The best things to do in Singapore this weekend (Aug 7-9)

Skip the fireworks watching and spend your National Day getting to know Siglap instead. Organised by SANTAi, the Siglap Block Party offers a bingo-style neighbourhood crawl inviting participants to eat, drink, and shop across East Coast local businesses like Masalaa Bar, Next Door Spanish Cafe, Eater’s Market, and IZA. Participants pick up an activity card at SANTAi, collect stamps via challenges, and enter a lucky draw. Those seeking to avoid the heat can remain at SANTAi for a mini-market featuring vintage clothing, jewellery, ceramics, tarot card readings, and live silkscreen printing.

After winning over crowds with earlier editions across Singapore, Weekend Brew Club is back with three National Day-themed stops at Sengkang (July 24 and 25), Hougang (August 1 and 2) and Marsiling (August 8 and 9). Ticket holders can enjoy the event's signature brew buffet, featuring unlimited Nanyang and Western-style brews served in an exclusive Weekend Brew Club mug that's yours to keep (while stocks last). 

But the drinks are only half the fun. Expect nostalgic games, live DJ sets, photobooths, hands-on workshops and family-friendly activities, with each neighbourhood offering its own unique experiences and local flavour. Redeem tickets through participating merchants to unlock unlimited brews, then spend the rest of the day soaking up the lively community vibe. Find out more here.

This August, MARQUEE Singapore keeps the energy soaring with another blockbuster lineup of dancefloor heavyweights and crowd-favourite club nights. With Wonderland (August 1) behind us, FTW! (August 5) returns with its signature big bash vibe. Resident spinners Kya and Zippy (August 7) take over next, followed by Australian hard dance producer Dimatik (August 8), whose high-octane sets are built for peak-time mayhem. Then on National Day (August 9), show your Singapore pride on the dancefloor with Clarity, curated by Culture SG. 

Find out more here.

Good food, cold beers, local brands and bands – that’s what you can expect at The Southern Market. Hosted by The Southern Depot at Gillman Barracks, The Southern Market returns with an SG61 edition highlighting homegrown craft, fashion, homeware, and bakery brands. Attendees can enjoy wood-fired pizzas, pub dishes, and fresh craft beers from Little Island Brewing Co., alongside live musical performances by acoustic duo Alyssa&Ash and singer-songwriter Xin Ya. The weekend gathering concludes with a live screening of the National Day Parade at the Stadium.

If you’d rather spend the National Day weekend treasure hunting – aka rummaging for hidden gems and discovering antique finds – then Ho Sin Sang Vintage Flea Market is where you’ll wanna be. Following a two-month break, the Ho Sin Sang Vintage Flea Market returns to its New Century studio for a two-day pop-up curated alongside DPickers. Shoppers can browse a curated selection of vintage streetwear, home decor, secondhand furniture, toys, plants, and handmade crafts. Specialty coffees and muffins from The Mixed Feelings, as well as sourdough loaves and cookies from Weirdough Club, are also available on-site.

We know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t that kind of National Day Rally. There’ll be no reports on national policies, budget breakdowns or a cameo from the PM here (as far as we know, at least). Instead, Laut hosts a one-day, unticketed National Day culinary gathering featuring a collaborative lineup of local F&B brands. Visitors can sample snacks from Orang Utan, Neapolitan-style pizzas by Chooby Pizza, and pastries from Chef Maxine Ngooi of Tigerlily Patisserie. Beverage options include local beers from The 1925 Brewing Co., natural wines by Glug Glug, amazake from Shokudo Club, coffee from Folk Yard, and classic Singapore Slings prepared by Laut.

Kampong Gelam celebrates National Day with an all-day festive programme featuring multicultural music, local film screenings, a children's play corner, and a mini-bazaar with indie food and craft stalls. Visitors can contribute to a collaborative batik-inspired community mural at Sultan Gate Park by reserving a timeslot in advance. Following a live broadcast of the parade, the district will screen two local football films: the short film Ordinary and the comedy One Leg Kicking.

Things are about to get red, white and campy at Two Queens Asia’s National Gay Party. Trade the annual parade for the campiest birthday celebration possible at Two Queens Asia National Gay Party. It features a Merlion Masquerade theme and an "Auntie Chic" dress code, with prizes awarded throughout the night. The event includes performances by drag host Secret Melur, Julzdelrey, and Tamaara.shan, with DJ Anna Stacia and DJ Amanda Chuin spinning a mix of hip-hop, R&B, and club tracks.

Calling all KTV kings and queens: it’s time to warm up your vocal cords. MandoHearts returns for a one-night Mandopop event centred on classic heartbreak ballads. The evening begins with a karaoke competition offering a $500 cash prize, followed by DJ sets from Gwen, Som J, and Brizzy featuring hits from Jay Chou, Hebe Tien, JJ Lin, Mayday, and G.E.M. At midnight, the party marks SG61 with a countdown set to songs by local artists including Stefanie Sun, Tanya Chua, and Kit Chan, before concluding with love songs.

