The theme for Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival is “Bicentennial Mid-Autumn Festival 2019” (欢庆开埠两百年 花好月圆庆中秋). This year’s line-up has new bicentennial elements, the lanterns over two kilometres lining up New Bridge Road and Eu Tong Sen Street, giving visitors a visual tour from 200 years back – from the founding of modern Singapore in 1819, to the future of Singapore.

What are the key events and highlights of Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2019? Let me bring you through a quick journey below:

Official Light-Up and Opening Ceremony (开幕典礼与亮灯仪式）

Date: 31st August 2019

Time: 6:30pm to 10:00pm

Location: New Bridge Road and Eu Tong Sen Street

The curtain raiser to Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2019, the Opening Ceremony will take audience on a trip down memory lane from 1819 to 2019 and beyond. This will be a storytelling performance, a total of 248 performers putting up a multicultural theatre, song and dance performances, LED dragon dance and xinyao music medleys.

The Opening Ceremony will end with a big bang with the official light up grand finale!

Street Light Up (牛车水庆中秋亮灯）

Date: 31st August to 28th September 2019

Time: 7:00pm to 12:00am (Sunday to Thursday) ; 7:00pm to 2:00am (Friday and Saturday)

Location: Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road and South Bridge Road

A convergence of Singapore Bicentennial celebrations and Mid-Autumn festivities is being displayed on the streets of Chinatown in the from of handcrafted lanterns, showcasing the story and history of Singapore’s progress from the founding years, to present and into the future. A total of 168 handcrafted lanterns are displayed along New Bridge Road, Eu Tong Sen Street and South Bridge Road.

The main centrepiece lantern display is at the junction of Eu Tong Sen Street and Upper Cross Street, measuring 11m in height x 7m x 7m, celestial Chang’e is holding the Jade Rabbit, standing alongside seven time “stamps”, reflecting scenes of Singapore and future worlds with a full moon in the background. This centrepiece is a conglomeration of Singapore’s culture and heritage, showcasing the Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2019 theme “Bicentennial Mid-Autumn Festival 2019”, welcoming all visitors to join in Mid-Autumn Festival 2019 celebrations at Chinatown.

Looking Back 1819 – 1965

Spot Sir Stamford Raffles, marking his arrival and Singapore’s beginnings as a free port, check out the attap hut, wooden sampan and fishermen.

Standing On One’s Feet 1965 – 2000 and 2000 – 2019

Two eras that reflects toil in Singapore’s nation building and flourishing of a global cosmopolitan city. Reminisce the nostalgic memories of old-school red and white buses, travel through time to the modern era, spot present day cultural and tourist icons such as Gardens by the Bay and Changi Airport.

Prospects 2019 – future

What does the future hold for Singapore? Check out the abstract buildings and futuristic designs.

Festive Bazaar and Trade Fair (中秋街头市集）

Date: 30th August to 13th September 2019

Time: 6:30pm to 1030:pm

Location: Pagoda Street, Trengganu Street, Sago Street and Smith Street

Come on down for some Mid-Autumn festive shopping and fun at Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2019.

Nightly Stage Shows (中秋综艺晚会）

Date: 31st August to 13th September 2019

Time: 8:00 pm to 10:30pm

Location: Kreta Ayer Square

Gather at Kreta Ayer Square for a nightly dose of fun and entertainment!

Heritage + Food Trail (美食与文化之旅)

Date: 1st, 7th and 8th September 2019

Time: 3:00pm to 5:00pm

Location: Information booth in front of the stage at Kreta Ayer Square

Food lovers alert! Sign up for a heritage + food trail to savour local cuisine located in Chinatown, home to some of the most famous and historical hawker centres in town. There are 22 heritage stalls inside this food trail, all of them have decades of history, heritage and culture within them.

Notes:

Tickets are priced at $10 each (inclusive of food tasting), registration required, slots are allocated on a first-come-first serve basis.

Mass Lantern Walk （中秋大型游灯会）

Date: 8th September 2019

Time: 7:00 pm to 10:00pm

Location:

Start point – Kreta Ayer Square

End point – Along New Bridge Road (main stage in front of Lucky Chinatown)

A highly anticipated and time-honoured practice of Mid-Autumn Festival, carrying a lantern with the extended family under the moonlit sky. This would be a great and fun family bonding time!

Mid-Autumn Festival 2019 is coming soon, it’s also a time for families reunion and fun. Come on down to Chinatown during Mid-Autumn Festival and celebrate with your family, relatives, loved ones, friends and colleagues. Do Pay It Forward and Pass It On, the events, colourful lanterns and programmes taking place during Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2019!

