Esplanade

The building was a punchline before it was a landmark. The free gigs are why you'll keep coming back.

Esplanade is the easiest culture in the city, because the best way in costs nothing. The free performances by the water are for anyone who says they're not an arts type; the ticketed shows are for when you know what you want. The compromise is that the building rewards a plan more than a wander, so approach it through the calendar, not the postcard: check what's on, then decide whether it's a free set or a proper night out.

From punchline to landmark

President S. R. Nathan officially opened Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay on 12 October 2002, and it is hard now to remember how rough the early reception was. The 1994 design was mocked as "two copulating aardvarks". The fix was a coat of more than 7,000 triangular aluminium sunshades to cut the equatorial glare, and the city promptly nicknamed the result the big durian. The name stuck; so, happily, did the building.

What's inside

Designed by Singapore's DP Architects (London's Michael Wilford & Partners were part of the early project), it holds more than its silhouette suggests: a Concert Hall of about 1,600 seats with a 4,740-pipe organ, a Lyric Theatre of about 2,000 seats shaped on the horseshoe of European opera houses, a Recital Studio and a Theatre Studio for closer work, a 600-seat Outdoor Theatre on the water and, since October 2022, the roughly 550-seat Singtel Waterfront Theatre, built on what used to be an open-air car park. Few car parks in the Civic District have been promoted so far.

The year's programme runs from pop to dance to Indian arts: Popaholic for chart music and viral comeback songs, da:ns focus with its themed dance weekends, the Mosaic Music Series, Kalaa Utsavam, the annual Indian Festival of Arts, and Voices, a festival of song from choral to musical theatre. Esplanade says there are free performances every day, which is the easiest way to discover someone you would never have bought a ticket for.

How to do it well

For a free set, just turn up by the water and stay for whatever's next. For a ticketed show, arrive on time, check that performance's age guidance and late-entry rules, and don't cram a three-stop itinerary in before curtain-up. If you want a serious dinner first, the tasting-menu restaurant Labyrinth is in Esplanade Mall; a full dinner there runs around three hours, so it's a different evening, not a pre-show bite.

Families have PIP's PLAYbox, the children's space, designed for children up to 12, plus a theatre series for ages 3 to 6. The play space has closed around race week before, so check it is open before you promise anyone a morning there. Esplanade MRT on the Circle Line is the closest station; City Hall is a longer walk through the underpass.

Good to know Check each event's admission, duration and age guidance on the dated programme, and check PIP's PLAYbox is open before a family visit. Nearest MRT: Esplanade (Circle Line) or City Hall.

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Esplanade | 1 Esplanade Drive, Singapore 038981 | Nearest MRT: Bayfront