5 Things to Do in Singapore This Week: 30 August to 5 September 2021

This week offers a varied selection of exciting events in Singapore. Enjoy festivals spotlighting VR music, vegan culinary delights, and foreign film. If you prefer something with local charm, check out a tour of Jalan Besar, or works from a local artist at the Cuturi gallery.

Take Back The Nights: Light The Future

Hit up your music-loving friends as Take Back The Night launches an all-new music festival VR experience, Light the Future, with 19 local visual artists and musicians. Utilizing a gaming simulation format, there are four episodes to Light the Future running the first Friday of each month. Promising an immersive and interactive experience, look forward to open-world exploration, show-stopping music performances and interactive games. Each episode features up to four musicians, the words of three visual artists, and a panel of speakers.

Take Back the Night: Light the Future will commence from 6 August 2021 – 5 November 2021, 6pm – 11pm. The event is free. 

Chilean Film Showcase

Enjoy surrealist cinema? Head down to The Projector for their Chilean Film Showcase, featuring a trilogy of Raúl Ruiz’s award-winning films. Explore what happens when the line between reality and the imaginary erode on a journey down memory lane in Night Across the Street (3 Sep, 8.30pm). Gain a deeper understanding of ‘Chilean reality’ through Ruiz’s eyes in The Wandering Soap Opera (5 Sep, 5.30pm), or watch as a widowed professor’s life privately falls apart despite his facade of normalcy in The Tango of the Widower and Its Distorting Mirror (4 Sep, 8.30pm). 

Chilean Film Showcase will be screened from 3 September 2021 – 5 September 2021 at 6001 Beach Rd, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower, Singapore 199589. Tickets are priced at S$15.

OH! Jalan Besar: Refuge for Strangers

Jalan Besar translates to ‘big walk’ and that’s exactly what you’re in for with OH! Jalan Besar: Refuge for Strangers, a guided mini art walk that grapples with the Other-ness of Jalan Besar. Scattered across secret spaces in Jalan Besar are the works of 4 artists, with artworks tributing its ever-evolving communities and the transient workers, the fringes of society, the sunset trades and disappearing clans who have more claim over Jalan Besar than we do.

OH! Jalan Besar Artwalk will commence from 3 September 2021 – 31 October 2021, on weekends only. The Tour will start at 807 King George Avenue, Singapore 200807. Tickets start from S$22.50.

Singapore Vegan Festival 2021

There is a surprising number of hidden vegan gems in Singapore and the Singapore Vegan Festival 2021 is bringing them all to light. Spanning over ten days, join local vegan food tours, gourmet dining events and limited-time plant based menus across leading vegan and vegan friendly restaurants of Singapore. Highlights include the Peranakan Food Discovery tour exploring the vegan friendly Peranakan delight in Joo Chiat and Katong and the two-day SVF Market in the Sky at SKAI, which will showcase ethical brands and a wide range of vegan and cruelty free products available in Singapore.

Singapore Vegan Festival 2021 runs 27 August 2021 – 5 September 2021. The Peranakan Food Discovery will be held on 4 September 2021, 10.30am – 1pm. Tickets are priced at S$75. SVF Market in the Sky will be held on 4 September 2021 – 5  September 2021, 10am – 8pm at SKAI Suites at Hotel Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Rd, Singapore 178882, p. +6563388585. Each ticket is S$15 for a 2-hour slot. 

The Word for World is Forest

Spend a day admiring the beautiful works of Singapore-born artist Khairulddin Wahab in his first solo exhibition — The Word for World is Forest. Inspired by the 1972 novel of the same title, the display is a continuation of Khairulddin’s investigations into our fraught relationship with the natural environment, offering a fresh perspective while at the same time, reminding us of our collective responsibilities.

The Word for World is Forest will be displayed from 21 August 2021 – 12 September 2021 at 61 Aliwal St, Singapore 199937, p. +6581820214. Open Tue-Sat 12pm – 7pm, Sun 12pm – 6pm. Closed Mon. Admission is free. 


With a bucket list longer than the scripts of some feature-length films, Elyssa is always on the lookout for something interesting to do (or eat). When she’s not out looking for trouble, she can be found at home trying out a new recipe or watching a crime documentary.