SINGAPORE - The annual i Light festival will return as a larger event next year, kicking off islandwide activities to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles.

i Light Singapore - Bicentennial Edition will run from Jan 28 to Feb 24, expanding beyond Marina Bay to include the Civic District, Singapore River and Raffles Terrace at Fort Canning.

It will feature light installations and a range of activities such as artisanal bazaars and fitness sessions.

The sustainable light art festival is organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Previously known as i Light Marina Bay, it was introduced in 2010 to add vibrancy to the Marina Bay precinct and encourage sustainable lifestyles.

This year's festival, which ran from March 9 to April 1, drew two million visitors.

Next year's seventh edition, which will have the theme "Bridges of Time", has received the largest number of artwork proposals in the festival's history - 249 submissions from 36 countries in two months.

One highlight of next year's festival will be a sustainable light art installation by Singaporean industrial designer Lee Yun Qin, 37, and members of the public.

Dubbed The Rainbow Connection, it will be made of solar light modules in hundreds of upcycled plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers suspended in the air. The public can take part in pre-festival workshops around the island to design 800 cookie containers for this installation.

Housewife Christina Wong, 30, and her children aged two and six were among the more than 30 people who were gathered on Thursday (Oct 18) at educational centre Bold At Work in Jurong East for one of the workshops.

"Everyone is working together towards a common project. I thought that was quite interesting," said Ms Wong, who was using markers to colour a jar.

One of the international light art installations featured will be City Gazing Singapore by artists Mingus Vogel and Justus Bruns from Dutch design collective VOUW, who are participating for the first time.

The installation was designed to resemble the map of Singapore and will be on display at The Lawn@Marina Bay.

The organisers have also launched the inaugural i Light Student Award to allow local and international tertiary students to come together to present their own sustainable light art installations at the festival.

It has received 48 submissions involving 115 students from nine countries, including Singapore.

Five student artworks - three winning and two merit entries - will be showcased at the festival.

URA chief executive Lim Eng Hwee said: "As one of the country's signature events, the festival has been a platform that bridges people, culture and opportunity through art and sustainability since its inception.

"This special bicentennial edition will see an intensified effort to bring communities together, as a reflection of how the historic Civic District and Singapore River first drew people from different parts of the world here centuries ago."