Festival highlights, Keyframes, Invasion, Les Aquamens, The Wheel House. (Photo: Singapore Night Festival)

The Bras Basah - Bugis precinct will come to life once again this year as the Singapore Night Festival returns in August, with new roving arts and street performances, spectacular light visuals and, for the first time ever, a steampunk-themed park called House of Curiosities.

The festival theme, “Inventions and Innovations”, announced by organisers to the media on Thursday (28 July), is inline with the event’s direction as it nears its 10th anniversary next year.

“This is an exciting marquee year as we work towards the 10th year of the festival. We are reinventing and innovating to experiment with new ways to present the festival,” said festival director Angelita Teo.

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that revolves around technology and aesthetics inspired by the 19th century industrial steam-powered revolution.

The carnival-esque House of Curiosities will transform Cathay Green (the park in front of National Museum of Singapore) into a steampunk wonderland throughout the festival, which runs two weekends, from 19 to 20 Aug and 26 to 27 Aug.

The festival will take place from 7:30pm to 2am.

Created by Sweet Tooth by CAKE Theatrical Productions, House of Curiosities consists of a steampunk fashion parade, craft activities and a play called The Mechanical Heart, an adventurous tale about an inventor named Professor Chambers.

A preview of The Mechanical Heart (Photo: Nurul Azliah/Yahoo Singapore)

Tickets to the park are priced at $16 (adult) and $13 (concession), including SISTIC fee, and are available for purchase from Thursday (28 July).

Roving art performances, night lights, flea market and street parties

Other highlights to look out for include Keyframes by France’s Groupe LAPS, a light show which will see more than 100 LED stick figures “crawling” all over the National Museum of Singapore’s facade, and Journey by UK’s NOVAK, which will see the Singapore Art Museum’s facade illuminated with visuals inspired by the world of Victorian adventure novelist, Jules Verne.

In addition, keep your eyes out for roving performances by international artists as you trawl the arts precinct, such as The Wheel House by UK’s Acrojou, Les Aquamens by France’s Machtiern Company, and Suaveciclo by Brazil’s VJ Suave.

Festival village. (Photo: Singapore Night Festival)

The crowd favourite festival village at the Singapore Management University’s Campus Green will host live performances by local musicians and emerging Australian acts such as Alice Ivy, Tali Mahoney and Frida.

There will also be a flea market consisting of 50 vendors, including food and beverage stalls.

According to Teo, the village space will be smaller this year due to construction in the area.

The Bloc Party. (Photo: Singapore Night Festival)

If you’re a fan of street parties, the Bloc Party on Armenian Street returns with back-to-back music acts, a lightsaber battle performance by FightSaber Singapore and a motorcycle convoy led by Harley Davidson Singapore to feast your eyes on.

Invasion by Netherlands’ Close-Act. (Photo: Singapore Night Festival)

As a grand finale, the Singapore Night Festival wraps up with Invasion by Netherlands’ Close-Act, a stunning and immersive spectacle where visitors will see prehistoric creatures “invading” the festival ground.

The full line-up of activities will be announced closer to the date.