SINGAPORE - Visitors to Orchard Road can get a taste of food from several brands not usually found on the shopping street this weekend at a month-long event which launched on Friday (April 21).

Called Fiesta on a Great Street, it features pop-up events and shopping promotions.

Kicking off the event is the Local Gourmet Fiesta held outside Shaw House from Friday to Sunday. Six food and beverage establishments, such as Good Chance Popiah and Keng Eng Kee Seafood, are participating in the event and 20 per cent of sales will go to the Singapore Red Cross. Chefs will also hold master classes.

Aside from food, there will also be pop-ups at Takashimaya Shopping Centre and Hotel Jen orchardgateway.

Organised by Orchard Road Business Association (Orba), the fiesta aims to draw more people to the shopping district.

The association also previously organised pedestrian nights that offered promotions and performances.

Orchard Road has been in the spotlight recently, following Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S. Iswaran's announcement last Thursday. Mr Iswaran said the shopping belt could become fully pedestrianised as part of bold plans to transform the precinct into a distinctive shopping and lifestyle destination.

Speaking at a tourism industry conference then, he said reclaiming the road would create "a multi-purpose space where diverse and larger-scale experiential concepts can be introduced".

This comes amid a tepid retail scene. Last year, retail sales excluding motor vehicles fell 2.6 per cent from the year before, according to figures from the Department of Statistics. In 2015, sales slipped 1.2 per cent from 2014.

Orba chairman Mark Shaw said events like Fiesta on a Great Street fit in well with such rejuvenation plans for Orchard Road.

"The semi-pedestrianisation would mean a lot more event space on Orchard Road so we could do this on a larger scale," he said.