By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Both days are gazetted public holidaysSaturday 6 February 2027
- Where
- Chinatown and the Kreta Ayer district
- Tickets
- Free to watch in places, ticketed at the main venues
- Time of year
- January or February
- Dates
- Move each year with the lunar calendar
The two public holidays are the core, but the season around them is much longer: the Chinatown light-up switches on several weeks ahead and the street bazaar runs from then until the eve. The Chingay parade and the River Hongbao carnival are staged in the week or two after, on dates the organisers publish in the autumn.
The thing worth knowing before you book is that a good deal of Singapore closes, and the closures land on the two days most visitors have circled. Hawker stalls, independent restaurants and family businesses shut for the first two days and some stay shut longer. That is not a reason to avoid the trip, but it does change what you can do, and the neighbourhoods that stay open are not the obvious ones.
What Chinese New Year actually is
Singapore is a majority Chinese city and this is its biggest festival by a wide margin. It runs on the lunar calendar, so it moves between the middle of January and the middle of February, and the public holiday covers the first two days. Around them sits a much longer season: Chinatown is strung with lights and a street bazaar for weeks beforehand, the Chingay parade fills a night in the fortnight afterwards, and the River Hongbao carnival runs across the same stretch. The eve is the important one for families, who eat a reunion dinner together and are largely not out in public.
Where to watch Chinese New Year
- Chinatown, for the light-up and the street bazaar. The lights go up several weeks ahead and the bazaar fills Pagoda, Trengganu and Sago Streets with waxed meat, pineapple tarts, bak kwa queues and lanterns. This is the best value part of the whole season and it is at its busiest in the ten days before the eve. Go on a weekday evening rather than a weekend if you want to move.
- Gardens by the Bay, for River Hongbao. ⚠️ This has moved and a great many guides have not caught up. The carnival of giant illuminated lanterns used to be staged on the floating platform at Marina Bay; it is now at Gardens by the Bay. That is a genuine improvement, because the Supertrees and the lanterns share a site: you can watch the Garden Rhapsody light show and walk straight into the lantern field without leaving the gardens.
- The Chingay parade route. Billed as the largest street parade in Asia, staged around the F1 Pit Building with thousands of performers, floats and a pyrotechnic finish. Grandstand seats sell through SISTIC and the good ones go early, but the route has free public viewing and the two hours of build-up along the barriers, with crews and performers in costume and in high spirits, is half the experience.
- Little India and Kampong Glam, for anywhere still open. This is the practical one. When the Chinese-run food scene closes, these two districts carry on almost unaffected, and they are ten minutes away on the rail network. Knowing that in advance is the difference between a good couple of days and standing outside shuttered hawker centres.
- Any of the big temples, on the eve and the first morning. Thian Hock Keng and the temples around Chinatown fill with people bringing offerings, and the atmosphere is quite different from the street festival a few hundred metres away. Free, and worth an hour.
Tickets and what it costs
Almost all of it is free. The light-up, the bazaar, the temples and the lantern displays cost nothing beyond what you eat. Chingay is the exception: grandstand seating is ticketed and sells through SISTIC well ahead, with the better seats going first, though the parade route itself can be watched from the public barriers for nothing. Where the money actually goes over this period is accommodation and food, because hotel rates climb through the festival window and the restaurants that do open for the reunion-dinner period run set menus at set-menu prices.
Official information and booking: chinatownfestivals.sg
Getting there
Chinatown has its own station on the North East and Downtown lines, and Telok Ayer and Maxwell are both a short walk from the same district. Gardens by the Bay is a walk from Bayfront. Rail runs extended hours over the festival nights and it is by far the easiest way in and out, because the roads around Chinatown are closed to traffic for the bazaar. Note that on the first two days some bus services run to a holiday timetable and taxis carry a public holiday surcharge.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Planning your eating around hawker centres on the first two days
Stalls are individually run by families who are, quite reasonably, spending the holiday with their families. Whole sections of a hawker centre can be closed, and some stalls stay shut for a week. Check ahead, keep Little India and Kampong Glam as the backup, and treat anything that is open as a bonus.
Booking for the festival and arriving for the light-up
These are two different trips. The lights and the bazaar run for weeks before the holiday; the festival itself is the eve and the two days. Arriving early gets you a very good decorated street and none of the event, which is fine if it is what you intended and disappointing if it is not.
Going to Marina Bay for River Hongbao
It moved to Gardens by the Bay. The old floating platform site is being rebuilt, and guidance that still sends people to Marina Bay for the lanterns is out of date.
Expecting the eve to be a street party
The eve is a family night. Reunion dinner is at home or in a booked restaurant, and the public streets are quieter than the days before. If you want crowds and noise, the bazaar in the run-up and Chingay afterwards are where they are.
Underestimating the hotel market
This is one of the tightest accommodation windows of the Singaporean year, and it draws regional visitors as well as long-haul ones. Rates rise well before the holiday itself. Book months out or accept paying for the privilege of deciding late.
Other Singapore events
Frequently asked questions
Does Singapore shut down for Chinese New Year?
Substantially, for the first two days. Hawker stalls, independent restaurants and small family businesses close, and some stay closed for up to a week. Malls, hotels, attractions and the rail network keep running. Little India and Kampong Glam are barely affected and are the reliable answer for food.
When does the Chinatown light-up start?
Several weeks before the holiday itself, typically three to four, and it stays up through the festival period. The street bazaar on Pagoda, Trengganu and Sago Streets runs across the same stretch and winds up on the eve.
Where is River Hongbao now held?
At Gardens by the Bay. It used to be staged on the floating platform at Marina Bay, which is being redeveloped, and a lot of published guidance has not been updated. The current site is better: the lantern field and the Supertree light show are a short walk apart.
Is the Chingay parade free?
The route has free public viewing, and the build-up along the barriers is a large part of the experience. Grandstand seating is ticketed through SISTIC and the better seats sell early. The parade is staged around the F1 Pit Building.
Is it a good time to visit Singapore?
It is a genuinely spectacular time to see the city, provided you plan around the closures and book early. The weather is usually at its most comfortable, the decorations are everywhere, and there is more happening than at any other point in the year. It is not the trip for someone whose plan was to eat their way through the hawker centres.
How long does the whole season last?
Roughly six weeks from the light-up to the end of the parade and carnival programme. The two public holidays are the centre, the bazaar runs for weeks before, and Chingay and River Hongbao come afterwards, on dates the organisers publish in the autumn.
Sources
- Chinatown Festivals, official light-up and bazaar information
- Ministry of Manpower gazetted public holidays
- Visit Singapore festivals and events
- SISTIC, official ticketing for Chingay
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.