Paint the town red

Here's where to shop and have a good time during the festive period.

Chinatown Street Light-up

Feast your eyes on 88 illuminated lantern sculptures of horses and countless gold coins suspended along the streets of Chinatown. This year's light-up features an innovative horse-themed design in line with the Chinese New Year Theme - "Galloping into Prosperity".

When: Till Feb 28, 7pm to 2am (Friday and Saturday); 7pm to midnight (Sunday to Thursday)

Where: Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road, South Bridge Road, Garden Bridge

Chinatown Festive Street Bazaar

Enjoy brilliant lights and decorations of more than 500 stalls lining up the streets of Chinatown. Visitors can feast on mouth-watering New Year delicacies and shop for Chinese New Year traditional goodies including cookies, decorative items, waxed duck, preserved fruits and more.

When: Till Jan 30, 6am to 10.30pm (daily); 6pm to 1am (CNY Eve)

Where: Pagoda Street, Smith Street, Sago Street, Temple Street, Trengganu Street

Takashimaya Chinese New Year Fair

The annual fair showcases a slew of Chinese New Year food from 60 vendors. These include Peony Jade's festive creations, Serenity's crispy pork knuckle, Kee Wah Bakery's peanut candy and Chop Tai Chong Kok's nian gao.

When: Till Jan 29, 10am to 9.30pm

Where: Takashimaya Shopping Centre Square B2, Taka Square

Nightly Stage Shows at Kreta Ayer Square

Catch nightly performances of vibrant Chinese cultural shows, festive songs, music and dance by local entertainers and troupes from China.

When: Till Jan 30, 8pm to 10.30pm Where: Kreta Ayer Square

Chinatown Wishing Tree

Inspired by the renowned ancient banyan tree in Lam Tsuen, Hong Kong, where people leave their wishes, a lucky banyan tree is installed at Chinatown Point where you too can throw mandarin oranges tied with your wishes onto it. Each mandarin orange wishing charm costs $2. All proceeds will be donated to the Kreta Ayer Seniors Activity Centre.

When: Till Feb 14, 11am to 9pm

Where: Chinatown Point

Gardens By The Bay

Gardens by the Bay will be ushering in the Year of the Horse with a floral display showcasing sculptures of horses, designed by award-winning sculptors. The concept of the centrepiece is inspired by the Chinese painting "100 Horses" to tie in with the Chinese zodiac sign.

When: Till Feb 16, 9am to 9pm

Where: Gardens by the Bay, Flower Dome

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS)

RWS will be lit up with 3,888 lanterns, eight lantern horses galloping along FestiveWalk and eight lantern seahorses outside the Maritime Experiential Museum. Characters at Universal Studios Singapore will don festive outfits and there will be a series of acrobatics, drum and live performances of Chinese-Fusion chamber music. Divers will greet guests with scroll blessings inside the Open Ocean Habitat at S.E.A Aquarium.

When: Till Feb 14

Where: Resorts World Sentosa

Lo Hei at Universal Studios Singapore

For the first time, Universal Studios Singapore will be hosting a special "Lo Hei" dinner created by renowned chefs which includes exclusive entertainment and rides.

The indulgent nine-course dinner includes dishes like Slow-cooked Pork Ribs Spice and Sweet Rice Vinegar Sauce, Stuffed Oyster Roll with Wild Red Grouper Goji Berry and Hair Weed.

Price: $98++ (adult); $78 (child). Inclusive of admission to Universal Studios Singapore. Tel: 6577-6688. E-mail: dining@rwsentosa.com.

When: Jan 30 and Feb 6. Call for other available nights.

Where: Universal Studios Singapore

River Hong Bao 2014

River Hong Bao 2014 takes place over two weekends at The Float @ Marina Bay and will feature the most lantern displays in the carnival's 28-year history.

Highlights include performances by the Yunnan Opera Theatre, a handicraft street featuring ethnic costumes, cultural products from Yunnan province and Yunnan delicacies.

When: Jan 29 to Feb 8, noon to 11:30pm; CNY Eve: noon to 1am

Where: The Float @ Marina Bay

Chingay Parade

This year's Chingay Parade showcases 8,000 multiethnic performers, the world largest 360m beautiful batik art, a 4m-tall Giant Artistic Puppets contingent, a first-time Ge Tai, a 700-children ballet performance, and exotic groups from various countries such as Italy, Korea and China. Website: https://chingay.org.sg.

When: Feb 7 and 8, 8pm

Where: F1 Pit Building

Huayi Festival

Huayi 2014 will be hosting cultural programmes such as Chinese traditional arts, Chinese instrumental and choral music and performances by talented local and overseas singers and ensembles over two weekends. Website: www.huayifestival.com.

When: Feb 6 to 16

Where: Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.