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The weekend guide · Fri 16 – Sun 18 October

Still on: Haw Ror Villa 5! Back from the Dead, Popaholic by the bay, Sundown at Curiosity Cove and Garden Rhapsody at Supertree Grove.

By JamieUpdated 15 October 20267 picks this weekend

If you only do one thing

Our pick of the weekend.

Hell's Museum Entrance 2
Our pick of the weekend
Thu–Sun · 6.30pm–midnight · Pasir Panjang

Haw Ror Villa 5! Back from the Dead

The scare for grown-ups who would rather be unsettled than startled. Haw Par Villa's painted hells are disturbing enough at noon; after dark they become four scare zones, a puzzle hunt through Hell's Museum and a haunted labyrinth. Go with friends who won't leave you in the maze. Last entry is well before midnight, so start early in the evening, and the Circle Line station of the same name makes getting home the easy part.

From S$55Haw Par Villa MRTBook on GetYourGuide
Good for friends, couples

The rest of the weekend

In the order we’d recommend them.

Campbell Lane in Little India
iPhoto: Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ended
Ended · Saturday 17 October · 8–10pm

Sangeetham under the stars

Little India

Saturday is the night to do the Deepavali bazaar properly. Graze your way down Campbell Lane through the festive snacks and the fairy lights, then claim a patch by the open stage for two hours of free music that runs from Carnatic classical to Bollywood. Come early for the spice-blending masterclass if you want to make a day of it. It's a short walk from Little India MRT; bring small notes for the stalls, and get to the stage before the music starts if you want somewhere to stand.

FreeLittle India MRTOfficial site
Good for families, couples, friends
Esplanade's spiked domes lit up at night across Marina Bay, with the Singapore Flyer behind
Fri–Sun · from 7pm

Popaholic by the bay

Marina Bay

Esplanade's free pop month moves outdoors at weekends, which makes the bayside amphitheatre the best free night in town. Saturday has the most sets, and its Jillets run from Avril Lavigne to Sabrina Carpenter; you will know the words. Arrive for the first set and you can stay for the lot. It's outdoors, so keep an umbrella in the bag, and Esplanade MRT is the easy way in and out.

FreeEsplanade MRTOfficial site
Good for friends, couples, solo
Mandai without the marathon
Fri–Sun · 6.30–9.30pm

Sundown at Curiosity Cove

Mandai

Our pick for families with under-tens who want Halloween without the screaming. Mandai's first Halloween night is the gentle kind: a four-challenge trail, a bubble show and a parade with a Best Dressed prize, so the costume is worth the effort. Small ones due in bed by nine can do the daytime version instead. Mandai is ulu, so plan the ride home before the parade ends rather than after.

From S$40, adult and childOfficial site
Good for families
A floral display inside the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay
iPhoto: Walter Lim, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ended
Ended · Daily till 9 Nov · 9am–9pm

Sunflowers in the Flower Dome

Marina Bay

The easiest evening plan at the Gardens. The annual sunflowers are in, staged around an ocean theme this year, and the dome stays open until 9pm, so there is no need to brave the afternoon heat. Go late, take your time in the air-conditioning, then walk straight out to the Supertree show. The sunflowers stay until 9 November, so this weekend is a choice rather than a deadline.

From S$8 (residents)Gardens by the Bay MRT or Bayfront MRTBook on Klook
Good for families, couples
Ended
Ended · Till Sat 17 Oct · 11am–8pm

Japan Rail Fair

Tanjong Pagar

The lunchtime stop of the weekend, and over by Saturday evening. Twenty-plus sakes from Isego Honten, Sendai pears, Hokkaido dairy and people who'll help you plan a rail trip through Tohoku, all on the Urban Park in front of Guoco Tower. Collect all 18 stamps if you like a mission with your lunch. Take Exit C at Tanjong Pagar MRT and you're there in about a minute.

FreeTanjong Pagar MRT Exit COfficial site
Good for friends, solo
Ended
Ended · Till 1 Nov · 11am–7pm

The Secret Vault

River Valley

The most surprising free hour of the weekend. GIC's first public exhibition turns Singapore's reserves into six rooms, and it is livelier than that sounds: budget a family's groceries as prices climb, then pick up a vintage phone to hear Goh Keng Swee. Teenagers who think economics is boring are the ideal audience. It runs until 1 November, so if this weekend is full, it will wait for the next.

FreeOfficial site
Good for families, friends, solo
Visitors on the grassy rooftop of the Supertree Observatory, looking out over Marina Bay
Nightly · 7.45pm and 8.45pm

Garden Rhapsody at Supertree Grove

Marina Bay

October's Supertree show is opera, and it costs nothing. Bring a mat and it's the cheapest family night of the weekend; add the sunflowers first and it's a date. There are two shows a night, so take children to the earlier one and keep the later one for yourselves. Lie back on the paving under the trees rather than watching from the edge.

