No large-format lanterns for Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2026
The change was made to focus more on the local community.
For the 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival in Chinatown, large-format lantern decorations will be absent along Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road. Instead of the traditional street lantern displays, a community lantern procession will take their place. This change, announced by the Chinatown Festival Committee (CFC), marks a shift from the past 24 years where large-format lantern decorations have been a cherished tradition.
Chairman Peh Cheng Hoo expressed the CFC's gratitude to merchants, vendors, and community partners for the longstanding tradition. However, he emphasized the desire to focus on the local community with a new Mid-Autumn tradition. The community-led celebrations will be organized by the Kreta Ayer–Kim Seng Grassroots Organisations (GROs) from September 11 to October 4, 2026.
During this period, residents and visitors are invited to write their well-wishes on lanterns at designated booths in the Kreta Ayer Community Club and grassroots events. These lanterns will then be displayed at Kreta Ayer Square and Banda Street. The highlight of the event, "Light a Lantern, Share Your Blessing," will commence on September 19, 2026, featuring a community lantern procession, mooncake and tea appreciation session, and lantern riddles in Singapore's four official languages.
Additional activities include a Lantern Design Competition at the Kreta Ayer Community Club on September 19, as well as three neighbourhood celebrations at River Place, Havelock View, and Chin Swee-Hong Lim, serving as smaller community editions of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Written by urgent.news from Mothership's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
