Whether you’re celebrating Deepavali this Wednesday or not, it’s a welcome break to the four-day work week. Make more out of the week with parties on Tuesday, the return of Oktoberfest Asia and more.
Monday, Oct 16
FILM
The National Gallery Singapore is messing with minds and shaking things up with Painting with Light, a showcase of more than 30 award-winning feature-length and short films exploring the multi-sensory medium of art. Through Oct 29
EXHIBITION
Monsoon Song is Singaporean artist Fyerool Darma’s second solo exhibition, two years after he debuted with a series of paintings exploring the Malay identity and dissociation. His latest draws from the aesthetics of urban subcultures, traditional ceremonies and the folk craft of Singapore, Malaysia and the region. Through Oct 29
CONVENTION
If you’ve always wanted to try the affordably priced products on Qoo10 (but feared they were too cheap to be true), now’s your chance to cast all apprehension aside. For the first time, the e-commerce retailer is taking the great deals offline for a Digital Fair at Plaza Singapura. Over 35 digital and IT stores will be participating. Through Nov 15
Tuesday, Oct 17
PARTY
Aldrin is back at Kilo for one of Singapore’s longest running club night, ONE, which was born at Zouk back in 2003. Joining him is local music wizard TrevD. Oct 17
COMEDY
Catch everyone’s favorite drag queen comedian Kumar as he dishes out his usual antics, politically incorrect rants and Singapore issues-based jokes at Canvas. Oct 17
PARTY
One of our favorite things to happen on public holiday eves is Zouk’s iconic Mambo Jambo. Once a Wednesday staple at the old premises on Jiak Kim, the night will be filled with nothing but good vibes, synchronized dance moves and familiar tracks from yesteryears. Oct 17
FOOD
Mexican king of the (Duxton) hill Lucha Loco is stepping up with their first Taco Libre event, featuring tacos made by six of SIngapore’s top chefs like Artichoke’s Bjorn Shen, Cheek by Jowls’ Rishi Naleendra and Dave Pynt of Burnt Ends over 12-weeks (rotates every fortnight). These chefs will be vying for top suds as the “Ultimate Taco Champion”. Through Nov 4
Wednesday, Oct 18
THEATER
In celebration of Sing’theatre’s 10th anniversary, they’re staging their own adaptation of Forever Young, a comical jukebox musical from the original European hit by Swiss writer Erik Gedeon, at the School of the Arts. Through Oct 21
FOOD
Here’s one for the carnivores: Everyone’s favorite meat buffet restaurant The Carvery beefs up their menu with the return of the Great Meat Feast, featuring a new-and-improved, international line-up of pork cuts and beef carvings. Through Oct 22
EXHIBITION
On the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore, the National Museum of Singapore remembers 1942, with their first large-scale, blockbuster war exhibition featuring more than 130 artefacts from 10 overseas museums and institutions. It’s the biggest collection of war stories to date. Check out the exhibition to explore events and portrayals of World War II beyond just your textbook syllabus. Through Mar 21 (2017)
Thursday, Oct 19
PARTY
Your favorite dynamic duo Adrian Wee & KiDG are back for their iconic Poptart night of indie-flavored everything, from Queen to The Killers, at Cherry Discotheque. Get your dancing shoes ready. Oct 19
DRINK/EAT
Singapore’s biggest Oktoberfest returns with the same air-conditioned, festival-style marquee as last year; all decked out with decorations and other adornments to replicate Oktoberfest events (and their atmosphere) in Munich. It’ll be the fifth year where you can enjoy free-flow Bavarian and other German brews like Paulaner Brauhaus, Weihenstephaner and Bitburger, as well as typical German bites like roast pork knuckles, homemade sauerkraut and more. Oct 19-21
DRINK/EAT
This year, Erdinger takes its annual Oktoberfest to the idyllic Summerhouse, for a full 17 days of food and fun. Wildseed Bar at The Summerhouse celebrates with a makeshift German biergarten (beer garden) and exclusive dinner menu of German treats (lots of meat and sausages); as well as live music and live stations of Bavarian weisswurst, pretzels, pork belly roasts, house-cured smoked salmon and sausages. Through Oct 22
EXHIBITION
The Substation asks all the tough questions with Discipline The City, a three-act exhibition exploring the politics of space, control and access in Singapore, through a series of experiential installations from local and international artists. Be prepared to leave disillusioned and wondering: who really owns the city? Through Oct 22 (Act ii)
