Snippets of the Night Festival: New World 2010

If you have yet to attend the Night Festival : New World 2010 yesterday, please think about making time tonight to relive the excitement and chilling moments of the amusement park phenomena.

What about the "amusement park phenomena"? Back in the 1960s, amusement parks have been a source of fun and entertainment for all ages in Singapore. I was told that there were three amusement parks in Singapore during that era: New World, Happy World and Great World. This year's Night Festival, produced by Theatreworks for the National Museum of Singapore, is inspired by the theme of fun and entertainment of the amusement parks of the 1960s.

Whether it is to relive the good old memories of the 1960s or to appreciate glimpses of the night life of the 1960s, folks of all ages may find the Night Festival this year to be an entertaining treat. Indeed, I could see for myself that last night's Night Festival was very well-attended by folks of all ages.

Admittedly, I would prefer to wear ear-plugs for the event as the noise level at most sites was considered too loud for my ears. Nevertheless, this Night Festival proved to be a treat to the visual senses with lots of hype and sensations.

I have decided to show a different perspective to the Night Festival by posting more photographs that I had taken during the early evening. Expect yourself to use quite a bit of your imaginations to imagine how the sites in the photos will be turned alive, dazzled by lights and gaiety once the skies turns dark.

On the grounds of the Singapore Management University's Campus Green, there are treats to the art and culture of various Southeast Asia countries. Visitors can look forward to treats to graffiti art. If visitors are game for some fiery fights, they could check out the boxing ring to catch rounds of boxing and Muay Thai. If dance-loving patrons would love a professional dancer as a partner to mambo, cha-cha and dance the night away, they could, I've read, hire a taxi girl (and taxi boy) at $1 for three dances.

A stone throw away, at the Singapore Art Museum, the daring ones could sneak into the Abusement Park, by Vertical Submarine & Black Baroque Interventions. I was told that Abusement Park would turned the ground floor of the Singapore Art Museum into an underground dungeon. Well, I did not visit this last night so you may have to just imagine what it would be like to be in an underground dungeon.

I would be more intrigued to see the world's slowest SMS billboard. I was told that one could send sms messages to (65)98659965 on the two nights. Afterwhich, a team of human will manually assemble the messages on an interactive giant billboard for all to read.

There are programmes for the young minds too. At the Peranakan Museum, I saw children and families having fun creating sand art pieces in the "Groovy Glow-in-the-Dark Crafts" corner. In the Ixora Room, there is a Peranakan Puppet Show that should delight both children and adults. For myself, I was more keen to take advantage of the free admission hours to catch glimpses of the many beautiful exhibits that were housed in the Perankan Museum.

Blogger, Hann Hann, has written a post on programmes from the Night Festival that are recommended for children. Check out the post entitled: Night Festival 2010: Hann's Picks for children.

You could also read fellow blogger, Walter Lim's preview of the event here: http://post.ly/nWNm. He has posted a number of good photographs of the Night Festival taken during the night hours.

Many thanks to my friend, KT, for lending her company for the Night Festival yesterday. It was fun travelling from one Night Festival site to another to see what each has to offer. I would have love to hear her share about her understanding of Ramayana if I had not been overstimulated by the loud volume from the nearby playing band.

Anyway, I was comforted with a free ice-cream for visitors to the Peranakan Museum. I chose the red-bean flavour and it was delicious. Be sure to find out how to obtain a coupon to exchange for a free ice-cream. Last night, the staff had lots of coupons to give away. However, learning to be contented with one ice-cream, I was happily declining the coupons!

Many thanks to the National Museum of Singapore and the National Heritage Board for organising a successful Night Festival: New World 2010.

If the description of the Night Festival entices you, get up from your seat, change into your favourite wear and get ready to check out the Night Festival tonight. It's your last chance, till 2 a.m. Admission is free!