After its successful debut last year, the Singapore Coffee Festival is back and set to be bigger and better.

Organised by The Straits Times and presented by DBS Bank, it runs from Aug 3 to 6 at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre, a stone's throw from the Marina South Pier MRT station.

Ticket sales start on May 3, and more details on the festival, which celebrates the very best of Singapore's vibrant cafe culture, will be released later.

Last year's inaugural event, held at the F1 Pit Building, drew about 20,000 festival-goers, including industry players, coffee lovers and families, over four days.

With bigger premises this year, more people are expected to turn up, but organisers say they will have ample space and crowd-control measures put in place for ease of traffic.

Expect a smorgasbord of good coffee and food with exhibitors including the likes of Dapper Coffee in Amoy Street, Brawn & Brains in Guillemard Road and mobile speciality coffee company Slayer Coffee.

As a lead-up to the festival, the Design-The-Cup competition, sponsored by packaging manufacturer Detpak, is being held again.

The winning design, which comes with a $1,000 cash prize, will be printed on 60,000 cups to be used at the coffee festival, as well as at participating cafes across Singapore. Entries should be submitted by May 19 to sgcoffeefest@sph.com.sg.

Mr Ken Whitaker, Detpak's general manager for sales in South Asia, said: "It is a fantastic way to support Singapore's artistic community while promoting local coffee culture."

• For more information, go to www.sgcoffeefestival.com or e-mail sgcoffeefest@sph.com.sg