Lunar New Year in Singapore

Chinatown on Lunar New Year Eve Is Barely Passable by Foot and Completely Worth It

Singapore’s Lunar New Year is not a quiet, domestic holiday. The city transforms for it. Chinatown goes up in red lanterns and gold decorations from mid-January and runs a street market for weeks before the actual date. Lion dance troupes work the city in the first days of the new year. River Hongbao fills Gardens by the Bay with lantern installations, cultural performances, and fireworks. The atmosphere reaches a peak on New Year’s Eve when Chinatown becomes so densely crowded that moving from one end to the other takes more patience than you might expect. None of this is a complaint – it is exactly what you came for.

The festival runs for fifteen days and ends with Chap Goh Mei, the Hokkien tradition that functions roughly as the Chinese Valentine’s Day. The main public celebrations compress into the first few days.

Chinatown

The 2026 Chinatown Lunar New Year celebrations ran from 18 January to 18 March under the theme “Galloping into the Prosperous Year,” with an 8.8-metre golden horse centrepiece inspired by traditional Chinese paper-cutting as the centrepiece. The Official Street Light-Up and Opening Ceremony at Kreta Ayer Square marks the formal start of the season and draws crowds for the lights and performances.

The night market stalls sell bak kwa (barbecued pork jerky – the queues at Bee Cheng Hiang on New Bridge Road regularly run 40 minutes), mandarin oranges, decorations, and new year snacks. The light-up along South Bridge Road and Eu Tong Sen Street is worth walking specifically after dark.

River Hongbao

River Hongbao 2026 ran for ten days, 15 to 24 February, at Gardens by the Bay. In its 40th anniversary year it brought back fireworks at The Meadow with choreographed displays. Admission is free, though individual carnival attractions are ticketed. It draws large crowds on weekends; going on a weekday evening for the lanterns and light installations is more manageable. Opening hours run from late afternoon to around 10:30pm most nights.

Temples

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown holds special ceremonies during the festival period. Thian Hock Keng on Telok Ayer Street, one of Singapore’s oldest Hokkien temples, has ceremonial activity on the first day. Both are worth visiting in the morning before the street-level crowds build up.

What to Eat

Yu sheng is the defining dish: a raw fish salad tossed communally at the table, with everyone lifting the ingredients high with chopsticks for good luck. The tossing ritual (lou hei) gets loud, messy, and enthusiastic, and any restaurant doing it properly will tell you the higher you toss, the better your fortune. It is only available during Lunar New Year season.

Pen cai – a layered pot dish with abalone, sea cucumber, and other expensive ingredients – is the reunion dinner centrepiece at hotels and upscale restaurants. Book reunion dinner in November or December; the good options sell out completely. Nian gao (sticky rice cake), tang yuan (glutinous rice balls in sweet soup), and various kueh from Chinatown street stalls are all worth trying at market prices rather than restaurant prices.

Practical Notes

Book accommodation well in advance. The MRT runs extended hours on main festival nights. Expect Chinatown to be genuinely difficult to navigate on New Year’s Eve – that density is half the experience, but wear comfortable shoes and build in extra time for everything.