FreeGardens by the Bay MRT or Bayfront MRTOfficial site
Good for couples, families
A whole steamed hairy crab with its roe exposed on a restaurant table
Till 30 Nov

Hairy crab season

Min Jiang

The splurge of the weekend, and the first full one of the hairy crab season. Min Jiang at Goodwood Park does two set menus; TungLok Signatures serves a whole 220g crab with seasonal courses, at Clarke Quay Central and Orchard Rendezvous Hotel. Pick Min Jiang for the setting, TungLok for the choice of branch. Book rather than walk in, and bring someone patient with shells.

From S$148++ per personOfficial site
Good for couples
Children and parents at the pretend hawker stalls of a play gallery at Children's Museum Singapore
Ended
Ended · Free till 12 Nov · 9am, 11am, 2pm, 4pm

Children's Museum Singapore

Civic District

The plan for a wet morning with small children. Entry is free until 12 November, but only by timed session, so book a slot before you leave home rather than at the door. Take the earliest session if you want the rest of the day free. It's on Coleman Street in the Civic District, so lunch is a short walk away.

FreeBook tickets
Good for families

New this weekend

Just opened. Be the first of your friends to go.

Installation view of Fan Chang Tien's ink retrospective at National Gallery Singapore
Opens Fri 16 Oct · till 31 Jan

Fan Chang Tien: Rhythm of the Southern Brush

Civic District

The ink painter who taught a generation gets his own retrospective: more than 70 works, tracing a life from Guangdong to Bangkok to Singapore in 1956. It's a quiet, absorbing hour on opening weekend, on Level 4 of the City Hall Wing, and free for Singaporeans and PRs. It runs until the end of January, so go now if you like a show while it's new, or save it for a wet day.

Free (Singaporeans and PRs)City Hall MRTBook on Klook
Good for solo, couples
Fri 7.30pm · Sat–Sun 3pm and 7.30pm

Fat Kids Are Harder to Kidnap

Civic District

Thirty-one sketches in 60 minutes, and the audience shouts out the order. Eighteen years in, the targets include the World Cup and the BTS comeback. Advisory 16: leave the kids, bring friends who heckle. The weekend matinees let you do it before dinner, and Funan is a short walk from City Hall MRT. The format rewards a loud group, so bring one; a quiet date will spend the hour being outshouted.

From S$35City Hall MRTBook tickets
Good for friends, couples

Last chance

These have now finished.

The National Museum of Singapore
iPhoto: Erwin Soo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ended
Ended · Ends Sunday

Stories of Everyday

Civic District

The last-chance pick for families. The museum's birthday weekend wraps up on Sunday with weaving, jamming sessions and a design market, and it's the friendliest way into the reopened history gallery. The celebrations are free; gallery admission differs for residents and visitors, so check before you go. Go in the morning and you'll have the afternoon for the Children's Museum or the Gallery.

Free (celebrations); gallery free for Singaporeans and PRs, S$18 for non-residentsBook on Klook
Good for families, solo
Tubs of ice cream in the display freezer at Tom's Palette
Ended
Ended · Last day Friday

Last scoops at Tom's Palette

Bugis

Twenty-one years of salted egg and nasi lemak gelato end on Friday. Go for the encore flavours and say goodbye properly, at Middle Road in Bugis or Hougang Street 21, whichever is nearer. Check the shop's page before you set off, since a last day is not the day to find a shutter down early.

Good for friends, solo
Ended
Ended · Ends Sunday

F1 Exhibition

Marina Bay

For anyone who missed the race, or can't stop talking about it. The exhibition ends on Sunday, and it's ticketed, with children's prices for ages 5 to 12. It's on the Gardens by the Bay MRT plaza, so pair it with the sunflowers and Garden Rhapsody for a full day at the Gardens rather than a separate trip.

From S$29Gardens by the Bay MRTOfficial site
Good for friends, families
Goodman Arts Centre, Block M with Block O alongside
iPhoto: Robert Sim, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Coming up next weekend · Saturday 24 October

HOME | GROUND at Goodman Arts Centre

One for next weekend's diary. Twenty-plus open studios from 10am, then music from NADA and Kiat into the night, workshops and a makers' market on the field. Some workshops need booking, so check before Saturday 24 October. Bring your own chair and stay for the evening programme, when the music starts; the studios are the daytime half. Mountbatten MRT is about a ten-minute walk.

Some workshops need booking; general entry terms not yet publishedMountbatten MRTOfficial site
Good for families, friends, couples

If you book through a partner link on this page, we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.

Sources and how we check

Dates, times and prices come from the organisers’ pages and the listings below. Plans change, so check the official site before you set off.