World Traveler

I was travelling around South East Asia and luckily I stopped off for a week in Singapore in February, at what I reckon must be the best time of year to get there - Chinese New Year. Arriving just in time for the twelve days of celebrations that the country has. As the majority of the population of Singapore is Chinese, Malaysia and Indian, you can imagine that Chinese New Year is a pretty big thing. There were loads of events suitable for everyone, at different locations around the city so I tried to cram as many of them in as possible.

Along the river there were an abundance of stalls offering food, clothing, fun-fair games, kids fair ground rides and other random things to purchase. The whole area was decorated in lights and giant papier-mâché figures of the Chinese zodiac animals, the whole area was aglow with the amount of colours and lights, really amazing. Horoscopes were set up all over the place, so you could find the giant figurine of your zodiac sign and the read about what was in store for you the following year. There was also a big stage set up with various performances including music and dancing, and a magic show!

Other events around the city included free music performances in a few different outdoor areas around the city, fire works, plus there was a street parade followed with a street party. So much effort went into the parade with some amazing costumes, I watched excitedly for hours, the street party was a bit empty but there was disco lights and smoke machines (I’m a sucker for flashing lights – I must have been a moth in a previous life!)

They also set up huge screens at another riverside location where different films were shown every night, there were also loads of eateries there so you could make a night of it. All the Chinese New Year events were free to all and I had such a good time that I’m going back again this year!

Read about other Asian cities…..