This year’s Singapore Heritage Festival is jam packed with a variety of attractions sure to pique the interest of a wide range of people. Even better is the fact that nearly every single one of Singapore’s various historical neighborhoods can get in on the action with programs and tours scheduled. The festival is a wonderful opportunity to learn things about the history of the neighborhood you’ve been living in for years without the context necessary to appreciate historical buildings and meaningful stories about the streets you see every day.
The Jurong neighborhood will resurrect the experience of a drive-in movie theater. From the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, a popular drive-in movie theater attracted hundreds of cars and hundreds more spectators in its gallery area. The theater showed English-language classics and was a wonderful way to socialize. Now, with the advent of streaming movies, less people are going to the theater. However, the reincarnation of Jurong’s drive-in theater is a great way to go retro — along with a car full of friends.
The Jalan Besar neighborhood used to be the place to go to see cabarets, boxing matches, and much, much more. The New World Park was known to be packed with entertainment opportunities. While the new New World Park experience, organized in conjunction with the heritage fest, won’t be as titillating as the classic one, people can still enjoy live music, an art market, and movie screenings.
The Chinatown neighborhood will feature what it does best: delicious food. But if you’re already a regular to the eateries and hawker stalls in the neighborhood, there are two walking events designed to introduce foodies to new favorite fare. Take note of the new best food in the area with one event, and learn the stories and history behind other offerings in the other tour. There will also be storytelling, tea competitions, and operatic performances in the neighborhood.
The Bras Basah and Bugis neighborhood is featuring loads of events in conjunction with the heritage festival, but one of the most meaningful and entertaining might be a theater production that examines and presents the history of the neighborhood. The production dramatizes real stories that took place in the neighborhood throughout history, including tales of convicts at a prison, a mutiny, Japanese WWII occupation, and a bus hijacking. Even more special is the fact that the stage isn’t located inside a traditional theater. Instead, the streets within the neighborhood provide the true backdrop to the stories.
There are multiple events in other neighborhoods, as well, including a playground tour, walking tours of historically significant spots, and art shows and entertainment opportunities.
Find the art in your own personal history by enrolling in an art class via SGArtClass.com. Art has a number of proven benefits, including stress relief and processing of difficult emotions and experiences.
To learn about the interesting items on display during Singapore Heritage Festival 2018, go to https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/lifestyle/what-to-do-weekend-singapore-heritage-festival-2018-10099066.