Venue
18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953
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River Hongbao at Gardens by the Bay guide
Lantern sculptures beneath the Supertrees.
In short
Families and anyone in Singapore for Chinese New Year should head to the lawns of Gardens by the Bay, where River Hongbao is listed for 4 to 13 February 2027, with dates normally confirmed by the organisers. Expect giant zodiac lanterns, stage shows, fireworks, rides and food stalls, best taken at an unhurried pace in the evening.
River Hongbao is Singapore's biggest Chinese New Year festival: a fair of giant lantern sculptures, stage shows, fireworks, carnival rides and food stalls spread across the lawns of Gardens by the Bay. The sculptures are rebuilt every year around the coming zodiac animal, and for 2027 that should be the goat.
It has been part of the island's new year for four decades and reached its 40th edition in 2026. The lanterns mix the zodiac with characters from Chinese legend, so a slow walk through them reads like a picture book of old tales, set against the steel Supertrees.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Ends: Saturday, 13 February 2027
Where: Singapore City, Singapore
Venue: Gardens by the Bay
Held: Every year
Type of event: Leisure Events, Cultural Events, Fair
Currency: Singapore dollar (SGD, S$)
Time zone: Singapore Standard Time, UTC+8
Language: English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil
Map
Close to the venue
- Gardens by the Bay Attraction · 0 m
- Marina Bay Sands Hotel · 380 m
- Raffles Singapore Hotel · 1.8 km
- PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering Hotel · 1.9 km
- Oasia Hotel Downtown Hotel · 2.3 km
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
What costs money inside the festival
There is no ticket and no registration at the gate. Money only comes into it at three points:
- Carnival rides and games run on credits or cards sold at the carnival entrance, not on cash at each ride.
- Food Street stalls charge as normal.
- The Flower Dome and Cloud Forest are not part of the festival and keep their own admission, so a lantern night does not include the conservatories.
Avoiding crowds on Chinese New Year's Eve
The eve of Chinese New Year draws the largest crowd of the whole run, because that is the one night with fireworks at midnight. If you want space to stand back and look at the sculptures, go on a weekday afternoon instead and stay on until dusk, when the lanterns are switched on. Weekend evenings sit somewhere in between. On the busy nights, agree a meeting point with your group by a named sculpture before you split up.
Rain, fireworks and stall closures over the holiday
The festival runs rain or shine, but the fireworks are weather dependent and can be called off in a storm. A light rain jacket is kinder to the people behind you than an umbrella.
Plan meals around the holiday itself. Many hawker stalls and small shops close for the first two days of the new year, so eat at Food Street or in a mall on those days.
What happens on the day
- Opening night
18:30 to 22:30
In 2026 opening night had fireworks at 20:00.
- Regular days
14:30 to 22:30
Arrive in late afternoon to see the sculptures in daylight and again after dark.
- Chinese New Year's Eve
18:30 to 00:15
The gates stay open for the midnight fireworks that greet the new year.
- First two days of the year
Fireworks at 21:00
Weather permitting.
- Nightly
Garden Rhapsody
The Supertree light show runs at 19:45 and 20:45.
Where to stay and how many evenings to visit
Walking into River Hongbao costs nothing, so the planning is mostly about where you sleep and which evenings you give it.
Treat the festival as one or two evenings inside a longer stay. Our Singapore city guide has ideas for filling the days in between, from food centres to the waterfront.
The zodiac sculptures and the festival's history
Each year the big illuminated sculptures follow the zodiac animal of the coming year, mixed with figures from Chinese legend, so 2027 should be the turn of the goat. The 2026 edition was the 40th, and the organisers marked it with commemorative pieces and an exhibition of heritage stories about the festival's past. Those were a one-off for the birthday.
The main stage carries the cultural side of the evening: music, dance and traditional performing arts, the evening stage shows listed on the official site.Beyond the stage there is a carnival with rides and games, which is where families with small children tend to settle.
Food Street, set up beside the Supertree Grove, is the place to eat. Stalls sell local snacks and festive sweets, alongside more filling comfort food for anyone planning to stay through the fireworks. Eating here is less a compromise than it sounds, because the festival falls in the days when many neighbourhood stalls take their own holiday.
Getting there
Flying in
Singapore Changi Airport is about 24 km east of the city; Bangkok to Singapore and Dhaka to Singapore are among the routes. Check entry rules on our Singapore visa page.
