Goodman Arts Centre throws open its doors for its first festival

Most Singaporeans have driven past Goodman Arts Centre. On 24 October, nearly 70 tenants are asking you to stop.

You have driven past Goodman Arts Centre more times than you can count; Saturday 24 October is the day to stop. The former school campus, now home to nearly 70 arts tenants, holds its first festival, HOME | GROUND, and the right way in is early: more than 20 studios open from the morning, with works in progress and the artists on hand to talk about them, before the main programme takes over the field, the amphitheatre and a car park from late afternoon until night. Most of it is drop-in, so bring the family, a folding chair and no particular plan.

The site has had several lives: Tun Seri Lanang Malay Secondary School, then home to Lasalle College of the Arts and the School of the Arts. The festival leans into that history. In kiss the raindrops, Natalie Hennedige and Suhaili Safari lead storytelling sessions honouring the old secondary school, and a new Heritage Activation Node, HAN@Mountbatten, launches alongside with the National Heritage Board to dig into the neighbourhood’s lesser-known stories.

The workshops are the part we would plan the day around. Under the banner i thought you knew, artists teach everyday skills: how to iron a shirt with Nicole Goh, how to wrap a sarong, and a session where fathers learn to braid their children’s hair (a skill several of us could use before the next school run). Music comes from a DJ set in the field and an amphitheatre bill that, on the official page, runs hourly from Ian Woo with Jeremy Sharma at 6pm to NADA at 9pm, with Kiat at 8pm on the way. Arrive by 6pm and you can stay put on your chair. A car park becomes a makers’ market with food trucks.

A handful of workshops are booked through BookMyShow, so book those first. Bring your own folding chair: the field gathering asks visitors to supply one. Mountbatten MRT is about a 10-minute walk.

Good to know Saturday 24 October 2026, 4-10pm (open studios from 10am), Goodman Arts Centre, 90 Goodman Road. Mountbatten MRT (CC7) is about a 10-minute walk. Most activities are drop-in; some workshops need booking via BookMyShow. Details at artshousegroup.sg/gac-homeground.

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HOME | GROUND, Goodman Arts Centre | Goodman Arts Centre, 90 Goodman Road, Singapore 439053