CHINATOWN MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL 2022 MAKES LONG-AWAITED COMEBACK

This is the first time that the iconic Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival Street lanterns will feature mooncakes inspired by the five local dialect groups, celebrating the local Chinese communities. Visitors can look forward to the return of the festival’s trade fair and free weekend stage shows, along with its first-ever food fair and other festivities.

Singapore, 2nd September 2022 – After two years of virtual celebrations, Chinatown’s well-loved and much-anticipated Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival returns to the streets this year from now to 25 September 2022 with its iconic light-up and an exciting line-up of festivities. For the first time, the festival will be including a food fair which will see Smith Street transformed into a nostalgic, bustling bazaar offering street-style dining.

This year’s festival encourages harmony and reunion among family members, old and young. It aims to promote Chinese culture among locals from all walks of life, especially the youth, highlighting the spirit of a multi-racial and multi-cultural Singapore in which festivals are celebrated across cultures.

“We are thrilled to be bringing back this iconic celebration to Chinatown’s streets. The Mid-Autumn Festival brings together the traditions and heritage passed through the generations and this year’s light-up celebrates the diversity of our local Chinese communities. We welcome fellow Singaporeans and international visitors alike to join in the festivities at the historically significant precinct of Chinatown,” said Minister for Communications and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Adviser to Jalan Besar GRC Grassroots Organisations (Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng), Mrs Josephine Teo.

Throughout the duration of the festival, a dynamic line-up of activities awaits visitors, encouraging all in Singapore and international travellers alike to spend time with family and loved ones in vibrant Chinatown. In addition to the first-ever food fair, there will also be a trade fair, located at the open space in front of People’s Park Complex which rounds out the festive streetside offerings.

Visitors can also look forward to family-friendly activities like free weekend stage shows happening at Kreta Ayer Square over five weekends, and the ever-popular all-ages Lantern Painting Competition.

For this year’s signature light-up, visitors can keep a lookout for larger-than-life lantern sculptures showcasing, for the first time, the characteristics of mooncakes from Singapore’s main Chinese dialect groups: Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew. The sculptures can be found adorning each street with the centrepiece, a towering 10m diorama of candy-coloured snow skin mooncakes and playful jade rabbits, at Eu Tong Sen Street. Designed to pay homage to the traditions preserved by the forefathers of Singapore’s Chinese community, the light-up celebrates the unique cultural heritage of each Chinese dialect group and how they continue to be united by the shared custom of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Ms Lim Shoo Ling, Director, Arts and Cultural Precincts, Singapore Tourism Board said, “We are pleased to welcome the return of the Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival with added on-ground festivities such as the street-style food fair at Smith Street. With the resumption of travel, offerings such as the Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival add to our destination attractiveness and allow both international visitors and locals to learn about the culture and traditions of this festival and discover lesser-known stories of one of Singapore’s key cultural precincts.”

Visitors will be greeted by a spectacular street display of lighted sculptures and colourful street lanterns expressing the auspicious theme, “Blossoming Flowers under the Full Moon (花好月圆庆中 秋)”. The light-up spans across New Bridge Road, South Bridge Road, Eu Tong Sen Street, and will extend to Upper Cross Street - a new addition this year. Each street will also be lined with dozens of lanterns featuring designs that combine mooncakes, the traditional confectionery eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, with jade rabbits of popular folklore.

In line with plans for Singapore to become a sustainable urban destination, members of the public will be offered the chance to bring home and recycle the street lanterns as part of the festival’s ‘Adopt a Lantern’ campaign. (For more information, please refer to ANNEX A: Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival Programme Highlights).

The Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2022 runs from now to 25 September. To view the full festival programme, visit chinatownfestivals.sg/.