Changi to Bayfront
The MRT station is between Terminals 2 and 3; ride one stop to Expo and change to the Downtown Line for Bayfront. First trains leave at 05:31 (05:59 on Sundays), the last at 00:06.
Bayfront station
On the Circle and Downtown lines. Follow signs to Meadow Bridge and Checkpoint 2, the shortest walk onto The Meadow.
Gardens by the Bay station
On the Thomson-East Coast Line, opened in 2022, near Checkpoint 1 by the Floral Clock. SBS Transit bus 400 also stops at the Gardens.
On New Year's Eve
Check the last train on your own line before staying for the midnight fireworks.
Where to stay during the festival
A room on the Downtown Line keeps the nightly trip simple, because Bayfront sits on it. Chinatown is on the same line and makes a sensible base: spend the day among the temples and shophouses, then ride to the Gardens as the light fades.
Marina Bay hotels put you within walking distance, which matters most on the night the gates stay open past midnight.
Singapore
Raffles Singapore5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$1,000.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
3 Rooms available
Book Now
Singapore
Marina Bay Sands5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$600.00/ night
- Internet – Wifi
- Airport shuttle
- Swimming pool
6 Rooms available
Book Now
Singapore
Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa, Singapore5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$310.00/ night
- Internet – Wifi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
3 Rooms available
Book Now
Singapore
Oasia Hotel Downtown4-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$196.00/ night
- Internet – Wifi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
4 Rooms available
Book Now
Singapore
PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$309.00/ night
- Internet – Wifi
- Swimming pool
- Car park
4 Rooms available
Book Now
Weather and what to pack
February is one of Singapore's drier months, though showers still come. The 1991 to 2020 normals (National Environment Agency) give an average high of 31.5°C and a low of 24.6°C, with 105 mm of rain on about nine days.
Evenings are warm and humid; a short shower can pass through and the fireworks are subject to weather.
Worth packing
- A compact umbrella
- Light clothes and comfortable walking shoes
- A refillable water bottle
- An EZ-Link card or contactless bank card for the MRT
- A power bank for evening photos
Car hire in Singapore City
Airport transfer to River Hongbao at Gardens by the Bay
Met at arrivals at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) and driven door to door to Gardens by the Bay.
- Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) → Gardens by the Bay
- 21 km · 25 min
Restaurants and food in Singapore
Places to eat in Singapore before or after the celebrations.
JUMBO Seafood (Riverside Point)
#01-01 Riverside Point, 30 Merchant Road, Singapore 058282
Cuisine:SeafoodSingaporean
- Dine-in
Burnt Ends
#01-02, 7 Dempsey Road, Singapore 249671
Cuisine:BarbecueWood-fire grill
- Dine-in
- Bar
- Counter seating
Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle
Blk 466 Crawford Lane, #01-12, Singapore 190466
Cuisine:HawkerBak chor mee
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Odette
#01-04 National Gallery Singapore, 1 St. Andrew's Road, Singapore 178957
Cuisine:Modern FrenchTasting menu
- Dine-in
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Need help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Timing & weather
Two to three hours covers the sculptures, a stage show and a meal without hurrying. Add more if you want the carnival rides or plan to wait for a fireworks slot.
Food Street inside the festival stays open, and shopping malls are a reliable fallback during the first two days of the year, when many small stalls shut.
General
The new year beginning in February 2027 is the Year of the Goat, so expect goats among the main sculptures, alongside the figures from Chinese legend that appear every year.
The organisers normally publish the dates in December or January. Until then, any 2027 date you see is an estimate based on the festival opening a couple of days before the new year.
The Supertree light and music show runs every night, so you can combine it with the lanterns. Both are in Bay South, a short walk apart.
Chinese New Year's Eve, by a wide margin, because of the midnight fireworks. A weekday afternoon is the quietest time to visit.
It was the 40th edition, celebrated with commemorative lanterns and a heritage exhibition, and it welcomed the Year of the Horse.
Families & accessibility
Yes. The carnival area with rides and games is aimed at families, and an afternoon visit avoids the late finish and the densest crowds of the fireworks nights.
Cancellations & changes
The festival itself carries on in wet weather, but the fireworks are scheduled weather permitting, so heavy rain or lightning can cancel a display.
Prices & payment
Rides and games do not take payment one by one. You buy credits or a card at the carnival entrance and use those inside.
What's included
No. The Cloud Forest and Flower Dome are run separately from the festival and need their own paid tickets, even on days when the lanterns are up.