To allow more to enjoy the car-free experience and participate in a myriad of fun activities both during the day and at night, Car-Free Sunday SG, now into its fourth year, will return in 2019 in the form of weekend editions. Each edition will be presented in the expanded “Car-Free Weekend” format, which was trialled in October 2018. In all, three editions of Car-Free Weekend will be organised in 2019.
The public will be able to enjoy the first of these weekend editions, come 29 to 31 March, and take part in various activities on the car-free roads in the Civic District and Telok Ayer conservation area at various timings over the weekend. Coinciding with the Singapore Heritage Festival, the first Car-Free Weekend of 2019 will feature an array of heritage-themed and family-friendly activities – organised with the support of our community and corporate partners – spread over Friday lunchtime, Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
29 March: Food for thought during lunchtime on Friday at Telok Ayer Telok Ayer Street is one of Singapore’s oldest streets. It was once the coastline of Singapore and the landing site of early immigrants who arrived by sea. Visitors can discover its hidden stories at the Telok Ayer Festival, which begins on Friday and will run through the weekend. For example, did you know that the historic places of worship along Telok Ayer Street were established by our forefathers to give thanks to their gods after surviving a perilous journey from their homeland? The Telok Ayer Festival comprises a series of activities by community groups and stakeholders to promote the heritage of the conservation area. One can look forward to a pleasant lunchtime stroll on the car-free streets, when Telok Ayer Street and Amoy Street are closed to vehicular traffic from 11am to 3pm.
The lunchtime crowd can also learn about the heritage of the area with A Tale of Three Campongs, an exhibition narrating the development of the city south of the Singapore River, and “Our Telok Ayer Stories”, a series of pop-up exhibitions specially curated by Our Grandfather Story in conjunction with Car-Free Weekend, to share the lesser known stories of Telok Ayer Street and Amoy Street. Visitors are welcome to drop by Thian Hock Keng Temple or Singapore Yu Huang Gong, which will also be open for visits.
30 March: Enjoy throwback fun on Saturday evening From 5pm to 10pm on Saturday, visitors can take part in various activities on the car-free streets within the Telok Ayer conservation area and parts of the Civic District, which will be transformed into people-friendly and vibrant activity spaces for the public to enjoy a car-free environment.
“Our Telok Ayer Stories” will build on its presence at the Telok Ayer conservation area with an additional pop-up Our Grandfather Road, which comprises installations and interactive activities reimagining the area from 1820s till 1990s. Visitors can explore the monuments – Thian Hock Keng Temple and Yu Huang Gong – which will extend their opening hours specially for the weekend. They can also catch a traditional Hainanese puppet performance, learn puppet-making, or join a special edition of the Telok Ayer Walking Tour to learn about the different architectural styles and people who lived in the area. As part of the weekend festivities, visitors can also catch the outdoor screening of a classic Cantonese film; hunt for treasures at a vintage flea market; or view a light projection on the façade of Nagore Dargah, which is part of the Singapore Heritage Festival’s Find Your Place in History series of light projections at seven historic landmarks across the city centre.
At Frasers Tower, visitors can hop on trishaws and enjoy complimentary rides around the precinct’s many landmarks, courtesy of Cycling Without Age. Its main driveway will also be repurposed as a picnic ground complete with live performances, flea market stalls and hands-on family friendly activities.
The Civic District will be transformed into a large ‘outdoor classroom’ as part of #ThrowbackSaturday. Families and friends who come dressed in school uniforms will get to enjoy discounts on old school snacks such as kacang puteh and muah chee at the Tuckshop @ Empress Lawn. Participants can join the PE Lesson at the Retro Zumba Workout or try their hands at the Giant Kampung Games at Recess Time at Connaught Drive. Over at The Incubator, Playtime will feature kid-friendly games and activities on the ground floor, while the second floor will present the Urban Spaces of Singapore photo exhibition and a street photography workshop where visitors can pick up photography tips.
Starting at Victoria Theatre, visitors can embark on a heritage film tour to learn more about the evolution of downtown Singapore through old film clips.
At the Asian Civilisations Museum, participants can relax and enjoy a constellation of activities, including “Raffles in Southeast Asia” exhibition and “Wanderland”, a fun-packed weekend festival featuring a fruit and spice market with complimentary bubble tea, puppet performances, fusion music performance, and kite decoration for a community art installation. They can also pop over to Empress Lawn to round up the evening with Music@Empress, for live music performances set against the beautiful backdrop of the Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall.
31 March: More family-friendly activities on Sunday Car-Free Sunday SG will continue on Sunday morning, from 8am to 12pm, and the community can walk, cycle and jog around the signature 5.5km-long car-free route from the Civic District to Central Business District and Telok Ayer conservation area, and participate in various activities along the way. Participants can start their morning with the Singapore Road Safety Council Walkathon and learn more about road safety tips, or join in any of the stress-busting workouts. Early birds1 can also customise their own granola bowls provided by Nestle and enjoy a breakfast picnic with their family and friends at Esplanade Park. There will also be a hands-on drumming workshop at Fullerton Road for participants interested to give Chinese lion dance drumming a try.
Telok Ayer Festival continues at the conservation area on Sunday morning where visitors can learn about the history of Siang Cho Keong temple. They can also drop by the Really Really Free Market and participate in other activities such as a Pilates workout, a heritage workshop, art jamming sessions or lion dance performances. Participants can also try their hands at an interactive community art on the car-free streets while learning interesting facts about local wildlife, an initiative specially presented by a group of first-year Environmental Studies’ students from the National University of Singapore.
Please refer to the Annex A [PDF, 589kb], Annex B [PDF, 1.2MB] and Annex C [PDF, 1MB] for the road closure information, maps and a detailed listing of all activities lined up for the weekend from 29 to 31 March. Members of the public are encouraged to take public transport or cycle to the venue. Please refer to Annex D [PDF, 1MB] for cycling access points to the Padang on Sunday.
Mark your calendar The next Car-Free Weekend editions will be held on 30 and 31 August at one-north, organised jointly with JTC Corporation, and from 25 to 27 October in the Civic District and Telok Ayer conservation area. More details will be announced closer to each edition. Remember to mark your calendar!
About Car-Free Sunday SG / Car-Free Weekend Car-Free Sunday SG is a community initiative by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Land Transport Authority (LTA), National Parks Board (NParks), National Arts Council (NAC), Health Promotion Board (HPB), Sport Singapore (SportSG) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA), supported by community and interest groups to promote the car-lite message and enliven the streets. Car-Free Weekend is an extension of the Car-Free Sunday SG initiative which sees the event being extended over multiple days.
Get updates on Car-Free Sunday SG and Car-Free Weekend activities and details at https://www.facebook.com/carfreesundaysg/. If you are a participant at the event, do share your photos with us. Find out more here.
#CarFreeSundaySG #CarFreeWeekend
1 Limited to first 300 participants