Chinese New Year / River Hongbao Festival Singapore: Dates, Tickets & Venue (Singapore)

Lanterns on the water at Marina Bay

River Hongbao is Singapore’s biggest Chinese New Year party. For roughly ten days around the Lunar New Year, a stretch of the Marina Bay waterfront fills with giant illuminated lanterns, carnival rides and rows of food stalls. Behind it all are the bay’s towers and the three hotel blocks of Marina Bay Sands.

The 2027 edition runs around 6–7 February, which marks the start of the Year of the Goat. The zodiac animal of the year usually takes centre stage among the lantern sculptures. The God of Fortune figure is a long-running favourite for photos too. The festival dates back to 1987 and has kept the same formula: lights, food and family crowds after dark.

Entry, tickets and what you pay for

Getting in costs nothing. There is no gate ticket for the festival grounds, so you can walk in, see the lanterns and leave whenever you like.

What does cost money is everything you eat, drink or ride. Prices are displayed at each stall and attraction. The festival organisers publish the dates, venue layout and programme details on the official River Hongbao channels.

The countdown and the best hours

The fireworks countdown on Chinese New Year’s Eve is the night most people come for. Families start claiming space along the waterfront well before midnight. The crowds thin fast once the last burst fades over the bay.

The lanterns look their best after sunset, when the sculptures glow against the dark water. Weeknights earlier in the festival are typically calmer than the weekend and the Eve itself. Many visitors who want photos without a wall of phones in front of them come on those quieter evenings.

Getting to the waterfront

The Marina Bay area has several MRT stations close by, and most visitors use them. Useful ones include:

• Bayfront (Circle and Downtown lines), on the Marina Bay Sands side
• Promenade (Circle and Downtown lines), towards the Esplanade and Suntec end
• Esplanade (Circle Line), near Esplanade Theatres on the Bay

On countdown night the trains run packed, and taxis and ride-hail cars struggle around the closed and jammed roads near the bay. Walking between stations along the waterfront is often faster than waiting for a car. The promenade links Esplanade, the Merlion and Marina Bay Sands on foot.

Red packets, oranges and festival manners

A few customs make the season easier to read. Hongbao (red packets) are the gifts that give the festival its name. Married adults hand them to children and unmarried relatives, and people give and receive them with both hands. Mandarin oranges are swapped in pairs when visiting a home, because pairs mean good luck.

Useful greetings:

• Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin): “wishing you prosperity”, the one you’ll hear most
• Xin Nian Kuai Le: a plain “Happy New Year”
• Gong Hei Fat Choy: the Cantonese version, common among older Singaporeans

At the food stalls, people usually queue in a single line and pay at the counter. Many stalls take PayNow QR codes and cards as well as cash. Families with prams and grandparents make up much of the crowd, so the evening moves at a stroll and nobody is in a rush. On countdown night, regulars keep a meeting point in mind, because mobile signal on the packed waterfront tends to struggle.

Chinatown and the rest of the season

River Hongbao is only one part of Singapore’s Chinese New Year. Chinatown puts up its street light-up along New Bridge Road and Eu Tong Sen Street. The lanes around Pagoda Street and Smith Street turn into a festive market selling bak kwa (sweet barbecued pork slices), pineapple tarts and decorations. It sits a short MRT ride away on the North East and Downtown lines.

On the first two days of the New Year, plenty of family-run shops and hawker stalls close while owners visit relatives. The festival, the malls and the big attractions around Marina Bay keep running. Gardens by the Bay sits just past Marina Bay Sands, which is why many visitors pair an evening of lanterns with its domes or Supertree Grove.