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The weekend guide · Fri 23 – Sun 25 October

17 picks, led by Kusu Island's once-a-year pilgrimage season: two scare nights, skeleton divers at the Oceanarium, sunflowers under glass, jazz in a hotel lobby and SGIFF's first full weekend.

By JamieUpdated 21 October 202610 picks this weekend

If you only do one thing

Our pick of the weekend.

Devotees and incense smoke outside the Da Bo Gong temple on Kusu Island in pilgrimage season
Our pick of the weekend
Ferries hourly 7am–5pm · last boat back 7pm · Southern Islands

Kusu Island

Once a year, for one lunar month, devotees take the ferry to Kusu's Tua Pek Kong temple and the hilltop keramat, and anyone can go with them. The ferry from Marina South Pier is S$18 for adults at weekends. Go on Saturday morning: SLA warns of weekend queues, and the last boat back is at 7pm.

Ferry S$18 adults at weekends, S$12 childrenMarina South Pier MRTBook on Klook
Good for solo, couples, families

The rest of the weekend

In the order we’d recommend them.

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 · 9am–9pm, till 9 Nov

Sunflowers in the Flower Dome

Marina Bay

The one plan the rain can't touch. More than 5,000 sunflowers, some taller than your dad, under glass in a dome dressed as Portugal, with a 6m Belém Lighthouse to pose by. Go on Saturday morning, then come back after dark for Garden Rhapsody at 7.45pm.

Residents: S$12 adults, S$8 children and seniorsGardens by the Bay MRTBook on Klook
Good for families, couples
The Battlestar Galactica roller coaster at Universal Studios Singapore lit up at night, its tracks looping over the lagoon
iPhoto: Ronnie Liew; derivative work by Themeparkgc, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ended
Ended · Thu 22–Sat 24 Oct · 7.30pm–12.30am (not Sunday)

Halloween Horror Nights 14

Sentosa

The big scare, with a local accent: the karang guni house is the one only Singapore could make. Thursday to Saturday are peak nights, so arrive at the 7.30pm opening and do the houses first. Not recommended for under-13s, and Resorts World means it.

S$78HarbourFront MRTBook on Klook
Good for friends, couples
Inside Hell's Museum at Haw Par Villa, a museum of death and the afterlife
Fri & Sat · 6.30pm–midnight

Haw Ror Villa 5

Pasir Panjang

Singapore's own scare night, staged in the park built to show Chinese hell. It's smaller and stranger than Horror Nights and designed for older teens and adults. Open Friday and Saturday this weekend; tickets are non-refundable and on-site sales are limited, so book first.

Ticketed, non-refundableOfficial site
Good for friends, couples
Fri & Sat · 8pm

The Jazz Social

Bugis

James Flynn plays the hotel's lobby lounge on Friday and Saturday at 8pm: a seated, grown-up jazz night that suits a date better than a bar crawl. S$38 gets you in; S$68 buys a better seat and a glass of champagne.

S$38, or S$68 with premium seat · 18+Book tickets
Good for couples
Mandai without the marathon
Ended
Ended · Daily 10am–5.30pm · Sundown Fri–Sun 6.30–9.30pm

The Mischief Within

Mandai

Halloween for children who would be terrified by Horror Nights: a clue-and-stamp mission to help Al and Min solve a mystery. Daytime is included with Curiosity Cove admission; Sundown, after dark this Friday to Sunday, is its own ticket and suits older kids.

Official site
Good for families
Thu–Mon · lunch 12–3pm, dinner 6–10pm

Aro

Robertson Quay

Johanne Siy's new restaurant, in the former Esora space. It's a tasting menu, so this is the weekend's special-occasion dinner rather than a drop-in: book ahead through the restaurant's page, and note it's closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tasting menu; book aheadBook a table
Good for couples
Esplanade's spiked domes lit up at night across Marina Bay, with the Singapore Flyer behind
Ended
Ended · Fri–Sun · free, till 30 Oct

Popaholic

Marina Bay

Esplanade's free pop month runs to 30 October, and this weekend's sets include Love, NurJannah on Friday, pov: Ari made Izzy on Saturday and Songs I know because of TikTok on Sunday. Free and easy to drop into before dinner; check the times on Esplanade's page.

FreeEsplanade MRTOfficial site
Good for friends, couples, solo

New this weekend

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

The Capitol Theatre's vertical neon sign and art deco facade lit up at night, with fountains in the plaza in front
iPhoto: Jacklee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ended
Ended · Till 1 Nov · venues across the city

Singapore International Film Festival

Cinemas and venues across Singapore

SGIFF opened on Wednesday, and this is its first full weekend. Book one film you'd never catch at the multiplex, online only, and arrive early: ten minutes late and your seat goes to the rush queue.

S$10–25Book tickets
Good for friends, couples, solo
Geylang Wed–Sun 12–7pm · Esplanade Tunnel free

SIPF

Geylang

The photography festival's tenth edition has just opened across Geylang and the Esplanade Tunnel. The tunnel show is free; the Geylang shows are the deeper visit, open Wednesday to Sunday afternoons. Saturday's 1pm guided walkthrough at Esplanade costs S$15.

Esplanade free; Geylang S$15–20; Festival Pass S$50Book tickets
Good for solo, couples
The National Museum of Singapore
iPhoto: Erwin Soo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Daily 10am–7pm · gallery reopened 10 Oct

Singapore History Gallery

Civic District

The museum's flagship gallery reopened on 10 October after its first full revamp since 2006, with a new immersive opening, a restored 1970s HDB lift and far more on Singapore after the 1980s. Free for Singaporeans and PRs, and fully indoors.

Free for Singaporeans and PRsBook on Klook
Good for families, solo, couples

Last chance

These have now finished.

Ended
Ended · Ends Sunday

Bloomyard

Marina Bay

A walk-through floral installation with play areas, indoors at Gardens by the Bay and in its final weekend. It's small, so pair it with the sunflowers in the Flower Dome rather than making a separate trip.

Adults from S$15.40, children S$11.20Book tickets
Good for families

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.