Ten events, nine art forms, and one flagship programme where you can see them all: it’s the return of the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre’s (SCCC) annual Cultural Extravaganza, taking place from 9 May to 7 June 2025!
If you’re not familiar with this festival, Cultural Extravaganza was launched in 2017 to celebrate the opening of the SCCC by showcasing the vibrancy and distinctiveness of local Chinese arts and culture and this year, the theme is Celebrating SINGAPO人 Arts.
We’ve got a stacked lineup to cover this year, including programmes by Nine Years Theatre, Dance Ensemble Singapore, and other notable local arts and cultural groups, so let’s get right into it!
Paid Programmes
Home Kitchen
We start with Home Kitchen, a theatrical drama produced by Nine Years Theatre and presented in Mandarin with some French and dialect, all subtitled in English.
At Gim Hiang Restaurant, a three-generation business, the dishes are hot, but the family tensions are hotter! A father clings to tradition while his French-trained son stirs up bold new flavours. Will they preserve the past or spice up the future? Can they find common ground, or will their bond go up in flames?
🗓️Date: 10 to 11 and 17 to 18 May 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Auditorium, Level 9
💲Price: S$58 (Cat 2), S$88 (Cat 1)
⏰Time:
- 3pm and 8pm (10, 11, 17 May 2025)
- 3pm (18 May 2025)
A sizzling clash of food, culture, and love—purchase your tickets to Home Kitchen if you’d like to be served up a deliciously heartwarming family showdown!
Intersections
Next up, to celebrate 31 years of innovation, Dance Ensemble Singapore (DES) proudly presents Intersections, a sensory installation that blurs the boundaries between movement and multidisciplinary expression.
Set in an ever-shifting nine-square grid formation, this performance explores the connections between dance and different art forms such as Cantonese opera, music, theatre, multimedia art, Peranakan fashion, photography, art installation, wayang kulit and calligraphy.
🗓️Date: 16 to 18 May 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Multi-Purpose Hall, Level 7
💲Price: S$50
⏰Time:
- 7:30pm (16 May 2025)
- 2pm and 7:30pm (18 May 2025)
- 1pm and 5:30pm (18 May 2025)
So, if the programme as a whole—or any of its featured art forms—piqued your interest, do sign up for Intersections now before tickets sell out!
Happy Sing-Along: Cultural Extravaganza Edition
Now, here’s Happy Sing-along: Cultural Extravaganza edition, which hits the stage on May 20, a date which means “I love you” in modern Chinese slang.
Join hosts Marcus Chin, PeiFen, and Hao Hao for a concert featuring classic Mandarin songs and timeless dialect tunes about love that’ll be sure to stir a wave of nostalgia in your heart.
🗓️Date: 20 May 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Auditorium, Level 9
💲Price: S$8
⏰Time: 12:30pm and 4pm
Ready to sing along? Grab your tickets before they sell out or join the concert virtually through the Wiz Media Live Channel on YouTube!
LOVE Across Time: No Expiry Date!
Speaking of love, Cultural Extravaganza 2025 will also feature LOVE Across Time: No Expiry Date!–another theatrical drama performed in Mandarin with English subtitles.
At Bukit Timah Reserve, a mystical portal has reopened, allowing legendary lovers from Chinese mythology to cross through. Stranded here in modern-day Singapore when the portal last opened 972 years ago, the legendary White and Green Snake Sisters take on the role of “love consultants” as they help these mythological lovers navigate the quirks of modern living and find their place in this new reality.
🗓️Date: 30 to 31 May 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Auditorium, Level 9
💲Price: S$48 (Cat 2), S$58 (Cat 1)
⏰Time:
- 8pm (30 May 2025)
- 3pm and 8pm (31 May 2025)
Though this performance is already sold out, do keep an eye on its ticketing webpage in case that changes!
Reunion 3.0
Moving on to music, under the baton of Lien Boon Hua, the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra Alumni Concert returns to Cultural Extravaganza 2025 with Reunion 3.0!
Featuring a diverse repertoire ranging from the majestic Celebration Overture to the cross-cultural Jewel of Srivijaya to Ghibli’s Delivery Service and more, this concert—starring percussionists Eugene Toh and Bejamin Boo, alongside dizi players Ng Wei Xuan and Sherman Lee—is a musical journey you’ll not want to miss!
🗓️Date: 31 May 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Orchestra Concert Hall
💲Price: S$7
⏰Time: 5pm
Tickets for Reunion 3.0 are going for the low, low price of just S$7, so get them on SISTIC while you still can!
