Chinatown is not decorating Eu Tong Sen Street or New Bridge Road for Mid-Autumn 2026. If you still want lantern photographs, walk about 12 minutes from Maxwell or Tanjong Pagar MRT to the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre roof garden. Bit Bit Forest Mid-Autumn Light Up is already open: 11 September to 13 December, 10am to 10pm, free.
Five inflatable rabbits, one in a kebaya
SCCC licensed the installation from Hong Kong designer Chan Siu Kau (Kau's Diary). Five giant lighted inflatable rabbits sit on the roof garden and concourse, with Bit Bit as the lead character. One rabbit unique to Singapore wears a kebaya and stands at the concourse, which is the easier photo if you do not want to go upstairs. The roof garden is the one that reads as a night lantern set.
That is a different scale from the old Chinatown overhead tunnel. It is also the only large Mid-Autumn installation within a short walk of Kreta Ayer this year. Gardens by the Bay (12 to 27 September) and Jurong Lake Gardens are the other island-wide options, and they are not a Chinatown add-on.
Official listing: Bit Bit Forest on the SCCC site. Address: 1 Straits Boulevard, Singapore 018906.
Pair it with 19 September in Chinatown, or stay for MAFF
Saturday 19 September is the busy Chinatown day: Smith Street from 9:30am (Kong Chow Wui Koon lion dance and wushu at 2pm) and the Kreta Ayer community lantern night from 6pm. Details: 19 September in Chinatown. If you want inflatable-rabbit photos the same evening, do Chinatown first, then walk via Maxwell Road and the Tanjong Pagar stretch. It is farther than a casual after-dinner stroll in heels, and it is still closer than Gardens by the Bay.
SCCC and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra also run Mid-Autumn Family FUN on 19 and 20 September, 1pm to 9pm, across SCCC and Singapore Conference Hall. Twenty-five programmes, English and Mandarin. Free pieces include mooncake tasting, a Hanfu wardrobe corner (1pm to 7pm both days), a memory wall, concourse performances, and the Talking to the Moon lantern walk (7:30pm to 8:30pm; register from 7pm at SCO Exhibition Hall 3). ITE College East Astronomy Club and singer-songwriter Jason Yu take the roof 7pm to 9pm both nights.
Paid workshops include TCM cold brew tea on 20 September at 5pm, 5:30pm, 6pm and 6:30pm, S$9 a person, and pastel Nagomi art at S$19 a pair. Singapore Citizens can use SG Culture Pass credits on eligible tickets. SCO's A Voyage of Voices: Moonbound concert is 19 September at 3pm and 7:30pm, S$30, or two tickets for S$50 with promo code SCOCP2. Programme hub: singaporen.sg/maff.
Buy mooncakes in Chinatown before you walk. Thye Moh Chan at Chinatown Point is on the way if you start from New Bridge Road. Sago Street bakeries are the other direction, toward Sri Mariamman. Guide: Where to buy mooncakes in Chinatown 2026.
Practical Details
- Bit Bit Forest: 11 September to 13 December 2026, 10am–10pm, free
- Mid-Autumn Family FUN: 19–20 September 2026, 1pm–9pm, mix of free and ticketed
- Venue: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, 1 Straits Boulevard, Singapore 018906
- Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar (EW15) or Downtown (DT17); Maxwell (TE18) if you are walking from Chinatown
- Website: SCCC Bit Bit Forest
- Chinatown community lanterns: Kreta Ayer, 11 September to 4 October