Singapore's Five Footway Festival will take place from May 2 to 10 in Chinatown's Smith Street, celebrating the theme “Our Living Heritage”. The five-footways are covered pedestrian walkways extending five feet (1.52 metres) into the street-front of traditional shophouses, a style pioneered by Sir Stamford Raffles to shelter pedestrians from tropical sun and rain.
Festival Highlights
Organised by the Chinatown Business Association, the festival offers a range of cultural performances and activities. Live stage performances include Chin Woo’s lion dances, Tian Eng’s face-changing act (bian lian), a 300-year-old dramatic art form where performers instantaneously switch masks to represent shifting emotions, and Choy’s Brothers Opera Troupe’s musical performance of Chinese opera and stunts.
Cultural Workshops and Games
Visitors can participate in ticketed cultural events such as paper folding, tea appreciation, opera appreciation, and a traditional wife-cake baking experience. Wife cakes (lao po bing) are Cantonese pastries with a flaky, layered crust filled with sweet, chewy winter melon and sesame paste. Community storytelling sessions feature artisans and elders sharing personal histories. Game booths offer traditional childhood games like pick-up sticks, five stones, and glass marbles.
A Five Footway Festival spokesperson says: “More than a festival, the event brings to life the historical significance of five-footways as communal spaces — offering visitors a deeper understanding of Singapore’s multicultural roots while engaging directly with its living traditions. For Australians planning a May escape, the Five Footway Festival presents a timely opportunity to experience Singapore beyond its skyline — through culture that is not just preserved, but actively lived.”
Fact File
- More about the Five Footway Festival at fivefootway.chinatown.sg.
- The festival site is walking distance from Chinatown MRT and Maxwell MRT.
- There are frequent direct flights from Perth to Singapore with Singapore Airways and Scoot, its low-cost offshoot.
