5 Reasons you and your family ABSOLUTELY need to visit this year’s i Light Marina Bay Sustainable Light Art Festival, with TIPS  for you to maximise your experience! Read on!

First, a sneak peek of #i Light Marina Bay 2017 in this short video clip:

i Light Marina Bay 2017

Dates: 3 to 26 March 2017

Time: 7.30pm to 11pm (daily with an extension to 12.00mn on Fridays and Saturdays)

Admission: The light art installations are free for the public to enjoy. But admission to the Art-Zoo is ticketed. 

From walking among beautiful ‘Butterflies’ to bouncing around on huge inflatable animals; from admiring the intricate details of a giant ‘Urchin’ to gazing at the ‘Northern Lights’ in Singapore…yes, the Northern Lights IN Singapore, we give you 5 reasons why this year’s I Light Marina Bay is a must-visit for everyone!

 1. 3-in-1: This year there’s not just 1 but 3 large venues for the event. Spreading across the Marina Bay area there’s

• Art-Zoo at The Float
• Fantastical World of Eco.me at The Promontory
• Gastrobeats at the Bayfront Event Space in front of Marina Bay Sands

 There’s space for everyone to enjoy this year’s festival at our own pace and time. So, come on down!

 2. Art-Zoo: Situated at The Floating Platform, kids and adults alike can let their hair down and let their hearts take over as they bounce and slide together at this huge bouncy ‘Zoo’ filled with inflatable animals, each representing a letter from A to Z.

Grazing the Marina Bay frontage, you won’t be able to miss this place: A giant whale, a huge friendly spider and more. Come on down to have some family fun and bonding. Art-Zoo is a ticketed event (S$15 per ticket, S$50 for 4 tickets – cheaper than most indoor playgrounds or trampoline facilities) so do buy your tickets early! Kids under 2 go in free. Check ticketing and admission policy here.  You can buy the tickets online, on site or at all SingPost outlets.  Flash your PASSION CARD at the Ticketing Counters on-site to enjoy SGD3 off per ticket!  Scroll to the bottom of our post for a chance to win tickets to Art-Zoo.

Art-Zoo | 3 – 26 March 2017 |  Monday – Friday: 5.00pm – 11.00pm | Saturday & Sunday: 2.00pm – 11.00pm | Last Entry at 10.30pm

 3. Hands-on, Hearts-on: There are so many opportunity to learn about sustainability and the arts through fun, engaging installations at this year’s event. The entire promontory area is dedicated to the theme of sustainability. As you admire the art installations, nurture a love for nature and art with your children by speaking to them about the significance of these art pieces and the importance sustainability in our daily living.

 4. Learn through Play: There are so many interactive art installations this year and it’s such a priceless way to teach our kids to appreciate art through these out of the box, fun and beautiful art installations. Best of all, involve everyone and make the learning meaningful and memorable.

 5. Eat, Eat, Eat: Gastrobeats is a large outdoor dining area at the Bayfront Event Space which offers a range of delectable finger food and drinks. From lobster burgers to truffle fries and craft beers, from hipster smoothies to your all-time favorite ice-creams, they are all there! So head down for a meal before you walk the calories off around the bay.

Tips to ‘Survive’ i Light Marina Bay 2017:

1. Wear light attire and comfortable shoes: This is an OUTDOOR art exhibition that spans across the entire Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade. So dress comfortably and be prepared to devote minimum 2 hours to maximize your visit.

 2. Umbrella? Yes. You know how our weather is like. The art installations are mostly outdoors this year so come prepared to enjoy the event come rain or shine…literally!

 3. Is it suitable for young kids? Yes, yes yes. As long as they can walk, run and jump…bring them along. You’re in for a memorable family time! Art-Zoo at The Float would be a good place to start, followed by The Esplanade. The Merlion, and The Promontory.

