This month is getting more exciting by the week, and not just because Christmas and New Year’s are closing in. We’re so close to finding out the truth… of who The Last Jedi really is, or what that red in the logo even means. And the humongous carnival—Singapore’s largest, in fact—will finally be opening this week after a delay. Apart from these obviously huge things happening, there’s still a plethora of markets to shop at and exhibitions to check out.
Friday, Dec 15
Photo credit: Prudential Marina Bay Carnival
CARNIVAL
Get your adrenaline pumping at Singapore’s largest carnival. The massive Prudential Marina Bay Carnival will span across 25,000 sqm (or the size of three and a half football fields) at The Promontory and Bayfront, and boasts more than 40 rides and games—most of which are from the UK, Germany and Italy. Dec 15-Apr 1, 2018
PARTY
Your favorite app for wine, beer and spirits, BottlesXO, is throwing a Caribbean Night party at Lime House, serving up Afrohouse Caribbean beats courtesy of DJ Maksibs, paired with delicious rum cocktails and premium housepours. Dec 15
CONCERT
Local jazz outfit The Steve McQueens will be performing at the Esplanade Annexe Studio in a double bill performance with Japanese experimental soul band Wonk as part of Esplanade’s on-going 15th anniversary celebrations. Dec 15
[SPONSORED]
FOOD
It really is starting to look like Christmas—frantic crowds in town looking for the perfect presents, restaurants brimming with people with no tables to spare and of course, the dazzling lights and Christmas decor. Take a breather from it all at Quayside Isle @ Sentosa Cove to spend a marina-front Tropical Christmas of sorts, and bring your dinner party to enjoy delicious meals like the Slow Roast Whole Spanish-Style Suckling Pig at Blue Lotus Chinese Eating House from $198 (usual price $238), a Festive Steamboat Set for four at Ghin Khao Bistro which includes prawns, mussels, pork belly and more from $99.80, or a four- or five- course Christmas menu (from $95 and $105 respectively) at Museo (available Dec 18-25). After you’re done, immortalize the night and take a photo on Santa’s Sleigh at the Fountain Plaza. Terms and conditions apply at individual outlets. Through Dec 31
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WELLNESS
If high-intensity interval training (HIIT) isn’t a challenge for you anymore, try doing it on water. Over at ParkRoyal on Beach Road, these low-impact classes will require you to do a fun, full body workout that include burpees, lunges, squats and aquaclimbers on a solid float in their pool. If not, you can always try doing Yoga. Dec 15
PARTY
Spanish DJ and producer Bushwacka! has been on the scene for about 29 years and has undertaken various monikers throughout his career. He’s bringing his flavor of tech house to Singapore’s latest underground haunt, Mao. Dec 15
DRINK/WELLNESS
It’s almost 2018. If you haven’t at least tried beer yoga, do it before the year ends. Sign up for an hour of energizing flow and learn various “beer salutations” to achieve a new level of inner calm. Dec 15
FESTIVE
The Local People want in on the Christmas action too. They’re turning South Beach Avenue into one big Christmas bonanza, complete with music performances, film screenings, markets with vendors from the surrounding area and more. Dec 15-17
MARKET
Bringing cheer to the westerly heartlands for the second year running is the Church of the Good Shepherd. They’re setting up a Christmas weekend market filled with dazzling lights, choir and string performances, as well as festive stalls offering hot food, sweet treats and artisanal goods from local shops. Dec 15-17, 22-23
FOOD
You’ve probably seen a slew of Penang’s street art on social media, but if you’ve never given yourself the chance to head over to try the street food, fret not; it’s coming to Singapore. This month, head over to York Hotel for Penang Hawkers’ Fare, where you can stuff yourself with char koay kak, ban chang kueh and more at the 12 live stations. Dec 15-Jan 1, 2018
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
COMEDY
He’s been described as quick-witted, whip-smart and risque by local media. He’s part of our region’s new wave of stand-up comedians, and you’ve probably seen him on Channel 5. Sam See takes the mic at The Merry Lion as the venue’s first Singaporean headliner. Through Dec 16
FESTIVE
Gardens by the Bay transforms into Singapore’s biggest yuletide affair in its fourth edition, with a whole bunch activities and performances including a circus with acrobatics and gravity-defying stunts and more. Through Dec 26
Saturday, Dec 16
PARTY
Do you remember the first time? That’s what the guys behind Poptart duo Adrian and Robin want to know. Take it how you might, but they’re celebrating 12 years of drunken nights and silly dancing at their indie-flavored parties with a huge bang by paying homage to the local community, featuring live performances by Supersect and Sobs and DJ sets by Thievves from Disco Hue, Tom Shellsuit and Zhan. Singapore’s favorite sharp-witted Preetipls will be hosting. Dec 16
TOUR
As part of Esplanade’s 15th anniversary, Esplanade is holding their final edition of the “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. Who better than Benson Puah, Esplanade’s CEO, to end the series of tours? Dec 16
WELLNESS
With all that stress of squeezing through crowds and endlessly surfing the infinite trove of e-commerce sites for gifts, give yourself a break and head to the outdoors—in this case, Singapore Botanic Gardens—for a Hatha yoga class with Urban Yogis. Dec 16
PARTY
If it’s one thing we love, it’s block parties. And party people Urban Ventures are coming through with the year’s last one by shutting down Keong Saik and Jiak Chuan road. There’s a whole host of musicians performing, from Vanessa Fernandez and Inch to Nuckin’ Futs and Astronauts; along with a Christmas market to get your gifts and food vendors from nearby outlets like Bao Makers and Lime House providing the grub. Dec 16
TOUR
Thrillseekers of the paranormal kind, this one’s for you. Lace your boots up, bring some water, a flashlight and insect repellent, and gather your friends to go on a supernatural walk at MacRitchie Reservoir with with local supernatural hunters, Awaking Supernatural Investigation. Dec 16
FOOD
It’s the last pop-up of the year for the Park Bench Deli crew. This time, they’re teaming up with chef Rishi Naleendra of Michelin-starred Cheek by Jowl to raise funds in support of the Happy People Helping People Foundation for The Elderly Cardboard Collectors. Dec 16
PARTY
Still thinking about flying over to Phu Quoc for that new electronic music festival, Epizode? Have a taste over at Boat Quay’s best techno haunt Headquarters, as Epizode’s resident producer Tyoma whips up some of his famed forward-thinking sounds of Russia here. Dec 16
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
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 a 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 17
“Emperor’s Palace” by Chris Foss, for Kult Gallery’s “Dune: A Sci-fi Art Show”
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? Click 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
