The last weekend before Deepavali runs from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, and it is the busiest of the year for anyone who wants Halloween, harvest markets and a free concert in Little India. Halloween Horror Nights closes on Sunday, the Istana opens its gates, and the Deepavali light-up on Serangoon Road is at full strength. Below are 24 picks, each with its times, address, price and the official link to book.
Free things to do
The Istana, Orchard Road, opens its grounds on Sunday 1 November from 10am to 8pm, with last entry at 6.30pm. This is the first open house to run a narrated Changing of Guards ceremony, alongside the SAF Ceremonial Band, the Silent Precision Drill Squad and an evening concert on the lawn. Entry is through the Main Gate on Orchard Road, nearest to Dhoby Ghaut MRT, and it is free for citizens and permanent residents. Other visitors pay S$20 an adult and S$10 a child aged four to 12, and the heritage tour carries its own fee. The open house is called off if the 24-hour PSI goes above 200.
Tanglin Mall runs free trick-or-treating four times across the weekend at 163 Tanglin Road: 5.30pm on Friday 30 October, 1.30pm and 5pm on Saturday 31 October, and 3.30pm on Sunday 1 November, all gathering at the Level 1 Atrium. Children under seven need an adult with them. The mall’s 20m slime potion runs 5pm to 8pm on Friday, 11am to 7pm on Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday, and the Singapore Book of Records attempt is on Sunday from 5pm to 6.30pm, with slime to take home in your own container. The Tanglin Mall weekend programme has the full schedule.
Sentosa’s free outdoor cinema moves to Fort Siloso on Siloso Road, beside the Surrender Chambers for its last two screenings. Happy Death Day runs at 7.30pm on Saturday 31 October and Happy Death Day 2U at the same time on Sunday 1 November, both PG13. There is no ticket and no booking, and the screening is cancelled if it rains.
Sangeetham Under the Stars closes its Deepavali run on Saturday 31 October from 8pm to 10pm at the open stage on Campbell Lane, off Serangoon Road in Little India. The programme mixes Carnatic music, fusion sets and Bollywood numbers, and ends with a set from emerging artists. Entry is free, and LISHA, the Little India shop owners’ association behind the festival, asks visitors to register online at Visit Singapore Deepavali.
The Peranakan Museum hands the weekend to the Peranakan Indian community on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, 11am to 6pm at 39 Armenian Street. Storytelling, live cooking demonstrations and community-led tours are free, and the Deepavali Banana Leaf Feast runs 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm for S$20 a person with registration on Peatix. Admission to the Exceptional/Everyday exhibition drops to S$5 for citizens and PRs and S$12 for everyone else during programme hours. The Community Voices programme carries every session.
The Indian Heritage Centre keeps its Deepavali Open House running to Sunday 8 November at 5 Campbell Lane, free for citizens and PRs. Saturday hours stretch to 8pm and Sunday closes at 6pm. The weekend programme covers an heirloom saree display, a vintage photo booth, clay brooch painting, a mini mithai box workshop and live music on the facade. Times are on the Indian Heritage Centre site.
For families
Halloween Horror Nights 14 ends this weekend, with peak nights on Friday 30, Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, from 7.30pm to 12.30am at Universal Studios Singapore, 8 Sentosa Gateway. A peak ticket costs S$78, or S$73 on a Mastercard, and the park does not recommend the event for children under 13. Four haunted houses, three live shows and two scare zones run through the night, all built around the Karang Guni Man. Tickets and the map are at Halloween Horror Nights 14.
Spookology Juniors takes over KidsSTOP at Science Centre Singapore, 15 Science Centre Road, for children aged eight and below. Mission sessions run 10am to 1pm, 2pm to 5pm and 5.30pm to 8.30pm on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, and 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm on Sunday 1 November. Halloween Dance sessions run at 7pm and 8pm on the Friday and Saturday. Peak tickets cost S$5 an adult and S$10 a child for citizens and PRs, and members of the KidsSTOP annual pass go free. The Spookology programme has the session list.
Woodlands Fright Night fills Woodlands Community Club, 1 Woodlands Street 81, on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November from 7pm to 9.30pm. Two haunted houses run, one a birthday party with unwelcome guests and the other a hawker centre after dark, with a bouncy castle, snack booths and home business stalls outside. A ticket costs S$6 a person a day and includes a goodie bag, snack coupons and entry to both houses. Book through the OnePA listing.
Tampines 1 puts a gamified maze on its rooftop at 10 Tampines Central 1 until Sunday 1 November, 7pm to 11pm. Scare actors work the rooms and the clues have to be solved to get out. Tickets cost S$10 a person, or shoppers can redeem two with S$100 spent at the mall and four with S$150. Tickets and times are listed at Tampines 1.
