i Light Marina Bay

Turn up the lights in here babyyyyy

Since I haven’t yet upgraded to the business platform for WordPress, I am unable to embed videos into my posts. But for the start of this one, let’s please cue “All of the lights” by Kanye West to start playing right….about…..now.

(if you need a memory jog, here’s the link to the song 🙂 –> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAfFfqiYLp0)

i Light Marina Bay has officially taken over downtown Singapore.

First starting in 2010, i Light Marina Bay is an annual festival showcase of light art installations displayed around the Marina Bay waterfront. This year saw 22 incredible light art installations spread across the ~3km/2mile loop around the bay.

The lights were magnificent and the reflection off the bay was gorgeous. The riverboats really had the best views, though! It’s on our list to take a riverboat ride soon.

As we made our way through the loop, we stopped in front of MBS to take in the nightly light show (Spectra) on the water.

 

Gotta say – it blows the Bellagio fountain show away! 15 minutes of lights, water, and lazers dancing to music.

  

We hadn’t yet seen Spectra so were so thrilled to have caught it! I can’t believe what we were missing! The light show happens twice per night every night (three times on Fri and Sat) so easy to catch, completely free, and an absolute must for anyone visiting Singy!

 

The i Light installations are all created by artists from Singapore and around the world. On top of that, they are all designed with energy-saving lighting or environmentally friendly materials, reinforcing Marina Bay (and Singapore)’s commitment to sustainability.

 

Festival staff are positioned at each of the installations to explain the purpose and message behind each specific piece. As almost all of the pieces are interactive, the staff are there encouraging you to play with the installations!

Some of the exhibits were more popular for #instapotential than others so the lines were too long.

  

But we had a great time wandering through all of the neon!

Even the Merlion had some costume changes!

The festival serves as a hopeful reminder to encourage the public to adopt sustainable habits in their everyday lives. The most powerful piece that we encountered was ‘Transistable Plastic’ – a maze made up entirely of plastic waste.

Once inside, you immediately feel claustrophobic – the plastic hangs in thick sheets and flourescent light blares down. You really felt the weight of the waste around you.

Maps are handed out at the beginning of the loop so you can make your way through each of the installations. There is an ILLUMIBAR set up on the water where you can enjoy a picture perfect cocktail on neon cubes. We didn’t see any food available but a few restaurants around the loop took part by offering a small discount throughout the festival. The photo ops never ran out, the Spectra light show was magnificent, and the throngs of happy people enjoying a night out on the town only added to the fun! And all set off by that gorgeous MBS backdrop!

We had a really, really nice evening and retired home with dogs barkin’ to some TV and then much needed sleep. A triumph!

Where to next?