Silk lanterns inspired by the brightly coloured animal-shaped cellophane lanterns of yesteryear will light up the streets of Chinatown in celebration of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

During the month-long festivities, which will begin on Saturday and end on Oct 19, more than 1,000 handcrafted LED lanterns will be displayed along Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road and South Bridge Road.

The lanterns were designed in collaboration with students from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa).

Nafa students Tham Xin Yi, 18, and Chua Xiang Xiang, 19, said their team spent two months on the design for 10 animals.

The centrepiece is a 12m-tall "tree" adorned with some 60 animal lanterns.

Speaking to The Straits Times at a media preview of the light-up yesterday, Jalan Besar GRC MP Lily Neo said she had fond memories playing with the traditional candle-lit cellophane lanterns as a child.

"For this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, we hope to evoke fond memories for Singaporeans by recreating Singapore's traditional lanterns popular in the 1960s to 1980s," she said.