The Singapore Dog Festival takes Palawan Green, Siloso Beach Walk on Sentosa from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, 3pm to 9pm, with a marketplace, stage talks and a sensory garden built for dogs. Entry costs S$7 an adult and S$4 a child, and a dog pilates session with Soulevé on Sunday costs S$12. The Sentosa listing covers the programme.
The Snoopy Pop-Up Library on Level 3 of Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road, is free and open 10am to 10pm daily. Reading corners are built around Snoopy’s backyard and Charlie Brown’s classroom, with cut-outs for photographs and shelves of books for young readers. The library is on until 19 September 2027, so a wet weekend is not the last chance.
Food and markets
Thye Moh Chan’s Teochew Festival fills the Level 1 main atrium at Chinatown Point, 133 New Bridge Road, until Sunday 1 November, 10am to 9pm daily with free entry. Teochew kueh go from S$8.80 for three pieces, braised duck from S$38.80 and mung bean cakes at S$6.80, and mini tau sar piah classes run 3pm to 4pm daily. The Thye Moh Chan site carries the stall list.
Me-You Market brings 180 brands to *SCAPE at 2 Orchard Link on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, 12pm to 10pm, with free entry. Craft stalls, batik workshops and a sensory play area for children fill this first weekend, and the second moves to Suntec City on 7 and 8 November. The site map is at *SCAPE events.
Deepavali takes over Little India for the whole weekend. The Festival Village on Campbell Lane, off Serangoon Road, runs nightly from 7pm to midnight until Sunday 8 November, with stalls selling festive clothing, snacks, handicrafts and decorations, and the street light-up on Serangoon Road glows from 7pm to midnight over the same stretch. Both are free, and Campbell Lane sits off Serangoon Road beside Little India Arcade, a short walk from Little India MRT. The programme is at Visit Singapore Deepavali.
Arts and nightlife
Jujutsu Kaisen in Concert plays the Esplanade Theatre at 1 Esplanade Drive twice on Saturday 31 October, at 3pm and 8pm. An ensemble of nine to 12 musicians plays the score live against footage from all three seasons, and the tour carries a Season 3 encore written for it. Tickets start at S$58, the show runs 2h 20m with one interval, and admission is 16 and above. Both sittings are at the Esplanade.
CATS is at the Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue, with Saturday shows at 2pm and 8pm and Sunday shows at 1pm and 8pm. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical runs to 22 November and tickets start at S$68. Bookings and cast details are at BASE Entertainment.
Outdoors and trails
Sunflower Surprise: Garden by the Ocean fills the Flower Dome at 18 Marina Gardens Drive until Monday 9 November, 9am to 9pm with last admission at 8.30pm. The display recreates Lisbon’s Alfama hillside, the striped houses of Costa Nova and a 6m Belém lighthouse among 5,000 sunflowers of 20 varieties. Flower Dome admission applies, with child tickets from S$8, and rates are at Gardens by the Bay.
The Southern Ridges walk starts at Mount Faber Park, Mount Faber Road, and runs across Henderson Waves to Telok Blangah Hill Park, 10km of connected trail with the harbour on one side and the city on the other. It is free and open at all hours on all three days, and the canopy walk is the coolest stretch in the middle of the day. NParks maps the Southern Ridges route.
The Rail Corridor runs 24km from its southern trailhead at Tanjong Pagar railway station up to Bukit Timah and beyond, free and open at all hours across the weekend, with the old railway bridges at Bukit Timah and the Changi Creek stretch at the southern end. NParks publishes the Rail Corridor map.
Still-on exhibitions
Exceptional/Everyday: New Acquisitions, New Perspectives opens at the Peranakan Museum, 39 Armenian Street, on Friday 30 October and runs to 29 August 2027. The show gathers objects the museum has bought or been given in recent years, from ceremonial pieces to household items, and asks what they reveal about a port-city community that traded widely and made what it could not buy. The museum opens daily from 10am to 7pm, and until 9pm on Fridays, with the last admission half an hour before closing. Permanent galleries are free for citizens and PRs, and foreign residents pay S$12 an adult and S$8 on concession. Opening details are at Exceptional/Everyday.
ONE Ocean: Every Action Ripples at Science Centre Singapore, 15 Science Centre Road, runs to 3 January 2027, Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm, with 360 degree projections, free-roaming VR and a Singapore reef section. Tickets cost S$18 an adult and S$13 a child. Details are at ONE Ocean.
When Art Meets Nature at National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew’s Road, closes on Sunday 1 November. The children’s show, made with the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts, sits on Level 1 of the City Hall Wing, runs 10am to 7pm and is free to enter.
The Secret Vault by GIC fills the School Hall on Level 2 of New Bahru, 46 and 58 Kim Yam Road, until Sunday 1 November, 11am to 8pm from Friday to Sunday. Six chambers include a hypermart where prices climb as you shop and a dark maze of hidden risks, and entry is free, though a time slot has to be booked for a QR code. The show is aimed at ages 10 and up. Booking and hours are at Secret Vault event information.
