Singapore’s Light to Night 2027 Begins January 15, with Pop as the Theme of the 11th Edition

National Gallery Singapore will hold the 2027 edition of its arts festival, Light to Night Singapore, from Friday, January 15 to Sunday, January 31. According to the official website, it is the 11th edition, titled “Pop. Power. Play.” Following the pop art group exhibition “Pop after Pop: Art around Us,” which opens at the Gallery on Friday, December 11, 2026, the festival will present installations, performances and more on the theme of pop art throughout the Civic District. As of October 25, the participating artists, works, hours and prices had not been announced. Based on the Gallery’s official website and press materials, this article covers the outline of the 2027 edition, the related exhibition, the 10th edition in 2026, past editions and the organizational structure.

Light to Night is an arts festival led by the Gallery in partnership with nearby museums, theaters and other venues. The 10th edition in 2026 featured, in addition to installations and performances, facade projections that cast images onto building exteriors, and the festival’s executive director spoke of encounters from day to night. The Gallery occupies two national monuments, the former City Hall and the former Supreme Court, and in 2026 the facades of the Gallery and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall served as screens for the works. Using the facades of historic buildings as nighttime screens is something it shares with projection mapping on cultural properties in Japan. How it works and the main events are introduced in our explainer on projection mapping.

The 2027 edition: 17 days from January 15, themed on pop

The official website introduces the 2027 edition with the phrase “Pop takes over the Gallery.” It says the festival will show, throughout the Civic District, how the spirit of pop art lives on beyond the galleries, through bold visuals, interactive installations, performances and programs. It is aimed at a wide range of visitors, from newcomers to pop art to groups of friends and families.

The festival is led by National Gallery Singapore, with the Asian Civilisations Museum, Arts House Group, Funan and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall listed as partners. The venues are the Gallery and various locations in the Civic District. At 17 days, it is shorter than the 2026 edition (23 days, January 9–31). As of October 25, the official page did not indicate whether there will be facade projections, nor did it give artist names, hours or prices.

Name: Light To Night Singapore 2027: Pop. Power. Play
Dates: Friday, January 15 – Sunday, January 31, 2027
Venue: National Gallery Singapore and locations across the Civic District (Singapore)
Lead organizer: National Gallery Singapore
Partners: Asian Civilisations Museum, Arts House Group, Funan, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall and others
Hours / Admission: Not announced as of October 25
Official website: https://www.nationalgallery.sg/sg/en/festivals/light-to-night-2027.html

The related exhibition: A first collaboration with the Guggenheim

The foundation of the 2027 edition is the “Pop after Pop” exhibition, which the Gallery will hold from Friday, December 11, 2026 to Sunday, April 4, 2027. According to the July 14, 2026 announcement, it brings together more than 200 works by more than 100 artists, mainly from Southeast Asia and the United States. The Gallery says it will be the largest group exhibition on pop art and its influence ever held in Southeast Asia. It is co-organized with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York, marking the first collaboration between the two.

Artists named in the announcement include Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Barbara Kruger from the United States; Ming Wong from Singapore; Antipas Delotavo from the Philippines; FX Harsono from Indonesia; and Manit Sriwanichpoom from Thailand. The venues are the special exhibition galleries on Level 3 of the City Hall Wing, a gallery on Basement 1 and various spaces around the building. Admission requires a special exhibition ticket: 15 Singapore dollars for Singapore citizens and permanent residents, and 25 Singapore dollars for foreign residents and tourists. According to the exhibition page, tickets are 30% off until Monday, November 30.

The 10th edition in 2026: Four weekends for the first time, and two facade projections

The 10th edition in 2026 ran from January 9 to 31. According to the official website, it was the first time the festival spanned four weekends. The theme was “The Power in Us,” celebrating the power that emerges when people and communities come together to reflect, converse and create through art. It was built on three ideas: “Memory and Modernity in Dialogue,” “Crafting Unity from Duality” and “From Spectator to Co-Creator.”

According to the official booklet for the 2026 edition, there were two facade projections. On the Gallery’s facade, “ⱥn§ibℓøm∞ (an-see-blo-moo)” by fyerool darma (Singapore), in collaboration with Victoria Yam aka rEmPit g0dDe$$ (Malaysia) and Shif (Singapore), was shown nightly from 20:00 to 24:00. On the facade of the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, “Flower Power” by Dr Azariah Tan and Noah Tan was shown nightly from 19:30 to 24:00. Both are Singaporean artists, and the animation was by ARAFURA Media Design. The booklet stated that facade projections in the Civic District ended at 24:00 each day.

