It seems like there’s a festival for anything and everything these days. From your usual food, film and music festivals to offbeat ones like the Outsider Fashion Art Festival, this month is shaping up to be one filled with festivities. With key events like the World Gourmet Summit, Singapore International Festival of Arts and Voilah! French Festival happening, there is really no time to be idle. So get your butts up and get out there to these upcoming happenings.
Michelin Guide Street Food Festival 2017
FOOD
In an effort to make Michelin-starred cuisine more accessible (and to keep the hype train running), the inaugural Michelin Guide Street Food Festival took place in April last year to much deserved fanfare. This year, we’re looking forward again to tasting not just a few, but a lineup of 15 establishments recognized in the 2017 Michelin Guide all in one convenient place—Resorts World Sentosa’s The Coliseum. Through Apr 1
FESTIVAL
Your favorite sustainable light art festival is back this month. i Light Marina Bay 2018 will once again bring together a vibrant display of innovative and sustainable light art installations. Artists from Singapore and around the world have been invited to transform the waterfront precinct for a visual showcase, along with music performances, a carnival, outdoor food fair and an interactive art inflatable park. Through Apr 1
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 boast more than 40 rides and games—most of which are from the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. Through Apr 1
[SPONSORED]
FESTIVAL
Discover something new about French arts and culture as creativity meets innovation at Voilah! French Festival Singapore 2018. Organised by the Embassy of France and Institut Français Singapour, in collaboration with local and French partners, Voilah! 2018 presents a bespoke line-up of programs that invites you to rethink what you know of French culture. From seeing the world anew, to immersing in enthralling virtual reality, music and films, to interactive outdoor art performances, Voilah! 2018 brings the ooh la la to Singapore with a multi-sensory adventure for everyone. For a full list of programs, see here. Apr 1-May 5
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FESTIVAL
Why fly to Japan when you can see blooming sakuras in Singapore? This month, Gardens by the Bay is holding its first ever Japanese festival Sakura Matsuri (or Cherry Blossom Festival) over at Flower Dome; featuring 23 different varieties flown in from Japan and Europe. Through Apr 8
FOOD
Ready your stomachs and hold on to your linen napkins, guys—one of Singapore’s most highly anticipated food festivals is back. The World Gourmet Summit (WGS) returns for its 22nd edition and naturally, you can expect the very best of international and local chefs from Asia, Eastern and Central Europe, and America taking the spotlight to whip up delicious bite-sized gastronomy and degustation dinners throughout the month. Apr 2-29
ART/FESTIVAL
Few will recall that last year, a revolutionary fashion and art festival was held in the unassuming space of a supermarket. Against the linoleum tiles and cement floors of BigBox HyperMart in Jurong East, the inaugural Outsider Fashion Art Festival made a statement refuting the exclusivity of fashion, and a good 1,500 or so attended in support. The festival returns to once again demonstrate that art and fashion can be made accessible to the public without becoming unappealingly mass. Instead of the far west, Outsider Fashion Art Festival 2018 will be held at everyone’s favorite indie cinema The Projector this year. Apr 4-7
[SPONSORED]
THEATER
As Esplanade’s The Studios developmental theater program turns 15, they’re putting the spotlight on female artists with five special commissioned theater works to tackle this 2018 edition’s theme—”Between Living and Dying”. It’s a seemingly morbid choice, but an exceptionally interesting one for our local ladies to delve into and delicately explore the universal question we all want answered: What makes life worth living? Mar 29-Apr 29
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THEATER
If you’ve ever wanted to thoroughly explore the blue and white heritage buildings along Waterloo Street, this April is your chance to do so. Local theater company The Theatre Practice will be taking its visitors through the buildings in an immersive new show titled Four Horse Road where you can walk through multiple sites located across the three now iconic buildings on the storied street. Apr 4-28
