Light installations along Marina Bay

Wow-worthy light installations

The big reason for all the buzz around Marina Bay is the return of i Light Marina Bay 2016, Asia's leading sustainable light art festival. From Mar 4-27, a whopping (and rather dazzling) 25 glittering installations by leading artists and design studios from around the world will be installed and lit up around the Promontory @ Marina Bay, the Marina Bay waterfront promenade and the Float @ Marina Bay. There are going to be tons of related fringe events, but just strolling through the installations is going to be a treat. You can even download a free audio guided tour through VoiceMap, a free app available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play store.

Whimsical date night ideas

Shopping and food kiosks along Marina Bay

Food trucks and craft beer galore

The month of March brings perhaps three of Singapore's most universally beloved food trend obsessions: food trucks, craft beer and the farmer’s market. The huge highlight is the first-ever Craft Singapore (Mar 4-6), where overseas brewers like Anderson Valley and Hitachino and local heroes like Brewerkz and Little Island Brewing Company will share their knowledge and sell their wares, with stomach-padding by the likes of Vatos and The Butcher's Club. i Light Marina Bay also comes with a big Festival Village, where food trucks like the Travelling C.O.W and Coffee Bandits and other vendors like Harry's and Haagen Dazs will be setting up shop around the Promontory. And perennial crowd favorite PasarBella will be returning to the Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza from 11 March onwards with their seafood, fresh produce and fancy wines.

Shopping with a view

Craft and flea markets are dime a dozen in Singapore these days, but there aren't many where you can shop with a view of the water and the skyline. In March, there's the Marina Waterfront Bazaar (Mar 11-20), by the TGIF Bazaars and the indie fashion-focused MegaFash Art Market (weekends from Mar 4-27)!

Yoglo

Outdoor yoga

The public spaces in Marina Bay are no strangers to after-work outdoor exercise and yoga sessions, but the ones in March are a little extra special. For starters, there is the funky-sounding Yoglo, a glow-in-the-dark yoga party by Lululemon Athletica happening on Mar 26 at the Float. Bring your own mat, though. Then there's Yoga in the Mix on Mar 16-17, where yoga sessions will be accompanied by a live DJ. Finally Outta Hatha Yoga is doing the Shine Your Light series over two weekends (Mar 12 & 19, $20).

Stargazing and other free stuff

Check out the official website of i Light Marina Bay 2016 to find out about all the fringe events. There are all kinds of weird and wonderful (and free!) events jazzing up the neighborhood, including KamPong and Play it Forward, which places ping pong tables and restored pianos for anyone to use, musical acts at the Festival Stage, and entrepreneurial conference FutureME (Mar 25-27), where folks from Carousell and TinyMOS will give talks. 

Installation at ArtScience Museum

Arty-farty films and talks

Marina Bay's lovely ArtScience Museum is unveiling its big-deal permanent exhibition this month, so this month’s edition of ArtScience Late (Mar 26) will be extra special, with site-specific dances and soundscapes courtesy of local collective Syndicate. If you still haven't checked out the National Gallery Singapore yet but aren't that into art, there's a great film retrospective happening Mar 5-6. The screenings for Painting With Light: Southeast Asian Film Series will include 1960s Malaysian film Sonnets of the Souland Temporary Visa by Singaporean director Ghazi Alqudcy, set in Bosnia.

i Light Marina Bay 2016 runs Mar 4-27. For more information, visit the official website.

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