'It is a good opportunity to get the Malay and other non-Chinese communities to bask in the Chinese New Year atmosphere,' said Ms Faizah Mohammed Hassan, a spokesperson from Majlis Pusat.

Representation will not be token either, as more than 100 people from the Malay community will be involved in the festivities.

Highlights include a royal wedding to be staged on Feb 6 - complete with sedan seats and a procession being led by martial artists, an exhibition of traditional Malay wedding customs as well as martial art displays of 'Silat' and traditional song and dance performances.

The Malay cultural events, as well as the festival's opening night will be hosted in Mandarin and English.

The Lhasa Municipal Ethnic Arts Troupe will present Tibetan songs and dances to visitors at the Singapore River Hong Bao this year.

Another feature is an acrobatic troupe from Taiwan, whose performances will include magic tricks and optical illusions.

From Feb 10 to 12, there will be cooking demonstrations of traditional food dishes from the different dialect groups like Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew.

Fans of 1970s singer, Teresa Teng, or popularly known as Deng Li Jun, are in for a treat - double-takes are in store for the stage appearances of Charlene Chi, whose looks and voice is widely hailed to bear an uncanny resemblance to the Taiwanese singer who died in 1995.

A reunion dinner at the Singapore River will be held for the first time on Feb 6.

Foreigners in Singapore, including those who recently moved here are invited to the dinner at the Esplanade Park.