Chinese New Year is the most widely celebrated festival in Singapore and is the most important festival for Chinese people all over the world. 

Although the whole of Singapore will have prominent and plentiful signs (dominated by red colour) of the approaching festival, Chinatown is still the traditional centre for festival shopping. Immersion in Singapore’s multi-racial culture is not complete without an experience of Chinatown during this period. The area turns into a lively and colourful hub with shops and extra stalls abundantly stocked with special goods. 

This exciting walking tour of the area will enlighten you about the numerous customs associated with Chinese New Year. You will also learn about the importance and symbolic meanings of the decorations, special foods and culinary delicacies, and have an opportunity to taste some of them.

Embark on a walking tour of Singapore’s impressive collection of public sculptures in the civic district. Explore a selection of striking and often whimsical works – from frolicking children to merchants and traders from the past to sculptures celebrating the progress of Singapore. Sculptures that go largely unnoticed by the general public, hiding in plain sight! Learn about the inspirations behind the sculptures and gain an understanding into their meanings and relevance to Singapore’s past, present and future.

The tour will feature works by prominent Singapore artists such as Han Sai Por and Chong Fah Cheong, both cultural Medallion recipients, and world -renowned artists like Botero and Dali. These monumental sculptures are both a part of Singapore’s distinctive character and a major source of civic pride.

Lion dancing is a traditional Chinese performance art. Such performances with its loud music, are a common sight during the Chinese New Year season and at opening ceremonies to bring good fortune.

Many people enjoy watching the “lions” with their disproportionately large heads and colourful

Bodies, jumping and prancing around. But few have probably given thought to how the lion heads and costumes are made and what they are made from. Making the “lion” heads by

hand is a specialty craft that is becoming extinct. Of more than twenty people making such heads up to the 1980s, only one or two remain. 

Join Explore Singapore! in a rare opportunity for a behind the scene look at an

endangered craft and learn about the making of “lions”.

In this part of the world Eurasians are the descendants of inter-racial marriages since the 16^th century between European (mainly Portuguese) men and local women. The Portuguese ruled Malacca for 130 years and left a legacy from these mixed marriages.  When the British returned Malacca to the Dutch and set up an alternative trading post in Singapore, many Eurasians left Malacca to become pioneer settlers of modern Singapore. Although Eurasians have a distinct identity much of it has been diluted over the years so the Eurasian Heritage Gallery was set up to preserve its legacy. Kristang (the language of Portuguese Eurasians) is currently enjoying a revival. 

Join us on a guided tour of the Eurasian Heritage Gallery (after a makeover this year) and find out more about the history and culture of the Eurasians, their experience of World War II in the Bahau Settlement in Malaya, their contribution, and Eurasian cuisine. Lunch will be a sampling of traditional dishes such as Devil Chicken Curry. 

As a well-known historian put it, cultural hybridity is not ‘half and half’ but ‘double.