The Mid-Autumn Festival is widely celebrated, not just by Chinese in Singapore with friends of other ethnicities, but also diasporic communities around the world. It is a time of reunion and celebration, and an opportunity for everyone to learn more about Chinese culture and heritage. Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s 18th edition of Moonfest – A Mid-Autumn Celebration will mark the occasion with a wide array of free performances of traditional Chinese arts and ticketed workshops that everyone can enjoy with their families and friends.

In keeping with the festival’s objective to preserve traditions, Moonfest will present for the very first time, puppetry performances by Sin Hoe Ping, San Chun Long and Sin Ee Lye Heng performed in Henghua, Hainanese and Teochew respectively. These are fast-disappearing traditional arts troupes in Singapore and we hope that everyone can support and be inspired by their passion to preserve this intangible cultural heritage.

We are also bringing back crowd favourites to Esplanade, including xiqu performances featuring Cantonese Opera excerpts by the Chinese Theatre Circle and a getai concert infused with folk songs, Hokkien and Huangmei Opera. There will also be Lantern Riddles where fellow riddle enthusiasts pit their wits and marvel at the beauty of Chinese language under the moonlight. That’s not all, for those who enjoy a play on words must catch the witty crosstalk performance by the Young People’s Performing Arts Ensemble as well as storytelling in radio-play style by father-daughter duo Patrick and Jo Kwek.

To push the boundaries of traditional arts, Teochew Opera artist Tan Wei Tian will be collaborating with electronic music producer evanturetime, and young nanyin artists from Siong Leng will team up with guitarist Sebastian Ho to breathe new life to traditional classics.

This year, in addition to our parent-child and adult workshops, there will also be a grandparent-child workshop. We hope that you will build familial bonds while learning and experiencing traditional Chinese arts in an intimate setting.

Moonfest is a festival for both the young and young-at-heart, and we invite all of you to come and experience the richness of traditional Chinese arts.

Wishing everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Desmond Chew
Producer
The Esplanade Co Ltd