SINGAPORE RIVER FESTIVAL – Clarke Quay

One of the things that still worries us about living here in such a small city is the number of entertainment options that are available without spending excessive money on tickets or travel. A real positive is that the Government commands institutional authorities who can pull these big national events together and get people interested. Along Clarke Quay we had seen huge signs hung from every flagpole over the last couple of weeks, heralding, by way of a media onslaught, the forthcoming River Festival. With the recent downpours and interest in the clogging waterways, anything that could be done to get people back to the river is a bonus, especially considering the recent tragic drowning of a worker who was sleeping off the effects of a night on the drink and smokes along the steps of Clarke Quay itself.

During a meal at the newly opened Red Dot micro-brewery on Boat Quay, sampling their range of brews; summer ale, stout, wheat beer and even spirulina-laced green ‘monster green’ lager (which is a boost for the immune system and could even aid the retardation of HIV/AIDS, apparently, if you believe the brewery’s claims),


we watched brightly lit boats with booming sound systems drift past us, sailors waving hello, twirling flaming batons and reminding us that we were experiencing “My Singapore”.

Further upstream at Clarke Quay was the real spectacle, not actually a spectacle we knew much about, but it consisted of two shows at 19:30 and 22:00 containing aerial art, high-wire ballet floating inches over the water, dancers twirling across the Clarke Quay bridge, Renaissance music (and wigs), filling the air with atmosphere with the whole show culminating in fireworks that arced across the liquid, reflective floor of the Singapore River.

While the display unfolded a good distance in-front of us, the detail of the costumes and story-line somewhat obscured by smoke from more flaming wands of light, we realised that the true spectacle was not the art we were watching but that rather the thousands of people in attendance, locals and tourists alike, watching the events unfold and recording the moment with camera and video.

Much credit must go to the organisers and publicists who had successfully captured the imagination of thousands of people to come down to the river on a hot muggy evening and watch some fancy nonsense going on before eating and drinking themselves to sleep in typical Clarke Quay fashion. If they keep knocking out events like this which pique the interest and provide an evening of entertainment on the cheap, I shall be rather happy.

Well done Singapore, well done indeed.

Shovel