MUSIC/FESTIVAL
Hot diggity damn. The fifth anniversary edition of SingJazz is shaping up to be a music festival not to be missed with a host of star-studded jazz, soul, blues, Latin, funk, R&B, hip-hop, world music and electro swing stars coming to perform. Catch the likes of Lalah Hathaway, Jamie Cullum, Lauryn Hill, Mas1a, The Teng Ensemble and many more as Marina Bay Sands jazzes up for the whole weekend. Apr 6-8
EXHIBITION
Singapore’s largest pet fair, the PetExpo, is back. There’s the doggy fashion runway that’s sure to be a highlight event, a mini pet bazaar featuring only local businesses, a dog yoga class, an array of pet vendors, and of course, the chance to bring home your very own furball if you’re serious about keeping a pet of your own. Apr 6-8
FOOD/DRINK/MUSIC
If your Friday nights out on the town have started to feel a little bit too predictable, Friday Night Live‘s the thing you need to spice things up. Come April, Sentosa beach bar and restaurant Coastes will turn your Friday evenings into one filled with live jazz music, good grub, booze and beach vibes as they all come together to make your Friday nights come alive. Apr 6, 13, 20 & 27
PARTY
DJ-producer wunderkind Zedd will be landing on the Zouk grounds again as part of his Echo Tour 2018. Known as the mastermind behind a prolific slew of collaborators and chart-topping hits, the multi-instrumentalist has worked with the likes of Nicky Romero, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez and more. A club and festival phenomenon raved for turning out dance floors with his thundering sets, expect to get blitz and go frenetic with signature tracks and high-octane remixes. Apr 7
MUSIC
Otherworldly pop sensation Katy Perry is returning to Singapore for the Asia leg of her “Witness: The Tour” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, following her previous sold out Prismatic World Tour here in 2015. Apr 8
FOOD/FESTIVAL
In the lead up to their eighth birthday, Marina Bay Sands will be showing off its culinary prowess with The Signature Series, a week-long celebration featuring their many award-winning celebrity chefs. They’ll be a whole slew of activities including exclusive dinners, special menus, masterclasses and late-night parties, so come with your stomaches empty and your spirits high. Apr 9-15
FOOD
It’s that time of the year again when we get to have free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. At this year’s Free Cone Day, there’ll be 14 different flavors in total to try across their three stores islandwide—just be prepared for long queues. Apr 10
MUSIC
Irish trio The Script entered our lives (and hearts) back in 2008 with beautiful singles like “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” and “Breakeven”. Since then, their following three albums continued to bring them major success with hit singles like “Nothing”, “Hall of Fame”, “Superheroes” and “For the First Time”. They’re returning to Singapore to win us over once again with their latest #1—and fifth—studio album, Freedom Child. Apr 12
PARTY
CÉ LA VI in partnership with Grey Goose is bringing in Germany’s electro house star producer TUJAMO for one sensational night filled with hits like ‘Booty Bounce’, ‘Drop That Low’ and ‘DR Who!’. Come with your best pair of dancing shoes on. Apr 13
FOOD/PARTY
Celebrate Songkran, one of Thailand’s most important festivals, with Tamarind Hill’s team of Thai chefs at Talad Tamarind: Celebrating Songkran. For a flat fee, get to savour a handpicked selection of over 25 auspicious and popular creations enjoyed by the locals during the festivities. Besides the delectable cuisine, other highlights include free flow beer throughout the event and a (optional) water fight later in the evening. Apr 13
FILM
Get ready to jostle with fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fans of Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man/Tony Stark), Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange/Stephen Strange), Karen Gillan (Nebula) and director Joe Russo alike as they descend upon Marina Bay Sands for a public blue carpet event in the lead up to Avengers: Infinity War that’s hitting cinemas in late April. Apr 16
PARTY
Get into the disco spirit with Bar Rouge’s official launch of Sunset Disco with Hotmood. The acclaimed producer from Mexico brings his sultry grooves set against the backdrop of the 71st floor panorama, combining slo-mo boogie, groove laden disco, quality house and 70’s funk. Complimentary entry before 10.30pm. Apr 20