4. Where to park? : Open air parking spaces are available next to Marina Bay Sands but they are limited. Alternatively you can park at these places:

• Marina Square (and go to Art-Zoo first)
• Marina Bay Sands (and go to Gastrobeats first)
• Marina Bay Financial District (and go to The Promontory first)
• Fullerton Bay Hotel 

5. What about Public Transport? If parking is a concern for you, then do take public transport. Marina Bay is easily accessible via public buses and train. To get to the Marina Bay waterfront by train, alight at

• City Hall, Raffles Place or Marina Bay Stations on the North-South Line; or
• Promenade, Bayfront or Esplanade Stations on the Circle Line; or
• Downtown Station on the Downtown Line.

Details about the Festival: 

Organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), i Light Marina Bay is Asia’s leading sustainable light art festival. The festival is a showcase of light art installations created by artists from Singapore and around the world. Installed around the Marina Bay waterfront, the light art installations are designed with energy-saving lighting or environmentally-friendly materials to reinforce Marina Bay’s position as a sustainable precinct and serve as reminders to encourage festival goers and the general public to adopt sustainable habits in their everyday lives. 

At the fifth edition of the festival this year, artists from nine countries, including Singapore, are presenting 20 sustainable light art installations anchored on the theme “Light & Nature” to invite the public to consider the relationship of light with nature and the city.

The light art installations will line the Marina Bay waterfront from 3 to 26 March 2017, 7.30pm to 11pm daily with an extension to 12.00mn on Fridays and Saturdays. The light art installations are free for the public to enjoy.

For the full list of installations, visit www.ilightmarinabay.sg/discover/installations

A Festival of Firsts

This festival will see the highest participation from local educational institutions in its history – with students from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore University of Technology and Design, LASALLE College of the Arts and Raffles College of Higher Education presenting artworks. Also for the first time, there will be 3 complementary themed festival hubs to add to the visitor experience.

FESTIVAL HUB 1: The Fantastical World of eco.me

Inspired by themes of light and nature, The Fantastical World of eco.me will see The Promontory @ Marina Bay transformed into an enchanting playscape illuminated by gigantic nature-themed light installations. Through fun and play, eco.me aims to evoke a sense of wonder in all of us to better appreciate the environment, to embrace lifelong learning and to embark on our own personal sustainability journey.

The Fantastical World of eco.me will present two weekends of themed activities from immersive theatre performances, ‘live’ music, arts and craft fair, urban farming showcases and educational talks that celebrate ecological and social sustainability.  Find out more information at http://eco-me.sg/.  

Among the 20 art installations showcased at this year’s i Light Marina Bay 2017, we caught those which are ready at the Media Preview and boy, they are mesmerizing!

1. HORIZONTAL INTERFERENCE | Katarzyna Malejka & Joachim Slugocki | Poland

Horizontal Interference is formed by a colourful cord construction which connects the trees in a simple manner. This architecture of wires, itself already beautiful in the day, turns into a spectacular beauty at nightfall. A simple, yet ingenious illumination merges the natural and constructed elements, creating a poetic and powerful image, moving in the wind.

2. HOMEX Bella Skyway Festival | Anna Galas, Maciej Slominski and Aleksander Sawicki

Here in this urban jungle stands an illusory image of an immediately recognizable home using light – as if a child’s sketch or an unreal mirage among the city-scape. Home is a place of safety and a shelter, illuminating the dark and attracting stray wanderers like a lighthouse in the chaos.

3. NORTHERN LIGHTS | X Amsterdam Light Festival | Aleksandra Stratimirovic | Sweden

Northern Lights is a light-art piece inspired by the enthralling experience of the aurora borealis, the spectacular and poetic natural light phenomenon that occurs in the sky of the northern hemisphere. Using a carefully programmed light story performed through 100 vertically positioned light lines equipped with LED sources, the dynamic movement of the lights evokes a mesmerizing and poetic sensation in an unpredictable flow which interacts intimately with its surroundings.

4.  I LIGHT YOU SO MUCH | Eko Prawoto | Indonesia

Light is energy, and energy gives life. Light, therefore, gives life. Beyond light as utilitarian and functional, I Light You So Much aims to share a life experience of an object using light. A kinetic installation consisting of lines and light, the installation is made out of bamboo – believed to store positive energy – and moves in reaction to the wind, and visualizes this hidden energy in the presence of light.

