The season of Michael Bublé tunes, gift-buying, and festive trees is almost upon us — you can even watch this clock count down by the second — which means it’s time to indulge in all things Christmas. Besides the massive Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay, Orchard Road does a pretty good job of getting people into the merrymaking mood too.
To switch things up a little, this year’s “Christmas on A Great Street” isn’t holding back. For the first time, it’ll feature a European-inspired Christmas Village, and the annual festive lights along Orchard Road will twinkle from 3pm, instead of 6:30pm, to spread Christmas cheer (even though you probably won’t be able to see much under the scorching sun).
Expect the 2.88km stretch from Tanglin Mall to Plaza Singapura to be draped with lights and dotted with light-reflective tunnels, illusive galaxies and an enchanted forest — all set to this year’s rather vague theme of “Endless Wonder”. The roads will remain lit until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, and until midnight for the rest of the days — except Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, when they’ll stay on till 6am the following morning.
If you’re planning a stroll down Orchard Road, swing by the fairy lit Walk of Wonder, the towering Tree of Time topped with a Christmas countdown clock, and The Enchanted Tree with an illuminated canopy. Also check out pop-up stores by Haagen Dazs, SK-II, Tiffany & Co, and Fuchsia Creative between Wisma Atria and Mandarin Gallery. And you can’t miss the main arch between Ion Orchard and Tang Plaza which, at 12m tall, is apparently the highest arch in the history of Orchard’s Christmas light-ups.
As for the Christmas Village, the space at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza will house a huge double-decker carousel ($5/ride) alongside pop-up stores by 25 brands, including the likes of Starbucks, Paul, Royal Selangor, Fish & Co and, er, Toastbox. Okay, so it doesn’t sound quite as magical as an actual European Christmas village (also, there’s zero chance of snow here), but for those of us stuck in the tropics, we’ll take what we can get.
Oh, and should you want to stay out late on Christmas Eve, local bands will be crooning Christmas classics from 8pm, while a pyrotechnics show will light up the sky at midnight.
The Christmas light-up ceremony will be officiated by President Halimah Yacob on Nov 11, 6:30pm at Ion Orchard.
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