PARTY
Taking the world by storm since his debut in 2015, multi-platinum English DJ and producer Jonas Blue, one of the UK’s biggest dance music exports in recent years, will be kicking off the weekend at Zouk with his discography of chart-topping hits including debut single “Fast Car”, “Perfect Strangers” and “Mama” – all of which, have garnered over hundred million plays each on Spotify. Apr 20
SPORTS
The Bedok Reservoir Ultramarathon returns to the delight of its many eastside masochists fans. The 12-hour limit ultramarathon takes you through a 4.3km loop course at the reservoir; challenge yourself and see how many laps you can hit from 7am to 7pm. Apr 21
MUSIC
It seems like American pop rock quintet OneRepublic just can’t get enough of Singapore. Known for earlier hits like “Apologize”, “Stop and Stare” and “All the Right Moves”, they were last here to perform on the first day of the most recent Singapore Grand Prix. Apr 23
MUSIC
He may only be 20 years old, but Cosmo Pyke is well beyond his years. This South London singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist grew up listening to a repertoire of neo-soul, blues, jazz and hip hop, which pretty much explains his music. He doesn’t even have a full-length album yet—just a warm, five-track EP titled Just Cosmo—but he’s already selling out headline tours everywhere. Check him out while he’s here. Apr 26
[SPONSORED]
The Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) is back and this 2018 edition marks the changing of the guard at the helm as Singapore Repertory Theatre director Gaurav Kripalani takes over the festival. He’s promised to make this a more accessible festival this year. Expect more than 100 events spread over three weeks by performers from 15 countries at 13 venues. Apr 26-May 12
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From helming the world’s biggest festivals to producing the biggest mainroom dancefloor hits of the century, Dutch electronic dance artiste Laidback Luke will be holding court from the 71st and 72nd floor of Bar Rouge Singapore for one night only at this special edition of Go Rouge!. Apr 27
Organized by NTUC Income, the Income Eco Run works (or runs) towards environmental conservation and reducing waste. To start, all runners who pledge to be ‘Zero Waste Runners’ don’t receive a finisher tee or medal. 2017 saw them successfully cut down on 88kg of textile from finisher tees, as well as 2991kg of carbon emissions, thanks to shuttle buses provided for runners; biodiesel was also used to generate power on the race day. This year, there’s a newly introduced 5km fun run, 10km runs (mixed team and competitive), and a 21.1km half marathon. Apr 29
The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s monthly Car-Free Sunday event is leaving the civic district for the first time and into the westerly area of One-North. Besides the change in scenery, expect the same good ol’ fun free from car traffic, including a drone showcase, mountain biking trials, a robotics workshop and more. Apr 29
Hot on the heels of The Imaginarium of Disco David, local nomadic theater group And So Forth is back with a new pop-up feast planned. Adventures in Grimmsneyland will focus on the darker sides of fairy tales—as evidenced by the reference to the Brothers Grimm, whose folk tales were anything but pleasant—and take audience members through various worlds. Through Apr 21
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
FILM
Not all films are just about entertaining. Enter Stories That Matter an annual program held by Objectifs to address critical issues through both film and photography. This third edition’s theme is borders, tackling matters of physical, social and political borders that both define and restrict communities and laying out on the table possible ways of collaboration and change. Apart from exhibitions and seminars, this program will also be screening Singapore premieres of five documentaries. Through Apr 29
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
EXHIBITION
You’d think a traveling exhibition from the London Natural History Museum would be hard to top, but ArtScience Museum’s upcoming shtick will trace 40 years of street art, from its controversial beginnings as expressions of counterculture, to its current standing as a major pillar of contemporary art. Art from the Streets will feature the works of the world’s top street artists, such as Magda Danysz, Banksy, Shepard Fairey and more. Through Jun 3