To mark Singapore’s 61st birthday, the National Museum of Singapore is hosting a celebration packed with family-friendly workshops, craft activities, heritage hunts, and mini-concerts. The festival debuts the 4th Migrant Workers Photography Festival under the theme Favourite Haunts, alongside Voyage of Icons, a nightly projection-mapping show by artist Howie Kim tracing Singapore's journey. On August 9, all exhibitions – including Once Upon a Tide: Singapore’s Journey from Settlement to Global City and Singapore Odyssea – will be open for free, with a live NDP screening on the Front Lawn.

Missed some of the movie standouts at the Singapore International Film Festival 2025? SGIFF Replay, organised with Filmhouse, curates five crowd favourites and underrated hits from last year’s programme. The lineup includes the American drama Late Fame starring Willem Dafoe, the French sci-fi animation Arco, and Sho Miyake’s romantic film, Two Seasons, Two Strangers. Each movie will be accompanied by Q&A sessions and exclusive post-screening panel discussions with local filmmakers and activists, including virtual interviews with directors and a spoken-word performance by Spoke & Bird at the July 26 screening.

In its latest exhibition, Padimai Art & Tech Studio puts AI and cutting-edge technology at the forefront to explore how data and meme culture are shaping the future of Southeast Asia. Titled Islands in the Net, the showcase uses digital art and data archives to map the region’s place in the global network. Highlighted works include Safe Entry by Heman Chong, referencing the nation’s contact-tracing system, and A History of Intelligence in Asia by Ho Rui An. The exhibition also expands on the topic with research projects developed with major tech institutions.

Football's biggest finale is just around the corner, and you can catch every nail-biting moment alongside fellow fans. Whether you’re supporting one of the final four teams (France, Spain, England or Argentina) or just here for the drama, there are plenty of live screenings around the city that’ll deliver the electric atmosphere of match night. Settle yourself down at crowd-favourite spots like Lau Pa Sat, CHIJMES, SAFRA Clubhouses and Changi Airport, or if you prefer to catch the matches closer to home, there are also screenings at several community clubs and sports centres in the neighbourhoods like Tampines, Punggol and Bishan. Need some midnight fuel to keep you going? McDonald’s Marine Cove's final screening comes complete with free-flow chicken McNuggets and fries.

Check here for our full guide to World Cup fun across the city.

This year’s Orchid Extravaganza at Gardens by the Bay serves as a beautiful passport to Indonesia. The show puts more than 7,000 orchids on display, featuring native Indonesian varieties like the moon orchid and the giant tiger orchid, the world’s largest orchid species. These stunning blooms are surrounded by elements of wayang kulit and nine intricate sculptures handcrafted by 27 Balinese artisans. Using traditional anyaman weaving techniques, they have created larger–than–life depictions of Nusantara folklore and beloved icons like the Komodo dragon.

No submarine? No problem. You can still embark on an aquatic adventure to the darkest parts of the sea with Into the Ocean: Journey Beneath, the latest exhibition from ArtScience Museum, made in collaboration with OceanX. Marking its world premiere, this showcase plunges you into the deep blue using advanced filming technology to gather unseen footage of the ocean for the very first time.

Featuring five immersive zones, the exhibition is designed to make you feel like you’re actually descending into the ocean: it starts at the surface and brings you all the way down to the seabed, each section revealing how mesmerising and vast the body of water can get. The cinematic ocean visuals are completed with the works of internationally renowned artists like Marshmallow Laser Feast, Marco Barotti and Jana Winderen, alongside scientific studies by the National University of Singapore. Interspersed between the research and artworks are interactive activities that aim to help both kids and adults understand the importance of marine conservation.

An immersive floral wonderland made out of over 800,000 LEGO bricks has sprouted at Jewel Changi Airport. It marks the launch of Celebrate Jewel Blooms with LEGO Botanicals, the largest showcase of LEGO Botanicals in a mall in Southeast Asia. The larger-than-life installation begins at Jewel Forest Valley, where towering rose sculptures bloom amid the space’s lush, indoor greenery, before extending all the way up to the Canopy Park. There, the colourful bricks are turned into whimsical, floral-themed displays inspired by gardens from around the world.

Stroll through a zen Japanese garden, complete with water lilies and koi fish, before transporting yourself to a Mediterranean landscape filled with LEGO sunflowers, tulips and vine-covered pergolas. The floral adventure ends with a cosy autumnal scene inspired by the English countryside, featuring gnomes, woodland mushrooms and more.

From now until 26 July, 2026, don’t forget to join the stamp rally – collect stamps from seven locations across the mall for a chance to redeem a special souvenir at Jewel’s LEGO pop-up store.

Ever wanted to explore the deepest depths of the ocean? Well, now you can – and you won’t even have to take a submarine to experience it. Science Centre Singapore has teamed up with Tara Ocean Foundation, a leading nonprofit oceanographic research organisation, for the world debut of One Ocean: Every Action Ripples. It’s a multi-sensory exhibition that uses ocean research, technology and storytelling to let you discover the hidden worlds of the deep blue.