For more information, visit them at:

Website: www.chinatownfestivals.sg

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Chinatown.Festivals

Instagram: www.instagram.com/chinatown_festivals

Official hashtag for Chinatown Festivals: #chinatownfestivalSG

Official hashtag for Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2019: #chinatownbicentennialMAF

The post Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2019 appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Earlier in the week, I went for the media preview session organised by Kreta Ayer – Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee. During the session, we were informed on the key highlights of this year’s 2018 Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival and I would be sharing some key information and details here!

The theme for Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 is “Our Chinatown. Our Mid-Autumn” (“我们的牛车水, 我们的中秋节”). Visitors to this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival are able to feel, go back in time and reminisce the scenes and life experiences of the Singapore’s Chinatown in the 50s and 60s. This wonderful festival is a great festival and event to encourage more people, especially for the youth to learn more about Chinese traditions and heritage, the lives of their forefathers when they first arrive in Singapore.

The street lanterns in the form of traditional accordion paper lanterns, showcasing centrepieces of early Chinese immigrants, are nice and beautiful, along the streets of Chinatown, you have to stop, take a look and admire them! There would also be nightly stage shows with exciting dragon dance performances on weekends, mass lantern walk (great for the kids and our international visitors!)

There is a new night event for this year’s Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018, that is the “Singapore Culture and Heritage Trail – Cantonese Chapter: Reliving the yesteryears once more”.This is a two nights event, it’s about food! They are bringing back traditional Cantonese cuisine and street food commonly found in the 1950s and 1960s. More than 10 popular Cantonese delicacies with traditional dishes which are quite difficult to come by today, such as the “Gold Coin Chicken” (金钱鸡) and “Prawn Toast” (虾多士)!

There are other street activities taking place, such as fortune telling, face threading, Chinese calligraphy, Cantonese costume photo boothand 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.

Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 will officially kick start on Saturday 8^th September 2018 with the Official Light-up and Opening Ceremony (开幕典礼与亮灯仪式), graced by Guest-of-Honour, Mdm Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore.

Dr Lily Neo (梁莉莉医生), Adviser to Jalan Besar GRC GRO (KRETA AYER–KIM SENG) (惹兰勿刹集选区基层组织顾问(牛车水–金声)) said, “Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two key Chinatown Festivals that bear rich Chinese traditions and heritage. It is important for us to continue preserving and passing down our traditions and heritage from generation to generation. This year Mid-Autumn Festival tells the story of Chinatown where it reminisces the early days of our forefathers coming to Singapore in search of a better life and how they have contributed in many ways to our nation building. They have also brought along their culture, traditions and festivals while they settled down their roots here. We hope that through this festive celebration, it will remind us of our own history and culture while we continue to build on the strong foundation laid by our forefathers to bring Singapore to greater heights.”

“The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations bring to life the heritage, character, and beauty of Chinatown, delighting visitors and Singaporeans year after year. The festivities also play a key role in bringing together the local community to foster a deeper appreciation of the rich Chinatown heritage,” said Ms Serene Tan, Director, Arts and Cultural Precincts, Singapore Tourism Board.

When you visit Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018, spot the iconic main centrepiece display, a Chinese junk ship measuring 10m tall, 8.5m in length and 2.5m in width, along with 168 sculptured lanterns of the different vocations of the early Chinese immigrants, particulary the Samsui Women, Coolies, Street Hawkers and Rickshaw riders, along Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road. Do not miss the 180 beautifully hand-crafted lanterns, hand-painted with orchids, peonies and hydrangeas, giving South Bridge Road bright and festive mood! In addition, 1288 lanterns, enlarged versions of the traditional paper accordion lanterns in bright and vibrant colours of red, pink, yellow and orange light up the main streets of Chinatown along New Bridge Road, Eu Tong Sen Street and South Bridge Road.

The design of the Mid-Autumn Festival Street Light-up 2018 is the 3^rd collaboration between the organising committee Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee (KA-KS CCC) and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Do keep a lookout for their designs!

Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 is going to be bright, colourful, exciting and fun, along with food, performances and activities for visitors of all ages, whether you are a Singaporean or an international visitor! Do visit Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018 and enjoy yourself! Keep a lookout for my Flickr photo album on my Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2018!

For more information on Chinatown Mid-Autmn Festival, please visit :

Website : www.chinatownfestivals.sg

Facebook : www.facebook.com/Chinatown.Festivals

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/chinatown_festivals

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