuristic threads for this electrifying performance that blends dance, beats, and fire.
Aug 23-25, 7:51pm-8:21pm & 9:21pm-9:51pm at Cathay Green.
The Duel by Lords of Lightning
Just the image alone is pretty jaw-dropping — so we’re betting it’s a lot more exhilarating in real life to watch these Lords of Lightning control multi-million volt bolts of electricity for a couple explosive minutes at one go. Influenced by the work of Nikola Tesla, the epic battle consists of the duo firing lightning bolts from their bodies at one another.
Aug 23-25, 7:45pm-7:51pm, 9:15pm-9:21pm & 10:30pm-10:36pm at Cathay Green.
The Leap of Faith by Teng Kai Wei
Formerly an accountant, visual artist Teng Kai Wei presents a honeycomb-like artwork that beams words of encouragement when you interact with it, in a bid to emphasize the importance of support from the community.
Aug 17-25, 7:30pm-midnight at Handy Road open space (outside The Cathay).
World of WearableArt
The acclaimed New Zealand-based international design competition, which receives hundreds of entries from over 40 countries every year, comes to our shores with eight extravagant finalist garments from collections over the past three decades. If you’re not impressed yet, know that its alumni includes names like Maria Tsopanaki and Dimitri Mavinis, designers for Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas, and Jessie J.
Aug 17-25, 7:30pm-midnight at National Design Centre atrium.
FIND IT:
Singapore Night Festival 2018 is on from Aug 17-25, 7:30pm-midnight at various locations around Bras Basah.Bugis. Night Lights: Aug 17-25; performances: Aug 23-25.
Free entry.
MRT: Bras Basah/Bugis