Among the installations, Taiwanese artist Michael Lin placed “Untitled Gathering” in the Singapore Courtyard on Level 2 of the Gallery’s City Hall Wing, and Thailand’s Navin Rawanchaikul and Navin Production installed “SINGAPORAMA” in the Padang Atrium on Level 1. The “SANTAI” series by Singaporean artists also featured works by Weixin Quek Chong, Firdaus Sani, Syahmin Huda and Amanda Tan.

On three weekends (January 9–10, 16–17 and 23–24), “Art x Social: Festival Village” was held, with events on St. Andrew’s Road from 18:00 to 24:00. On those weekends the road was closed from 16:00 to 1:00 the next morning, and the festival advised that bus services would be affected. The Gallery was open from 10:00 to 24:00 Friday through Sunday, and on Fridays through Sundays during the festival it made its exhibitions free, except “Into the Modern: Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,” keeping them open until 23:00. The eight partners were the Asian Civilisations Museum, Arts House Group, CQ @ Clarke Quay, Funan, Plaza Singapura, Raffles City Singapore, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.

Past editions: Nine from 2016 to 2025

The list of past editions on the Gallery’s official website shows nine editions from 2016 to 2025 (there was no 2017 edition). 2026 was the 10th edition and 2027 will be the 11th. The titles of each edition are as follows.

• 2016: Gallery Light to Night Festival

• 2018: Colour Sensations

• 2019: Traces and Echoes

• 2020: Invisible Cities

• 2021: _____-in-Progress

• 2022: New Ways of Seeing, Thinking and Being

• 2023: Here and Now

• 2024: Reimagine

• 2025: Do You See Me?

• 2026: The Power in Us (10th edition)

• 2027: Pop. Power. Play (11th edition)

According to the Gallery, the 2020 edition won “Best Leisure Event” at the Singapore Tourism Awards.

Organization: A change at the top of the Gallery in January 2027

On September 28, 2026, the Gallery and the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) announced a leadership change. Effective January 1, 2027, Chng Hak-Peng will succeed Eugene Tan as the Gallery’s chief executive officer (CEO). Tan will remain at the Gallery until the end of December 2026 to support the transition, and will then focus on his role as CEO and director of the Singapore Art Museum. Light to Night, starting on Friday, January 15, 2027, will be the first edition held under the new CEO. For the 2026 edition, Ong Zhen Min contributed a message as the festival’s executive director. As of October 25, the official website did not name who is in charge of the 2027 edition.

Editor’s perspective

The 2027 edition stands out for aligning its theme with the Gallery’s major exhibition. The 2026 edition had its own theme, “The Power in Us,” and three guiding ideas, but in 2027 the festival takes “pop” as its title to match the “Pop after Pop” exhibition. The official website describes the festival as a place where the spirit of pop art lives on beyond the galleries. The schedule, too, places the festival (Friday, January 15 – Sunday, January 31, 2027) within the run of the exhibition (Friday, December 11, 2026 – Sunday, April 4, 2027).

The makeup of the partners is also notable. The eight partners in 2026 included not only the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall but also the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, CQ @ Clarke Quay, Plaza Singapura and Raffles City Singapore. On weekends, roads were closed to create outdoor venues, and the Gallery stayed open until 24:00. The relationship between nighttime cultural activity and tourism and consumption is also discussed in Japan in the context of the nighttime economy; national, Tokyo and Kyoto policies and examples in Japan are covered in our article on the nighttime economy.

As for light works specifically, information about the 2027 edition is still scarce. In 2026, two facade projections were shown nightly until 24:00, but as of October 25 the 2027 official page makes no mention of projections on building exteriors. How the facades will be used can be compared with 2026 once the works are announced. Dates of the world’s major light festivals are compiled in our article on light festivals around the world 2026–2027. In Asia, Seoul Light DDP, which uses the facade of Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, also opens its winter edition on December 17.

Frequently asked questions

When and where is Light to Night Singapore 2027?

It runs from Friday, January 15 to Sunday, January 31, 2027, at National Gallery Singapore and locations across the Civic District. As of October 25, participating artists, works and hours had not been announced.

Is there an admission fee?

Prices for the 2027 edition had not been announced as of October 25. The 2026 edition divided its programs into “Free, Registration Required” and “Ticketed Programme.” The related “Pop after Pop” exhibition requires a special exhibition ticket: 15 Singapore dollars for Singapore citizens and permanent residents, and 25 Singapore dollars for foreign residents and tourists.

Will there be projections on building facades?

In 2026, a total of two works were projected onto the facades of the Gallery and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. As of October 25, the 2027 official page makes no mention of facade projections.

*Information as of October 25, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Key visual for “Light To Night Singapore 2027: Pop. Power. Play” (from National Gallery Singapore’s official website)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on National Gallery Singapore’s official website and press materials (July 14 and September 28, 2026) and the official booklet for the 2026 edition (as of October 25, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team