By SGN | 30 Dec 2022
FESTIVAL
1
Light to Night Festival (6 – 26 Jan)
Organised by the National Gallery Singapore, the Light to Night Festival returns with over 60 programmes held in the Civic District, including musical performances, stand-up comedy acts, and the return of the Art X Social Festival Market.
Anchoring the festival is a collection of mesmerising art and light installations responding to this year’s theme, ‘Here and Now’, exploring what it means to be truly in the present.
Learn more at nationalgallery.sg
Also check out: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival (4 – 15 Jan), Singapore Art Week (6 – 15 Jan), Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts (27 Jan – 5 Feb), Glow Festival 2023 (4 – 12 Feb), Singapore International Festival of Arts (19 May – 4 Jun)
MUSICAL
2
Frozen (5 Feb – 5 Mar)
This highly anticipated musical adaptation of the modern Disney classic Frozen is coming to the Sands Theatre for a four-week engagement, bringing favourite tunes from the film such as Let It Go and Love Is an Open Door, plus 12 new songs specially written for the stage.
Originally premiered on Broadway in 2018, the production is now touring the world, with Singapore being its only stop in Southeast Asia.
Learn more at frozenthemusical.sg
Also check out: We Will Rock You (5 – 22 Jan), The Paiseh Pieces (8 – 12 Feb), Ashvin Gidwani’s Devdas – The Musical (21 – 23 Apr), Into the Woods (27 Oct – 12 Nov)
POP/ROCK CONCERT
3
Blackpink: Born Pink World Tour (13 May)
Global K-pop phenomenon Blackpink is set to deliver an electrifying performance at the Singapore National Stadium this May, on the Asian leg of the Born Pink World Tour.
The tour, which has thrilled audiences across Europe and North America, is in support of their history-making second studio album Born Pink, the first record by a K-pop girl group to top the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart.
Tickets may have officially sold out within 90 minutes in November, but many remain circulating online for resale – likely at outrageous prices!
Learn more at sportshub.com.sg
Also check out: Kehlani: Blue Water Road Trip (6 Feb), Red Hot Chili Peppers: Live in Singapore 2023 (16 Feb), Backstreet Boys: DNA World Tour 2023 (22 Feb), Arctic Monkeys: Asia Tour 2023 (28 Feb), Pentatonix: The World Tour (6 Mar), Harry Styles: Love on Tour (17 Mar)
CLASSICAL MUSIC
4
Joe Hisaishi in Concert (20 – 21 Apr)
Famed for his unforgettable scores of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films, composer Joe Hisaishi conducts the Singapore Symphony Orchestra at the Esplanade Concert Hall over two nights in April.
The two-hour concert will include pieces by French composer Maurice Ravel, Hisaishi’s new work Viola Saga, and the Spirited Away Suite, featuring a piano performance by the maestro himself.
Learn more at sso.org.sg
Also check out: Time Remembered – Bill Evans (8 Jan), Transfigured Night (15 Jan), Opera Gala Spectacular (2 Feb), Maksim: The Collection (16 Feb), Yiruma: Live in Singapore 2023 (15 Apr), Kings & Queens of Opera (5 May)
EXHIBITION/EXPO
5
29rooms (10 Feb – 16 Apr)
Launched in 2015, the roving experiential exhibition 29rooms will make its first appearance outside North America at the West Lawn in Gardens by the Bay.
For ten weeks, visitors can immerse themselves in 29 interactive out-of-this-world environments – ranging from playful to absurd – curated by local artists and international celebrities (the full lineup is yet to be announced). Get those cameras ready!
This edition, themed ‘Lost and Found’, will also feature XRoom, a 800 sqm event space hosting workshops, music performances, restaurant pop-ups, and more.
Learn more at 29rooms.sg
Also check out: #Metazomia (Till 20 Jan), Singapore Motorshow 2023 (12 – 15 Jan), Pulp III (6 – 24 Jan), ART SG (12 – 15 Jan), Anime Festival Asia (24 – 26 Nov)
THEATRE
6
The Butterfly Lovers (3 – 6 May)
Singapore’s Wild Rice and Australia’s Victorian Opera present a cross-cultural interpretation of the classic Chinese folktale The Butterfly Lovers, the tragic story of star-crossed lovers Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.
Following its world premiere in Melbourne, this inspired collaboration – between Singapore theatremakers Ivan Heng and Joel Tan, Australian composer Richard Mills, and an international cast of performers – now brings the epic tale to Victoria Theatre in Singapore.
Learn more at wildrice.com.sg
Also check out: An Inspector Calls (2 – 19 Mar), Rupi Kaur World Tour (4 Apr), Doubt (2 – 18 Jun), Hotel (8 Jun – 8 Jul)
DANCE
7
13 Tongues (3 – 4 Feb)
Part of Esplanade’s Huayi – Chinese Festival of the Arts, this performance by the renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan offers a visual and sonic feast with serpentine movement, entrancing light projection, and a hypnotic soundtrack of electronica, folk songs and Taoist chants.
13 Tongues – which takes its name from a legendary 1960s street artist and storyteller who performed on the bustling streets of Bangka – is artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung’s love letter to his childhood memories of Taipei’s oldest district.
Learn more at esplanade.com
Also check out: Gerak (18 – 19 Feb), Don Quixote (16 – 19 Mar), Cinderella (14 – 17 Dec)
COMEDY
8
Daniel Sloss: Can’t (23 Mar)
Daniel Sloss – the Scottish stand-up comedian behind Netflix specials DARK and Jigsaw – brings his 12th solo show, Can’t, to the Theatre at Mediacorp.
The critically acclaimed comic, who has been performing since he was 16, promises big laughs while exploring some of life’s more uncomfortable topics.
Learn more at sistic.com.sg
Also check out: The Dark Room (13 – 14 Jan), Russell Peters: Act Your Age World Tour (25 Feb)
KIDS
9
Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show (10 – 21 May)
The stop-motion TV series Shaun the Sheep comes to life in this uproariously inventive staging by Australian circus ensemble Circa. With a dazzling blend of dance, theatre, acrobatics and circus tricks, this charming production is sure to take kids on an un-baaa-lievable ride!
Learn more at marinabaysands.com
Also check out: Fly High (1 – 19 Feb), The Tiger Who Came to Tea (8 – 12 Feb), Introduction to Don Quixote (18 Feb), Disney on Ice: Mickey and Friends (11 – 19 Mar), Journey Around the World (18 – 19 Mar), Just As I Am (21 Apr – 7 May), The Composer and the Mouse (17 Jun)
SPORTS
10
Olympics Esports Week (22 – 25 Jun)
Virtual sports take centre stage as Singapore hosts the inaugural Olympic Esports Week this June. Participants will get to watch show matches in hybrid physical and simulated sports, attend panel discussions, and view exhibitions on the latest technologies.
This marks another milestone for Singapore in creating Olympic history, having also been the host of the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
Learn more at olympics.com
Also check out: 2023 ABL Invitational (2 – 8 Jan), Singapore Sail Grand Prix (14 – 15 Jan), Singapore Smash 2023 (7 – 19 Mar), LIV Golf 2023 (28 – 30 Apr), Singapore Badminton Open 2023 (6 – 11 Jun), Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix (15 – 17 Sep)
