No darling buds of May here, but Gardens by the Bay bursts into full splendor with two stunning new exhibitions of flowers and lanterns. From now till October, here’s what you can look forward to if you’re planning an Instagram-approved day out.
Mid-Autumn 2018 (Through Sep 24)
If you need to walk off all those mooncakes, make a date with the Gardens after the sun goes down for the annual Mid-Autumn Festival. Themed “Autumn of Fantasies”, this edition sees incredible large-scale lantern sets scattered all around the public area, along with a bustling marketplace, food street and cultural performances at the Supertree Grove (ie. the location for the wedding after-party in Crazy Rich Asians). And it’s not just pretty lantern displays for you to look at; you can also get interactive and send a floating lotus (with a wish) down the Dragonfly Lake, or get crafty at the hands-on Chinese Traditional Village—charges apply, of course.
Sunflower Surprise (Through Oct 21)
We prayed, and finally Gardens by the Bay has brought the earth’s cheeriest flower to its Flower Dome, in their first-ever sunflower floral display. The show brings together more than 50 varieties of sunflowers—the largest variety in Singapore—with a total of over 16,000 sunflowers in all shapes and sizes. Thought you knew your sunflowers? Think again: there are foreign species of the deceptively basic-looking bud you’ve never even dreamed of, ranging from the fluffy “Teddy Bear” to the “Russian Mammoth”; more than half are rarer varieties grown from seeds sourced from the US. The entire display has even been curated in theme with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, so you can journey inside to find Oz, or tap your shoes twice down the yellow brick road to snap a picture with the creepy Dorothy figure.
Where: Flower Dome
