There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? No, we don’t mean the new Star Wars film that’ll be out next week; although yes, we’re pretty darn excited to find out Rey’s parentage and whether Kylo Ren will actually turn to the light. What we’re talking about are the sound of bells (read: car horns on Orchard Road), the glistening lights (read: the cause of jams on Orchard Road) and the festive atmosphere (read: the ridiculous crowds doing their eleventh hour Christmas shopping in town) upon us. It’s a time of celebration and get-togethers, so shift your gears to partying mode and indulge in bouts of boozing, dancing and all-out merry-making. And on Sundays, take a break and check out the various exhibitions, films and markets happening this weekend.
Friday, Dec 8
FESTIVAL
Asia’s largest beachfront music festival ZoukOut is finally here. On the line-up are artists from 88rising, Flume, Axwell Λ Ingrosso and more. Dec 8-9
PARTY
Prefer getting jiggy with Britpop, indie and everything in between to dancing in the sand at ZoukOut? Head over to The Great Escape as Misshapes takes over everyone’s favorite gritty rooftop carpark for an unabashed night of screaming, jumping, dancing and boozing. Dec 8
PARTY
Gracing the decks of new underground haunt Mao at their official launch is UK house DJ and producer Pete Herbert. He’s been on the scene for the past 20 years or so, from running the infamous London record store Atlas in the 90s to eventually entering the music production side of things and playing at institutions like Fabric and Ministry of Sound. Dec 8
DANCE
Complete your Christmas experience this year with Singapore Dance Theatre’s staging of Janek Schergen’s classic, The Nutcracker. The enchanting production will whisk you away into a world where a Nutcracker doll turns into a handsome prince, and is joined by a young girl to battle the fierce Mouse King and his army of mice. Through Dec 10
FILM
The fifth edition of the Keppel Latin American Film Festival will be screening 10 films of various genres that will showcase different sides of Latin American culture at National Gallery Singapore, starting off with Nise: The Heart of Madness. Through Dec 10
MUSICAL
Local theater company W!ld Rice has been staging annual holiday musicals for the past 15 years. This season, they’re bringing veterans Ivan Heng and Glen Goei (who returns to the stage after 30 years) together for the first time in Mama White Snake, a playful retelling of the ancient Chinese folk tale Madam White Snake. Through Dec 16
FESTIVE
Gardens by the Bay transforms into Singapore’s biggest yuletide affair in its fourth edition with a whole bunch of fairground activities, food stalls in partnership with Savour, performances including a circus act with gravity-defying acrobatics, and more. Through Dec 26
Saturday, Dec 9
TOUR
As part of Esplanade’s 15th anniversary, Esplanade is holding a special “Backstage Pass with…” tour by artists who have performed there or by the center’s staff, where up to 20 people at a time will be brought around the rarely accessible backstage areas and see what goes on backstage. Rani Singam, one of Singapore’s esteemed jazz vocalists, takes the lead for this edition. Dec 9
MARKET
The people who brought you Artbox Singapore are back with an even bigger market. While it ended up being a bit of a literal hot mess, one thing’s for sure—Singaporeans love their giant, overhyped markets. Enter Flashbang; Singapore’s first and largest creative retail “playground” that will take over the carpark space opposite Cineleisure. It’s been touted as a combination of Artbox and iLight Marina Bay. Dec 9-30
MARKET
Do your Christmas shopping with a peace of mind at The First Sustainable Christmas Market. Advocating sustainability, this market features 23 local start-ups that sell ethical products, produce and crafts like artisanal tea from ETTE tea, and Craft Beverage Supply, which brings in authentically sourced, carbon-neutral beers. Dec 9
PARTY
It may be day two of ZoukOut, but if you’re looking for something harder, head over to Canvas as trance producer John Askew hits up the decks with his repertoire track that will hit you right in the feels. Dec 9
MARKET
Public Garden returns with another craft-centered convention of local and international brands. Stuck for gift-shopping ideas? Clay cat jewelry from Russian, embroidered bags and accessories, or natural-made clothing from Vietnam at this Christmas Market should sort you out. Dec 9-10
EXHIBITION
The problematic issues surrounding climate change and the ocean take center stage at this exhibition presented by the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. Featuring contributions by 12 artists, filmmakers, composers and researchers who made trips to islands in the Pacific, The Oceanic focuses on large-scale human interventions in oceanic ecospheres. Dec 9-Mar 8, 2018
FESTIVE
It’s no Europe, but the first-ever Christmas Village set up at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza will ring the holidays to a sweaty close with a duplex carousel, Santa house and pop-up stores featuring 25 popular brands including Starbucks and Toast Box. Through Dec 25
FESTIVE
It probably doesn’t get more thematic than at Universal Studios Singapore. They’re transforming the entire New York and Hollywood zones into a starry, snowy world. Go on a ride on Santa’s sleigh, help out the elves at Santa’s workshop, and as night falls, revel with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Boop as a song and dance takes place under twinkling lights and a beautiful projection mapping. Through Jan 1, 2018
Sunday, Dec 10
WELLNESS
After two days of hardcore partying, you’ll probably need a hard body reset. If you can get out of bed in the morning, detox and take a nice stroll with a couple of friends to find hidden gems of the culturally diverse Jalan Besar neighborhood at this heritage walk. Dec 10
MARKET
Take a moment’s rest and escape to the north-eastern leafy estate of The Summerhouse in Seletar for a couple of rounds of undisturbed serenity and Christmas tipples. While you’re there, check out their Festive Market with vendors like Alfa Wines, Jasmin’s Christmas Bakeshop and My Grandmama’s Secret. Dec 10
EXHIBITION
Kult Gallery brings fantasy cult favorite Dune by Frank Herbert to life through a variety of VR pieces, paintings, print and project mapping by local and regional artists in their new exhibition, Dune: A Sci-fi Art Show. Through Dec 30
FESTIVE
As with every year, bask in the Christmas spirit on Orchard Road with the annual light-up along the shopping stretch. They’re changing things up a little as this year, the lights will go into full force from 3pm every day in broad daylight. How, you ask? Find out here. Through Jan 1, 2018
EXHIBITION
In a stunning collab between National Gallery Singapore and the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, Claude Monet and his contemporaries grace our sunny island with over 60 Impressionist masterpieces in Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musee d’Orsay, featuring works like the dreamy Le Bassin aux nympheas, harmonie rose. Through Mar 11, 2018
EXHIBITION
If you fancy yourself a cinema enthusiast, the Singapore Art Museum’s latest exhibition Cinerama: Art and the Moving Image in Southeast Asia is a must-go. In a series of immersive, multi-medium installations, the exhibition brings together the works of 10 artists and art collectives from across the region. Here are five you should check out. Through Mar 18, 2018
EXHIBITION
Curated by acclaimed art historian Lorand Hegyi, The Artist’s Voice, brings together the works of 34 contemporary artists from around the world, to reflect on socio-political issues and the human conditioning through mediums ranging from sculpture and video. Through Mar 18, 2018
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, but go because the exhibition explores events and portrayals of World War II beyond just your textbook syllabus. Through Mar 21, 2018
EXHIBITION
A cursed gem, a dodo and a giant stuffed sloth walk into a museum; the punchline is that they’re here to stay till the end of April. Treasures of the Natural World , the traveling exhibition from the Natural History Museum in London, makes its first and only stop in Southeast Asia at the ArtScience Museum, bringing over 200 of the London museum’s star artefacts Through Apr 29, 2018
