SINGAPORE – National Day 2023 will be one for people to get active, rather than just soak in the festivities. From sport tryouts to bouncy castles, and even old school games such as eraser battles, a range of activities has been lined up at five sites to get Singaporeans in the National Day mood during the first weekend of August.
Organisers of 2023’s heartland celebrations are turning the spotlight on sports to encourage locals to have a go at different activities.
At the GetActive! Singapore Heartland Festivals, there will be sport tryouts, facilitated by qualified coaches, for athletics, basketball, floorball, football and table tennis, among others.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a kid who’s just looking for a kick about, or you’re a budding young athlete looking to represent Team Singapore. The coaches will be able to adjust the varying levels of play,” said Mr Tan Hock Leong, chief of ActiveSG, Sport Singapore, which teamed up with the National Day Parade 2023 Heartland Celebrations Committee to organise the festivals.
On Aug 5 and 6, Singaporeans can head to GetActive! Singapore Heartland Festival sites at ActiveSG Bedok Sport Centre, ActiveSG Jurong West Sport Centre, ActiveSG Toa Payoh Sport Centre and ActiveSG Woodlands Sport Centre. The festival at Our Tampines Hub will take place on Aug 6 only.
The festival sites will be open from 4pm to 9pm on both days.
Experiential activities such as archery, skateboarding, roller skating and zorbing – where a person climbs inside a large inflatable ball and rolls around – are also available for festivalgoers to try.
Attendees will also experience a blast from the past with kampung games such as ring the landmark, where participants have to toss rings around pegs that are placed in front of pictures of Singapore attractions, or face off in a giant eraser battle, using a larger-than-life eraser to flip and pin down an opponent’s eraser.
Family-friendly activities include bouncy castles and community mural painting, while event partners will have booths giving away snacks such as popcorn and candy floss, or offering lifestyle or essential services such as health and dental screenings.
There will also be live performances at the five sites by musicians such as The Island Voices, Hear65 artistes and the Bagpipe Band from Boys’ Brigade Singapore, and even TikTok content creators, among others.
The activities available at each site are different. Entry tickets are required for those who wish to take part in the GetActive! Singapore Heartland Festivals. Details on how to apply for these free tickets will be released on Wednesday.
On National Day itself, the five festival sites will also be where Singaporeans can catch fireworks displays that will be set off at the same time as the fireworks at the Padang, where the parade will be held, and Marina Bay.
These sites will be open to the public from 6pm, with the fireworks displays expected to take place from 8.15pm to 8.25pm. Public viewing within these sites will be facilitated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Before the fireworks displays, heartland merrymakers will also get an aerial treat, with helicopters and fighter jets taking to the skies.
Two CH-47SD Chinook helicopters, each escorted by two AH-64D Apache helicopters, will concurrently fly the state flag across the east and west of Singapore between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.
From 5.40pm to 6.10pm, an A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport, accompanied by six F-16D+ and three F-15SG fighter aircraft, will execute the RSAF55 Island Flypast, flying in the vicinity of five heartland areas. They are Jurong West, Woodlands, Toa Payoh, Tampines and Bedok.
The RSAF55 F-15SG, with its RSAF55 tail flash, will also be a part of this formation.
Principal network engineer Bakthavatchalam Narendrakumar, 36, is excited to lead and manage a team of volunteers who will be at ActiveSG Toa Payoh Sport Centre.
He said: “This event brings National Day closer to their homes. We have all the elements which will help attract people from all walks of life to celebrate National Day together.”
