When it comes to dressing up the streets in lights, the CBD is the prime location for dazzling installations – case in point, Light to Night 2024 and Singapore Night Festival 2023. Well, here’s another one that has graced the bustling streets of the city: i Light Singapore 2024, which is happening from 31st May to 23rd June 2024.
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i Light Singapore is a showcase of light art installations created by Singaporean and international artists. Taking place in the Marina Bay area annually, it aims to bring across concepts of sustainability and environmentally-friendly habits. This year’s theme is called “Cyclical Nature”, with a heavy focus on the colour green.
Is i Light Singapore free? Yes, it is. Much like last year’s edition of the event, there’ll be a few installations set up at South Beach and Millenia Walk too. For 2024, they’re sprucing up the Tanjong Pagar precinct with eye candy too, so slap on your best pair of walking shoes if you’d like to swing by all of them.
Plan your visit well and head down around 7pm when it’s a tad dark, so the light installations can really shine at their brightest. We also recommend dressing comfortably, as it can get pretty hot when you’re moving from one photo spot to the next, but don’t let that stop you from prettying yourself up; anything for the ‘Gram, right?
With that said, here are i Light Singapore 2024’s best installations to capture through your viewfinder, plus what else you can do once you’ve had your fill of posing for picture-perfect shots.
Right at the doorstep of MBS, the Kinetic Perspective display will take on the theme quite literally with its glowing rings of light stuck in perpetual motion. Watch on as the stretch of orbiting rings cycle through various animations and colours, making for quite a hypnotic spectacle.
Just be careful not to get too close to the artwork, and watch out for the larger ones at the front of the installation. The rings move indiscriminately, whether there are onlookers in its path or not, and getting bopped on the head while getting your shots taken is just plain silly.
Artist: Juan Fuentes Studio
Location: Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza
We found that the background music inside the Dandelion to be a little loud, so coordinate your poses before entering so you don’t have to mime to your friends taking your pics.
On first glance, this curious structure might look like an amalgamation of badminton shuttlecocks, but head inside and you’ll be blasted with a kaleidoscope of colours. Like its name suggests, the Dandelion emulates the free-spiritedness of dandelion petals, accompanied by an enigmatic soundtrack playing in the background.
There are also a slew of touch panels inside for you to play around with. Give them a bump, and they’ll respond by making the surrounding walls pulse vibrantly as a lil’ jingle plays. If you’ve got time, stick around to see the Dandelion burst into a symphony of lights and music every 5 minutes, and time your shutters to capture all its colourful glory.
Artist: Amigo & Amigo
Location: Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza
Remember that one scene in Avengers: Endgame where Captain America’s entire posse marched through portals in their last stand against Thanos? The Arc ZERO: Nimbus is just like that, minus the world-ending threat of the purple dude. The installation serves as a stark reminder, no pun intended, of our rapid urbanisation and use of finite resources.
This portal-like installation looks ethereal at a distance with the towering skyscrapers in the background, and makes for the perfect object to frame your shots with once you’re on its boardwalk. It continuously emits a shroud of mist, giving it a dreamy look. Don’t be alarmed when the mist suddenly stops; just give it a minute to recharge and it’ll be back to its wispy self.
Artist: Studio James Tapscott
Location: Pontoon near Red Dot Design Museum
Although it’s not quite Uluru, you don’t have to jet yourself to the great Australian outdoors to marvel at a massive rock. Just head to the Iwagumi Air Scape installation; it’s a collection of rock-like inflatables that light up in a myriad of different colours. It’s inspired by the Japanese art of Iwagumi, which is the arrangement of rocks in underwater gardening, but blown up to giant proportions.
You’re encouraged to walk amongst these air-filled rocks, as their colours and accompanying ambient soundtrack change based on the movement around them. Or, take a step back and observe them from afar, and you’ll be able to see the polished city skyline juxtaposed against the rugged artwork.
Artist: ENESS
Location: The Promontory at Marina Bay
From one inflatable to the next, this one’s not as impressive when it comes to scale, but it’s just too darn cute to miss. The unassuming blob is called BOB the nice world, and it greets all with a goofy smile plastered on its face.
Take a break here and watch the short film which plays on the sculpture’s belly; it’s a cute animation which urges for mindful action against the gloom of climate change.
Artist: BOB the nice guy
Location: Next to the entrance of Marina Bay Link Mall
Blink and you’ll miss it; the transient nature of the Alchemy of Atmosphere installation is meant to simulate a cluster of lightning strikes. Don’t worry, this one won’t burn you to a crisp, but we found it quite challenging to time our shots in accordance with the lightning bolts.
One trick is to use a long exposure, and use the crackles of lighting as an audio cue to click your shutters in the nick of time.
Artist: Janez Grošelj
Location: Lawn beside the NTUC Building
For those still young at heart, take a ride on any of the 7 swings on the Fountain of Happiness. However, this fountain is not filled with water, but instead represents the flow of liquids through ebbing lights above its swings.
Speaking of which, feel free to plop down on the swings for a throwback to your childhood days running amok at the playground. The seats of the swings light up in accordance with the fountain’s colours, and change once you start going back and forth. A playful musical note also emanates from the installation once in motion, so don’t be too alarmed when you hear them.
Artist: 27June Studio
Location: Clifford Square
Conceived by students from the Singapore University of Technology and Design, Liminal Minimal aims to bring across the message of waste when it comes to urban development. The installation is made of various structures which resemble houses, and uses remnants from building sites like wooden pallets and netting to shed light on sustainable practices.
Well, consider the light shone, as this artwork gleams beautifully under the cover of darkness. You can duck into the “houses” to inspect them up close, or use their glowing beams to line up your subject nicely.
Artist: Benjamin Lim & Yeo Soon Yii
Location: Waterfront promenade in front of Red Dot Design Museum
If you’d like to rest your weary soles for a bit, then the Pure Ring installation is where you wanna be. It’s essentially a huge, segmented onion ring that glows a bright white if no one is on it, but the magic begins when someone decides to take a seat.
Not sure why my segment did not light up in red; guess it was not meant to be.
Once your bum meets one of the Pure Ring’s many segments, it’ll react with a colour change. This prompts another segment to radiate in the same colour, coupling up 2 fated individuals who’ve both chosen to take a short respite on the ring at the same time. And that, kids, was how I met your mother.
Artist: Xu Dongliang
Location: Marina Bay Event Square
Another oversized everyday object can be found near Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade. This one requires you to crane your neck, as the Spin Me A Yarn installation features comically huge yarn balls hung overhead.
Just follow the neon-lit threads in the vicinity to find this piece of art; there’s even one on the ground located further back to strike a pose beside.
Artist: Studio Vertigo
Location: Mist Walk
No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you; those orbs of light skipping across Marina Bay’s waterfront are part of the Fish are Jumping installation. Inspired by fish leaping across the bay’s surface, it’s honestly quite therapeutic to gaze at.
Chill at the boardwalk steps nearby, and watch the faux fish dance before your very eyes. If you’re lucky, you might catch buskers serenading you with their soothing voices as you take a much-needed breather right at the water’s edge.
Artist: Studio Toer
Location: Waterbody near Marina Bay lower boardwalk steps
Don’t forget to visit the other satellite sites during the festival, if you don’t feel like bumping shoulders with the main crowd in the heart of the city. You’ll find the snake-like Lumi at South Beach’s Fountain Plaza, and it’s a winding strip of light shaped like a winding river to pay tribute to Singapore’s maritime heritage.
Over at Millenia Walk, visitors will be greeted by the larger-than-life Modern Guru and the Path to Artificial Happiness; we won’t spoil the surprise of this whimsical work of art, but it’s quite the reminder for us to seek contentment in the present. #deep.
Drop by Guoco Towers and Orchid Hotel in Tanjong Pagar to marvel at the BottleBlooms, a captivating display of approximately 1,000 upcycled plastic bottles that light up beautifully using stored solar power. At Tras Link Park, trees will be dressed with huge inflatable flowers that glow in the dark as part of the Hidden Gardens display.
There’s even a stage where live bands will be playing while you munch on your food.
This year, the pretty light installations ain’t the only things worth heading down to the CBD for. GastroBeats is partnering with i Light Singapore 2024 to ensure that you don’t walk around with a growling stomach. They’ll be setting up shop from 1st-30th June 2024, and will open from 4pm-11pm daily.
This time around, the vendors here will feature sustainably-produced goodies to complement i Light Singapore 2024’s green themes. Some to sniff out include La Levain’s Truffle Pizza ($19.80), as well as Yaca Pibil Tacos ($16) from Papi’s Tacos, which uses jackfruit as an interesting alternative to meat.
There’s plenty else to do here besides stuffing your face full of street food, so you’ll definitely want to make a stop here even if you’re not too peckish. We’ve spotted pop-ups from Coca-Cola and Ben & Jerry’s fitted with photo and game booths, and from the looks of it, they’re quickly turning into crowd favourites.
If that’s not enough to tickle your fancy, there’s a massive Uncle Ringo Carnival at GastroBeats too, complete with 10 amusement rides plus 8 carnival game booths to fill out your night.
Image credit: The Conscious Festival
To mellow out your evenings, The Conscious Festival will be held from 31st May to 2nd June, 7th to 9th June, and 21st June 2024.
They’ll be holding various activities and talks that invite visitors to reflect on mindfulness and our connection to Mother Earth. Held in the Marina Bay area, expect wellness workshops, music performances, and even an outdoor marketplace.
It goes without saying that i Light Singapore 2024 will provide some of the best backdrops for you to plaster all over your social media feeds. For even more inspo, take a look at some of the shots we’ve taken at i Light Singapore 2023.
For more things to look forward to in June, plan a skating date at RollerMania 2024, or visit the Naruto: The Gallery exhibition in Universal Studios Singapore. Otherwise, the new Hello Kitty cable cars at Mount Faber provide tons of cute photo ops, and the revamped KidZania is perfect to spend the last days of the June holidays at.
Photography by Shawn Low.
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