Go wild for Singapore this summer
Singapore is showing its green side this July with the return of the Singapore Garden Festival (15th – 22nd July 2010), Asia’s top floriculture fiesta.
Visitors can also look forward to a nocturnal extravaganza as the heart of Singapore’s arts and heritage hub explodes into life out of hours with the Singapore Night Festival on 16th and 17th July 2010.
Singapore’s jam-packed calendar of events ensures there’s always something ‘going down’. With a raft of festivals throughout the year – celebrating everything from dumplings to dragon boats, shopping to Shakespeare – the islanders know how to party. This summer offers the ideal opportunity to explore another side to the buzzing city-state as Singaporeans indulge their love of horticulture and late night art.
The only show in the world to gather the world's top award-winning garden and floral designers under one roof, the biennial Singapore Garden Festival showcases the talents of the world's gardening luminaries. Participants from the UK this year include Claire Whitehouse, freelance garden designer, medal-winner and regular Show Garden judge for the Royal Horticultural Society. Taking place at Suntec Singapore, the exhibition is open daily from 10am to 10pm, see - singaporegardenfestival.com.
Highlights for 2010 include:
- Landscape and Fantasy Gardens featuring spectacular creations by local designers and top award-winning designers from renowned garden shows around the world.
- Floral Windows of the World showcasing colourful and vibrant cut-flower displays and floral masterpieces by local and international designers.
- Singapore Orchid Show, an exquisite display of South East Asia’s rich and diverse heritage of orchids.
- Garden Fiesta, including offering educational, recreational and entertainment activities catering to the public, families, serious gardeners as well as hobbyists.
- Vibrant Marketplace offering a wide array of plants, gardening and landscape products and services for sale under one roof.
The Singapore Night Festival is a free event taking place in the Bras Basah Precinct of the city, the arts and heritage centre of Singapore, over two nights 16th and 17th July from 6.30pm to 2am. Arts and culture will spill into the streets, taking Singapore’s nightlife beyond shopping, dining and clubbing. Spearheaded by the National Museum of Singapore, the festival drew 60,000 visitors in 2009. A raft of special events will be taking place in the city’s green spaces as well as late night openings at local cultural venues such as the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum and The Peranakan Museum.
This year, the Night Festival follows the theme of ‘New World Amusement Park in the 1960s’, with dazzling spectacles of street theatre and carnivalesque play to retell the story of this era. Visitors can expect contemporary art and video installations combined with striking outdoor performance.
These exciting events are in addition to Singapore’s Food Festival and River Festival which will be taking place in June and July 2010.
For further information on Singapore, including ideas on how to experience ‘YourSingapore’, please visit: yoursingapore.com