From island-themed installations to festival villages: What to expect at Singapore Night Festival 2025

Explore Singapore after dark as Singapore Night Festival (SNF) 2025 returns for its 16th edition from tomorrow (Aug 22) until Sept 6 across the Bras Basah-Bugis (BBB) precinct.

This is the first time that the festival is being helmed by HeritageSG, a subsidiary of the National Heritage Board. 

In celebration of SG60, this year's festival theme is Island Nights — and will feature more than 80 installations and experiences that highlight Singapore's heritage and identity as an island nation. 

Festival-goers will also see two highlight experiences this year: Sky Castle at Cathay Green by Australian art and technology studio ENESS and Kampong Chill at Capitol Singapore by Australian-Singaporean artist duo Yok and Sheryo. 

Sky Castle is an interactive rainbow art installation that aims to evoke the joy that rainbows bring after every storm, while Kampong Chill is a walk-in experience that encourages people to unwind with unique workshops that capture the essence of island life in Singapore. 

Other installations and experiences include projection mapping light-ups like Mosaic by French artist Jeremie Bellot on the facade of the National Museum of Singapore — which focuses on a theme of island navigation and exploration with historical cartographies (the art of drawing maps) and constellations while incorporating unique local touches like kebaya and batik motifs. 

Several other projection mapping artworks can also be found at Chijmes, including Dari Pulau Ke Pulau (from one island to another) by Hafi, Island Waters by Kangli, Awakening by Tororo.Aoi and Roadside Beauties and Healing Remedies by Adeline Kueh. 

These artworks are all done by artists who were trained in SNF's Projection Mapping Masterclass — an SNF capability-building programme, which trains local visual artists in projection mapping. 

And of course, SNF wouldn't be the same without some night lights.

Attendees will be able to find several night light installations throughout the BBB precinct, including: Cyberswordfish V2.0 — an e-waste sculpture inspired by the legend of Singapura Dilanggar Todak (Swordfish Attack on Singapore) and sustainability by local artist Yang Derong at Plaza Singapura. 

Another is The Garden of Stories by Singaporean artist Yang Jie at Stamford Arts Centre — an interactive installation inspired by kampung life and stories told to him by his grandmother. 

Accompanying the installations and experiences will be three festival villages: Paradise Island at Armenian Street, Retro District at Bugis Street Art Lane and SMU (Singapore Management University) Arts Fest 2560 at SMU Campus Green. 

These festival villages will include a mixture of free and paid programmes including performances, experiences and F&B options. 

For those who want to sit back and enjoy the show, SNF will also see a variety of performances like Shadow Puppetry Bayang Series: Legends of Southeast Asia at National Museum of Singapore — a series of curated shadow puppet performances reimaging folk tales and origin stories of Singapore's islands, and Our Songs, Our Stories: A Community Singalong of Xinyao and Folk Music at Bras Basah Complex. 

Finally, SNF will also feature a selection of experiential programmes like The Listening Biennial, Third Edition at various locations across Waterloo Street that encourages visitors to shift their focus to actively listen for plurality in things and For Real Fest at Funan, a series of curated experiences across the mall designed to spark deeper conversations and deepen bonds between people. 

More information on schedules, lineups and ticketing can be found on SNF's website. 

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carol.ong@asiaone.com