5. SOCIAL SPARKLES | Toer | The Netherlands

A swarm of fireflies follows you through the forest – a hundred individual lights are hung overhead, lighting up and sparkling as you walk underneath them, following you. And as soon as they appear, they disappear and the sky is dark again.

6. THE URCHIN | Jin Choi and Thomas Adam Shine | USA

Lace symbolically weaves different people and cultures, while physically, the openings in the woven surface create patterns of light against the dark sky, water and city, a juxtaposition of a permeable surface on different visual layers. Inspired by the sea urchin, the textured and permeable surface interacting with light creates openness; while the pattern’s mathematical repetition brings visual rhythm and harmony. At night, the illuminated Urchins make their occupants glow, but during the day, the Urchins interact with natural light projecting shadow patterns over the boardwalk and offer sheltering shade under the sun. 

7. YOU LOOKIN’ AT ME? | Tropism Art and Science Collective | The Netherlands

Giant glowing eyeballs with colourful irises stare into the distance, and snap to attention when a visitor approaches. In a primal response, the eyeballs start to look more skittish, and attempt to “scare” the intruder away and morph into a series of different eyes to dissuade the curious onlookers from hanging around for too long.

8. THE BODY OF THE SEA | Danny Rose | France

As the evening fades into night, the Merlion seems to breathe in the water of Marina Bay, creating a flowing and extraordinary dress made out of matter from the sea. Successive waves of seawater give the Merlion a coral dress, a surreal skin of fish, shells and other marine creatures. This endless ebb and flow of colours, images and sound come together to give shape to the Soul of the Sea.

9. SECRET GALAXIES | Syndicate ft Brandon Tay, Kiat & Safuan Johari | Singapore

Secret Galaxies presents a confluence of visual imageries based on the humanistic relationships with the night sky. Accessible by all and yet almost untouched by mankind, this celestial view plays many roles in our psyche and everyday lives. As we blur the hard lines that separate science, faith, art, and magic, it is through this convergent lens that we invite you to view these Secret Galaxies.

10. MOONFLOWER | Yun | Singapore

A luminiscent display of flowers that glow in the dark, inviting passers-by to take a walk through the garden in the dark. Each individual unit of flower is powered by its own solar powered LED. The modular, wireless nature of the display allows it to take on a second life in people’s gardens after i Light Marina Bay 2017.

11.  THE COLORFUL GARDEN OF LIGHT | TILT | France

These curious plants at an impressive scale adorn the Marina Bay, and offer the audience a chance to celebrate the new spring. A delightful courtship between these peonies the multi-coloured butterflies takes place in a dazzling chromatic show, changing colours and bringing an unusual and surprising relationship between nature and the city.

FESTIVAL HUB 2: Art-Zoo, an imaginative inflatable play-garden at The Float.

Art-Zoo, a festival hub at The Float @ Marina Bay, will house 11 larger-than-life inflatable art installations in a giant play-garden. From plants, animals, to ecosystems that represent different letters of the alphabet, Art-Zoo explores nature through the perspective of art in an imaginative landscape.

From maneuvering through a Giraffe maze to walking through the belly of a Whale or taking pictures with a towering Spider, this interactive and visual adventure promises great fun for the young and the young-at-heart. Entrance to Art-Zoo is ticketed as part of the ticketing proceeds going to beneficiaries from Students Care Service and Focus on the Family Singapore.

With Art-Zoo, we want to recreate fond childhood memories of visiting the Singapore Zoo with our families, but adding a twist by bringing the zoo into the city, and combining it with the concept of an art gallery. We hope that through these interactive installations, visitors will be able to learn about nature and environmental sustainability in a fun and engaging way.” – Art-Zoo creator, Mr Jackson Tan.

Ticketing details on Art-Zoo can be found on www.artzoo.sg. For a sneak peek at what Art-Zoo offer, hop over to our friend blog, A Million Little Echoes. Please note there’s no re-entry into the Art-Zoo once you exit (even for toilet breaks) so best to bring the kids to the loo before you enter.

FESTIVAL HUB 3: Gastrobeats (held at the Bayfront Event Space, next to MBS)