Across 10 immersive zones, the exhibition reveals how the vast ocean connects us all and acts as Earth’s heartbeat. Discover the wonders of the sea through 360-degree projections, free-roaming VR, spatial soundscapes, interactive research exhibits and more. The exhibition’s main highlight is 7 Wonders of the Ocean, a captivating installation that lets you experience a whale migration, witness bioluminescent marine life, and come face-to-face with the Great Barrier Reef.

Other unmissable highlights include a replica of the Arctic’s Tara Polar Station, a section on Singapore’s marine life, and a virtual reality exploration of how ecosystems such as mangroves, kelp forests, and plankton communities help manage the world’s carbon cycle.

Renowned Japanese contemporary artist and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto’s first major solo exhibition in Southeast Asia lands at Singapore Art Museum. Titled Form is Emptiness, a line drawn from foundational Buddhist text, the exhibition features over 60 works and fossils from his personal collection that outline five decades of artistic journey and expression.

Inspired by the concept of the Five Elements in Buddhist philosophy (earth, water, fire, air and space), the showcase unfolds in the shape of a mandala, inviting viewers to explore the works in a looping motion that feels continuous and seamless rather than linear. It also reflects the themes in Sugimoto’s works, which are marked by his curiosity and fascination with time and metaphysics. Beyond photography, the exhibition also dives into the expansion of the Tokyo-born artist’s photographic thinking, featuring his works in sculpture, large-scale installation, writing, and architectural design. Artwork highlights include the Brush Impression, Heart Sutra (2023), a magnificent curved wall with 288 gelatine silver calligraphy prints of Kanji characters, as well as U.A. Walker, New York (1978) and Tyrrhenian Sea, Scilla (1993), a series of black-and-white photographs of theatres and landscapes.

Desire and intimacy take centre stage at the National Gallery in Passion is Volcanic: Desire in Southeast Asian Art. Featuring over 70 works across various media, the exhibition examines how regional artists interpret human connection through diverse cultures and beliefs. Building on a 1953 essay by Nanyang artist Liu Kang, the showcase explores deep passion as a creative force across three sections: Asian Mythos and Ritual, Conventions of the Erotic, and Public Arenas/Private Interiors. Note that this thought-provoking exhibition is rated R18, so valid identification is required for entry to explore these delicate expressions of longing and historical contexts.

Explore the human body through Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy at the ArtScience Museum. This landmark exhibition, in partnership with the Getty Research Institute, traces how the body has been imagined from the 16th century to today. This Singapore edition highlights Asian perspectives, featuring over 40 objects from the Singapore College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and insights into Ayurveda. With 160+ artefacts, including life-sized illustrations, medical manuscripts, and scientific specimens, it’s a deep dive into medical history and art.

Once a trading port and now a commercial hub, the CBD isn’t just a workspace – it’s a district with plenty of forgotten stories, quiet characters and hidden memories. This is what Momentary Pulses: Art in the Central Business District, a commissioning series by The Everyday Museum and initiated by Singapore Art Museum, aims to uncover. Amid the city’s hustle and bustle are seven showcases by Singapore-based artists that have been seamlessly woven into public spaces along buildings and walkways. Each artwork has been designed to reflect, rather than distract, as it responds to the sights and sounds of the ever-evolving landscape. They invite us to look more closely at our everyday surroundings, pause, and let our imagination wander, offering a moment of calm and curiosity in a fast-paced environment.

In this larger-than-life artwork taking over the National Gallery’s Padang Atrium, contemporary Thai artist Navin Rawanchaikul captures the dynamic and passionate cultures and lives that make up the diverse Singaporean community. Following a year-long engagement with migrant workers, indigenous groups and faith organisations, the artist’s revelations and discoveries are translated into spectacular billboard paintings, video interviews and a travelogue that celebrates their vibrant stories and voices.

The showcase is supported by an enriching two-part programme that highlights the people who have inspired the installation. Join in on fireside chats with the artist to explore behind the scenes and the empowering migrant stories. Singaporama Unfolded Part I centres on Kaugnay, an organisation for Filipina domestic workers, and its fabulous Trashion Show, while Part II traces the history of migration in Singapore. The latter presents a performance of a traditional Indian folk dance by Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) Ambassadors, alongside a discussion on identity, community and collaboration.

Five women, over 50 artworks and one shared mission. This exhibition brings Southeast Asian artists Amanda Heng (Singapore), Dolorosa Sinaga (Indonesia), Imelda Cajipe-Endaya (Philippines), Nirmala Dutt (Malaysia) and Phaptawan Suwannakudt (Thailand) to display their work together in Singapore for the very first time. But more than just an art showcase, Fear No Power is a space to have a conversation about meaningful change and the artists’ decades-long commitment to it. Featuring photography, paintings, sculptures and performances that date all the way back to the 1960s, this multidisciplinary exhibition examines the concept of communal world-building across the region and what it means to forge a community. Every piece of work is an intimate and powerful reflection deeply rooted in care, collaboration and resistance.