FOOD
Shuck away at Ginett Restaurant & Wine Bar’s self-proclaimed Oysters Festival, which will roll out the finest oysters from the French ocean, including the Grand Cru de France, a vintage, special deep-cupped oyster that’s earned the title “Royal Oyster”.Other signature oyster varieties that will be available include oyster La Royale N1, La Royale N3, Wild oyster N3 and Fine Selection, with prices starting at $5. Through Oct 31
Friday, Oct 20
PARTY
A mysterious cool cat named Mao has popped up recently, and word has it that this club is taking over the former site of Kyo, which closed down a couple of months back. Check out the new den this weekend as they bring in Hong Kong-based DJ Eve Speciall for turntable duties. Oct 20
WORKSHOP
Learn more about the spirits you love with the peeps behind 28 HongKong Street every Friday this month at Proof Flat. For this week’s edition of at Salon Social, they’ll be sharing origin stories and production methods of whisky, some fun and engaging and engaging anecdotes of working with whisky and a cocktail recipe. Did we mention there’s free-flow Prosecco throughout the workshop? Oct 20
CONCERT
Summer may be over but dream pop lives on in form of Fazerdaze, the project of New Zealand artist Amelia Murray. For her debut show in SIngapore, she’ll be joined by Gareth Thomas on bass and Andrea Holmes on drums. Oct 20
FESTIVAL
If you happen to be in the west of Singapore this weekend, check out “Outsider“, a weekend-long fashion art festival designed to present an “anti-elitist window” into the multi-dimensional mind of designers and visual artists. Expect live art, exhibitions, installations, fashion presentations and workshops set against the supermarket backdrop of BigBox HyperMart. Oct 20-22
FILM
The annual student-run film fest Perspectives Film Festival returns for a super-sized 10th edition showcasing a total of 11 films across seven days. Each of the them will explore the theme of rebellion; the kind that goes against social norms or defy institutional systems and go on to inspire the world with their ideas. Oct 20-22, 26-29
MARKET
A new month calls for a new Katong Square market, which, with its vinyl records and vintage goods, touts itself as Singapore’s only true blue vintage flea market. Resident booths include familiar names like The Retro Factory, Memory Lane and The Great Vinyl Exchange; but be sure to hit up the “casual booths” for preloved bargains. Oct 20-22
PERFORMANCE
This year, Esplanade celebrates dancers, dancemakers and the form itself in its 12th annual da:ns festival—its biggest yet—boasting seven ticketed productions, 75 workshops and masterclasses and more than 70 free performances and activities to check out. Oct 20-29
FILM
A Design Film Festival is one of the more stylish and highly anticipated film festivals in Singapore, is back for its seventh edition. Catch Dries, this year’s designer biopic which shines the spotlight on one of the industry’s most private designers, Dries Van Noten or the Black Mirror-esque eye-opener You’re Soaking In It, which blows the top off the advertising world. Oct 20-29
ART
Good things come in small packages—is what the folks behind iPreciation would like the growing art community in Singapore to know. Presenting the fourth edition of Portable Art Week, the local fine art company is once again spotlighting contemporary artworks from Singaporean and Asian artists. The catch? All the art on show is “small-sized” and collectible. Through Oct 21
EXHIBITION
The third edition of Objectifs’s Women in Photography group exhibition spotlights eight international and local women photographers and their works exploring domesticity and family. Follow Belgian photographer Bieke Depoorter around North America where she documents the homes of strangers who let her stay a night in I Am About to Call it a Day; or peruse uncomfortable portraits of Bangladeshi housewives and housemaids in Jannatul Mawa’s Close Distance. Through Nov 19
FESTIVAL
Now on their seventh edition, Universal Studios Singapore’s Halloween Horror Nights returns on select nights, all circling the central theme of the seven new incarnations of sins present in modern society—cruelty, deception, malice, manipulation, narcissism, perversion and obsession. Through Oct 29
