The best things to do in Singapore this week (Sep 28-Oct 4)

Bookworms are in for a treat this October as Singapore gets its very first Indie Bookshop Day (SGIBD). Bringing together 20 independent bookstores across the island from October 2 to 4, the three-day celebration showcases local reading culture with events held inside each unique shop. Featured spaces span genres and languages, including Basheer Graphic Books, Bommoi, Woods in the Books, Wardah Books, and Epigram Books. Beyond shelf browsing, dive into interactive activities like Epigram's blind book swap, author David Tsnen’s live sketching at Basheer, a PowerPoint party at Wormhole, and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam's reading picks at Book Bar. Grab an official SGIBD Passport, collect stamps across 10 bookshops, and enter the lucky draw to win book gift sets and vouchers.

There’s always room to learn something new and start planning your career journey. From AI and digital skills to healthcare, finance, media and aviation, SkillsFuture Festival 2026 brings more than 140 events and activities to locations across Singapore, including the heartlands, from September 16 to October 28. 

Expect hands-on workshops, expert talks, career fairs, careers and skills advisory sessions, training opportunities, plus walk-in and virtual job interviews too, with plenty of chances to discover where your next step could take you – whether you’re a student figuring out your future, a working professional looking to sharpen your skills, considering a career switch or a lifelong learner with a curious mind. From AI-focused roadshows to community events happening across the island, the six-week festival makes learning feel a little more accessible and a lot more exciting. Find out more here.

Think you’ve seen everything at ArtScience Museum’s teamLab Future World? Now there are even more reasons to head back to the ever-changing experience. The beloved permanent exhibition has fully reopened with newly unveiled artworks and refreshed experiences. Discover artworks that exist in a state of constant transformation – water particles flow across the artwork space, while flowers emerge and respond to changing conditions, creating an interconnected environment where every movement can send a ripple through the space. 

And that’s just the start: must-sees including Crystal Universe, Animals of Flowers, Symbiotic Lives – A Whole Year per Year, and Light Sculpture with Paper Airplane remain part of the experience, with plenty of interactive ways for little ones to get involved, too. Find out more here.

Navigating Joo Chiat Road often means dodging a steady stream of traffic, but this Saturday, it goes completely car-free. From 3.30pm to 9.30pm, the stretch between Dunman Road and East Coast Road becomes a series of distinct activity zones. Near East Coast Road, the first cluster hosts live bands, a beer garden, and heritage food tastings. The next cluster in mid Joo Chiat offers open road community yoga and fitness sessions, while the third cluster near Dunman Road caters to pups with agility courses, photo booths, and a 'BFF Pawdash'. Plus, neighbourhood favourites like 808 Eating House, Baggies Biltong, and Dona Manis will roll out alfresco dining and communal picnics to complete the ultimate street party. 

Four nights of live music, 40 artists from 15 countries, and zero tickets required – Music Matters Live returns to CQ @ Clarke Quay for its 21st edition from October 2 to 4 and October 7. The free riverside music festival spans Fountain Square and Swee Lee, featuring Singapore’s St. Humain, Filipino indie-pop stars Lola Amour, New Zealand’s Borderline, and Australian duo Pierce Brothers. Special regional showcases spotlight talent from the Philippines, Japan, Nagaland, and Universal Music’s Southeast Asian pop roster. To wrap things up, October 7 sees the ‘Girls’ Night Out’ closing party celebrating female-led acts, featuring Mexican artist Bratty, Japan’s SARINA, and Singapore’s Haneri behind the decks.

Save your tears for another day, because global superstar The Weeknd is bringing his record-breaking After Hours Til Dawn Tour to the Singapore National Stadium on October 2 and 3, 2026. Marking the final Asia leg of the highest-grossing tour by a male solo artist in history, the cinematic concert celebrates his hit trilogy: After Hours, Dawn FM, and Hurry Up Tomorrow. Expect massive stadium singalongs to mega-hits like 'Blinding Lights', 'Starboy', and 'Can’t Feel My Face'. Making the lineup even crazier, Japanese hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts – the viral geniuses behind 'Bling-Bang-Bang-Born' – will open the show. Register online for artist presales ahead of general ticket sales on Ticketmaster.

While Singapore’s concert calendar is bursting at the seams, the city has sorely lacked a proper, curated electronic festival since Laneway’s heyday. Enter Rainbow Disco Club (RDC), the acclaimed Japanese festival landing on our shores on October 3 and 4 in partnership with Ice Cream Sundays. The open-air Saturday day session at Tanjong Pagar Distripark features a live set from Japanese icon Kuniyuki, a DJ set by Rush Hour Records founder Antal, Darker Than Wax’s Daryl Knows, and Muto. Nighttime shifts to Cargo39 for a deep warehouse rave with techno luminary DJ Nobu and Hong Kong’s Xiaolin. Wrap up Sunday with an intimate recovery session at RASA, featuring a rare three-way ambient live trio set by Kuniyuki, Xiaolin, and Kin Leonn, alongside deep textures from Kindergarchy. Get your tickets on Tessera.

One of Singapore’s most chaotic families is back – and they’re bringing even more mayhem this time around. The Choos cordially invite you to crash yet another gloriously dysfunctional family gathering: a masquerade party. Show up in your best silver or gold getup and prepare for family secrets and betrayal to spill around the buffet table. The Choos serve up drama alongside a wide spread of local delights, from laksa, rendang and satay to truffle egg croissants, kaya bread and butter pudding and Milo Dinosaur buns. Live chef stations will also be whipping up personalised plates of chicken rice.

One of Southeast Asia’s leading contemporary artists is taking over the Singapore Art Museum for a major solo exhibition. Titled Afterimage, this three-month-long showcase centres on Manila-based artist Maria Taniguchi, exploring repetition, time and labour through monumental paintings, sculptures and video installations. The exhibition is anchored by her ongoing series of towering, untitled “brick” paintings featuring thousands of tiny, hand-painted black rectangles. Other highlights include her Java Plum wood Runaways sculptures and four moving-image works spanning 16 years.

Stock up your pantry with fresh local produce at the Central Singapore Market. Organised by the Central Singapore CDC, this roving heartland market runs until December 2026, popping up at locations like Bishan Active Park, Zhongshan Park and Upper Thomson. Each stop brings a fresh mix of eco-conscious creators and food entrepreneurs. Discover organic vegetables, gluten-free granola, plant-based deodorants and even edible insects. The July 26 stop offers sustainable fertilisers and truffle oil, while August 2 adds a dried flower workshop and live music.

Relive your favourite local Chinese dramas with Singapore TV: From Local to Global. Presented by Mediacorp and the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, this latest exhibition charts the evolution of Singapore Chinese television from the 1960s to today. The showcase features hundreds of original costumes, props, photographs and memorabilia from beloved productions. Visitors can explore immersive installations replicating classic sets, try their hand at dubbing a scene and share their hopes for the future of local television at an interactive voting wall.

Musée du Louvre presents its expansive collection of Islamic art in Southeast Asia for the first time ever at the Asian Civilisations Museum. The exclusive exhibition, Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Art from the Musée du Louvre, brings together over a hundred ancient treasures from the royal collections of the "Gunpowder Empires." The objects chart their rise and fall, offering a glimpse into the forces that dominated West and Central Asia between the 16th and 18th centuries. This rich history is paired with ACM’s own collection of jewels to reveal the empires’ influence on distant shores like Southeast Asia during a time of expanding global trade networks.

It’s time to live out your Disney dreams at Gardens by the Bay. Floral Fantasy comes alive once again with the return of Disney Garden of Wonder, which opens from now until March 2027. For its second instalment, the impressive horticultural display features over 20 Disney and Pixar character topiaries spread across six zones. One of the biggest highlights at this year’s showcase is the debut of Anna and Elsa from Frozen. The Arendelle sisters each get their own floral setting, complete with a frosty archway and icy mountains, alongside other Disney princesses like Jasmine from Aladdin, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Rapunzel from Tangled.

Other returning favourites include Toy Story heroes Buzz Lightyear and Jessie, plus Winnie the Pooh and pals. You can also expect light-hearted installations that feature Disney icons in a more Singaporean setting, such as a playful display of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck operating a teh tarik stall.

Play and discovery collide at the National Gallery’s newest children's exhibition, When Art Meets Nature, opening April 30. Co-curated with Taiwan’s Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts, the showcase transforms the gallery into a multi-sensory forest ecosystem. Explore Peace Forest by Soh Ee Shaun, a soft-sculpture playground that teaches kids about biodiversity, or dive into Where the River Runs, an interactive audio experience by Yenting Hsu centred on indigenous Taiwanese traditions. Through art and play, this immersive journey encourages young explorers to reimagine their relationship with the natural world and the creatures that protect our planet.

In this larger-than-life artwork taking over the National Gallery’s Padang Atrium, contemporary Thai artist Navin Rawanchaikul captures the dynamic and passionate cultures and lives that make up the diverse Singaporean community. Following a year-long engagement with migrant workers, indigenous groups and faith organisations, the artist’s revelations and discoveries are translated into spectacular billboard paintings, video interviews and a travelogue that celebrates their vibrant stories and voices.

The showcase is supported by an enriching two-part programme that highlights the people who have inspired the installation. Join in on fireside chats with the artist to explore behind the scenes and the empowering migrant stories. Singaporama Unfolded Part I centres on Kaugnay, an organisation for Filipina domestic workers, and its fabulous Trashion Show, while Part II traces the history of migration in Singapore. The latter presents a performance of a traditional Indian folk dance by Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) Ambassadors, alongside a discussion on identity, community and collaboration.

Five women, over 50 artworks and one shared mission. This exhibition brings Southeast Asian artists Amanda Heng (Singapore), Dolorosa Sinaga (Indonesia), Imelda Cajipe-Endaya (Philippines), Nirmala Dutt (Malaysia) and Phaptawan Suwannakudt (Thailand) to display their work together in Singapore for the very first time. But more than just an art showcase, Fear No Power is a space to have a conversation about meaningful change and the artists’ decades-long commitment to it. Featuring photography, paintings, sculptures and performances that date all the way back to the 1960s, this multidisciplinary exhibition examines the concept of communal world-building across the region and what it means to forge a community. Every piece of work is an intimate and powerful reflection deeply rooted in care, collaboration and resistance.