Currently, I attended the media preview of this year Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival last Tuesday that will officially light-up with opening ceremony on 8 September.

I’m may not be Chinese but I found their heritage very interesting, something that I would like to know more. Besides, Singapore is my second home.

The street lights and lanterns are ready for the opening, it’s better, brighter, and there’s something new to catch. They recapture fond memories of Chinatown and its heritage with long forgotten Cantonese dishes, much-loved accordion lanterns and street decorations showcasing Chinatown stories.

It aims to encourage more people especially the youth to learn more about the Chinese traditions and heritage, and the lives of their forefathers where they first come to Singapore.

Such a beautiful centerpieces of early Chinese immigrants, street lanterns in the form of traditional accordion paper lanterns, nightly stage shows with exciting dragon dance performances on weekends, and the ever-popular lantern painting competition and mass lantern walk aim to allow Singaporeans and visitors from overseas to soak in the festive spirit like how they were celebrated in Chinatown.

It’s a new night event for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival is the “Singapore Culture and Heritage Trail – Cantonese Chapter: Reliving the yesteryear once more”. The two-night of event promises to bring back 1950s and 1960s. It will feature more than 10 popular Cantonese delicacies with traditional dishes which are hard to come by, such as “Gold Coin Chicken” and “Prawn Toast”.

A variety of street activities like fortune-telling, face threading, Chinese calligraphy, Cantonese costume photo booth and opera will surely delight visitors. Out of the programmes lined-up, many of which are supported by WeCare PALs; PA’s network of corporate and community partners such as International Left-Hand Calligraphy Association, Kong Chow Wui Koon, Kowloon Club and The Wedding Chamber.

Besides immersing in the Cantonese culture, visitors can also be part of history by joining in for a record-breaking feat of the most number of oriental masks to be worn at the same time.

The Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018, organised by the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee (KA-KS CCC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, will kick-start this Saturday (8th September) graced by Guest-of-Honour, Mdm Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore. The street light-up will be from 8 September to 8 October 2018.

Some other key highlights of this year’s festival include:

• Setting a NEW record in the Singapore Book of Records for most number of oriental masks worn at the same time
• Nightly Stage Shows, with Dragon Dance performance during the weekend
• Lantern Painting Competition
• Festive Street Bazaar, with over 200 street stalls
• Mass Lantern Walk, with pit-stops to learn more about the Chinatown heritage

 

For more information, please visit www.chinatownfestivals.sg

Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018
When: 8 September to 8 October 2018
Contact: +65 6222 3597
Email: info@chinatownfestivals.sg