Disappearing…Series: The Last Episode
Following that, in this last episode of the Disappearing…Series, Ding Yi Music Company bridges past and present through Chinese chamber music, breathing life into Singapore’s fading artisanal traditions by honouring the artists of lion dance head-making, rattan weaving and Malay songkok making.
Through music and craft showcases, the concert seeks to remind audiences that traditional trades are not just relics of the past but living cultural treasures too; ones that should be preserved and celebrated.
🗓️Date: 6 to 7 June 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Auditorium, Level 9
💲Price: S$35
⏰Time:
- 7:30pm (7 June 2025)
- 3pm (6 June 2025)
Come to the heartfelt stories of these artisans and the dedication to their crafts by purchasing your tickets now.
Symphony of Ink: A Musical Tribute to Lim Tze Peng
Finally, for the last but not least of the paid programmes, Symphony of Ink: A Musical Tribute to Lim Tze Peng will be honouring the 103-year-old calligrapher and painter Lim Tze Ping, who was not only also a recipient of the Cultural Medallion in 2003, but also one of the few artists to get an entire exhibit dedicated to his works at the National Gallery.
Hence, through a blend of music and visual elements, the concert pays tribute to both his life and art, presenting a distinctive artistic voice and crafting a tale that is uniquely SINGAPO人.
🗓️Date: 7 June 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Orchestra Concert Hall
💲Price: S$20 (Cat 4), S$40 (Cat 3), S$60 (Cat 2), S$80 (Cat 1)
⏰Time: 7:30pm
Join the SCCC in celebrating the life of this distinguished artist by purchasing your tickets today.
Free Programmes
The Spice Mission
As for free programmes, here’s The Spice Mission, a Mandarin play (with no subtitles) that follows a local hawker and the God of Kitchen on a journey across Singapore to find the missing ingredients from a lost sambal chilli recipe.
That’s not all, though–this theatrical performance is also sensory-based, introducing children and audiences to the raw ingredients of sambal chilli through sight, smell, and taste, making it a deliciously immersive way to help them understand how contributions from different races enrich Singaporean cuisine!
🗓️Date: 10 to 11 May 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Concourse, Level 1
💲Price: Free
⏰Time: 2pm and 5pm
While The Spice Mission is geared towards children, don’t let that stop your inner child and foodie from attending this innovative drama!
Radiance . Flourish
Meanwhile, Radiance . Flourish is a captivating dance performance that brings together the talented young dancers of the Dance Ensemble Singapore Performing Arts Academy.
Set against the open backdrop of the SCCC’s Concourse, this performance showcases the vibrancy of the local dance scene and the next generation that’ll evolve said scene forward.
🗓️Date: 17 to 18 May 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Concourse, Level 1
💲Price: Free
⏰Time:
- 12pm and 5pm (17 May 2025)
- 11am and 3pm (18 May 2025)
Drop by the SCCC’s Concourse during any of the four timings to catch a spectacular celebration of Singapore’s dance culture!
When the Storm Comes
And with this last play, we’ve come to the end of programmes offered by the SCCC for Cultural Extranvaganza. Don’t be sad, though! As the saying goes, When the Storm Comes, here comes a rainbow, which is what this theatrical drama captures at its core!
Revisiting the way of life during kampong days, Singapore’s initiatives, and the improvement and modernisation of public housing, this performance aims to ignite children’s curiousity about Singapore’s housing history as well as to create a sense of community and solidarity amongst neighbours.
🗓️Date: 31 May and 1 June 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Concourse, Level 1
💲Price: Free
⏰Time: 2pm and 5pm
Close out your Cultural Extravaganza 2025 experience with this wholesome and uplifting performance—a heartfelt reminder of how far we’ve come after 60 years of independence.
Plan your Cultural Extravaganza 2025 Today!
So, whether you’re a Chinese theatre buff looking for your next hit of nostalgia or just someone looking for something fun and fresh to watch in May and June, these 10 events at the SCCC promise something for everyone!
🗓️Date: 9 May to 7 June 2025
📍Location: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, 1 Straits Blvd, Singapore 018906
Check out the dedicated webpage to Cultural Extravaganza 2025 and follow the SCCC on Instagram for more information about the festival and other happenings at the centre! And while you’re at it, don’t forget to visit the other ongoing events and exhibitions happening at the SCCC (which we’ve also covered!) With that said, see you at the SCCC!
Visuals courtesy of Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre
