Review: Prudential Marina Bay Carnival 2017

Life’s a carnival. Or at least, the next 3 months are, as the Prudential Marina Bay Carnival takes over the Bayfront area and keeps the festivities running high all the way through to April!

Organized by Pico and title sponsored by Prudential, the Marina Bay Carnival primarily aims to promote stronger familial ties through spending time together with food and play. The carnival is split into two distinct areas: the family friendly section over at the Promontory, while the Bayfront Event Space closer to Marina Bay Sands plays host to the thrill section.

Entry is free for all to both sections, though payment needs to be made for each ride, game and food vendor. However, all of these are incredibly well priced, ranging from upwards of $4, with the most expensive ride being a roller coaster at just $14 for a spin.

With over 40 rides and games available, freshly imported from countries as far flung as the UK, Italy and Germany, visitors were completely spoiled for choice with the dizzying selections they were given at the carnival.

One highlight is no doubt the Star Flyer, brought in by 6th generation showman Frederick Stokes from the UK. The Star Flyer, located at the Promontory, offers visitors a bird’s eye view of the entire Bayfront area and the Singapore skyline, taking passengers up a technicolour tower that has them revolving around it, a full 360 degree treat from up high.

Those who love a challenge will also be enraptured by the many carnival games available. With over 1 million licensed plush toys from Disney, Dreamworks and more to be won, everyone’s a winner at the carnival, as they put their skills to the test throwing darts, flinging rings and even fishing for prizes. We like a good gamble, and ended up coming away from the carnival with a hefty sackful of toys that we lugged throughout the bus journey home.

Learn from our mistake: if you plan on winning big, be sure to bring some sort of bag that can hold your potential goodies. Here’s a hint for the easier games to win: try the air gun game that can win you Winnie the Pooh plush toys, or if you have a good arm, the ‘Knock Out The Teeth’ style game that can net you emoji plushies, both located at the Promontory.

When you’ve had your fill of fun, it’s time to sit down for a nice meal and live performances. The carnival offers over 20 curated food vendors, offering everything from gourmet delights to local food.

We were drawn to how French staple restaurant PAUL had set up a booth at the carnival, and besides their usual selection of desserts and tarts (all of which are actually flown in direct from France, ensuring the same quality), they’re also offering up some unique dishes not available at their outlets specially at the carnival. A little famished, we had a taste of their Chicken Snail Sausage burger, making for a more than satisfactory snack to fill our hunger.

Exploring the rest of the stalls, we also hit up Katoshka for some russet fries to go along with our burger, and grabbed a refreshing, thirst quenching sour plum drink from them too. While you’re enjoying your food, do look out for some of the hottest local acts playing onstage as well, from indie pop artist Falling Feathers to rising electronic darling Jasmine Sokko.

The Prudential Marina Bay Carnival is no doubt going to be the top choice of a good weekend out for the next few months, offering thrills and non-stop entertainment for all the family and friends.

To keep things exciting, they’ll even be changing up their vendors and theme each month, so you’ll definitely want to be coming back time and time again to see what new Instagrammable moments they’ll be featuring on your repeat visits. Celebrate togetherness with the inaugural Prudential Marina Bay Carnival, a funfair that we can only hope will become a mainstay of the festive calendar in the years to come.

The Prudential Marina Bay Carnival runs till 1st April 2018 at Marina Bay Promontory and Bayfront Event Space. Admission is free and the carnival will be open daily from 4pm-11pm, except Christmas and New Year’s Eve, where it will open from 3pm. A free shuttle bus service is also available between the carnival and Suntec City, at scheduled times. For more information and to purchase credits for rides and games online , visit their website here