This June, the city’s waterfront is set to glow again as i Light Singapore 2026 returns with its most interactive edition yet. Running from 5 to 28 June, the annual festival transforms Marina Bay into an immersive open-air gallery where visitors are invited not just to observe art — but to move through it, touch it, play with it, and even change it.

Presented by UOB and organised by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), this year’s edition revolves around one powerful theme: Movement. From ripples spreading across water to shifting geometric tunnels, glowing staircases, swaying flowers and a “sun” you can reel back into the sky, the festival explores how even the smallest action can create impact — emotionally, environmentally and collectively.

This year’s line-up features 14 installations by 17 artists, with a strong spotlight on Asian and regional creatives. More than 10 artists from Singapore and across Asia are contributing works that blend technology, sustainability, architecture and storytelling into experiences designed for participation.

At The Promontory, Japanese artist Masamichi Shimada presents WAVE, one of the festival’s centrepieces. Five silver sticks emerge from the ground. Visitors tap them gently, and suddenly the space responds with expanding rings of light and sound — like raindrops disturbing the surface of a pond.

The installation becomes a meditation on cause and effect: how one small action can reverberate outward in ways we don’t immediately see. Presented by UOB, the piece also reflects the bank’s message around community impact and sustainability, turning an abstract environmental idea into something tactile and deeply human.

Along Mist Walk, Singapore artist-designer duo Kester Wong and Tan Shao Qi transform reclaimed industrial materials into oversized glowing wildflowers with Where the Wildflowers Grow. Built using recycled carpet and metal offcuts, the flowers sway gently when touched, creating a soft choreography of movement and light.

The work draws attention to the quiet resilience of weeds and wildflowers that grow unnoticed throughout Singapore’s urban landscape: roadside corners, cracks in pavements, forgotten spaces. Here, they become monumental.

One of the festival’s most playful installations may also be its most poetic. Created by Chinese artist Wentao Wang, Let’s Fish the Sun! places a fishing rod over the Marina Bay waters with a glowing orb suspended like a setting sun.

Turn the reel slowly, and the “sun” rises again. As it ascends, its colours shift from crimson to amber to warm white, effectively reversing sunset itself. It’s whimsical, interactive and quietly hopeful: a reminder that endings are not always fixed, and that renewal can begin with simple human action.

French artist Cyril Lancelin brings immersive geometry to Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza with Cube Graphics. From the outside, the inflatable pyramidal structure appears to pulse and vibrate through repeating wave-like patterns. Step inside, and the experience shifts entirely: colourful corridors distort perspective as visitors move through changing chambers of light and pattern. The installation rewards movement. No two angles look the same.

Lancelin also brings Arch Flower to Raffles Place Park, where glowing pink-and-green arches create a dreamlike passageway in the heart of the CBD.

A recurring thread through this year’s festival is participation. At Marina Bay Link Mall, Canadian collective Graffiti+ invites visitors to create digital street art in Infinite Graffiti, a five-metre interactive wall using sensor-activated spray cans. Presented with Families for Life as part of the National Family Festival, the work transforms thousands of individual marks into one evolving communal artwork over the course of three weeks.

Nearby, Slovak collective BN label presents Silent Moments, featuring illuminated human silhouettes frozen in ordinary acts — cycling, strolling, napping, chatting. Visitors are encouraged to join them.

This year also introduces i Light Future, a new mentorship initiative presented by DesignSingapore Council to nurture emerging creatives. Participants — including tertiary students and early-career designers — received mentorship from digital design studio founder Craig Neo.

Two installations from the programme will debut during the festival. Market Cycles by Singapore designers Tan Mei Yee and Ng Choon Wee reimagines everyday wet market plastic crates as a glowing architectural sanctuary. The humble crates, usually overlooked in daily commerce, become vessels for colour, light and reflection.

Meanwhile, Steps by Nawal Bte Azhar transforms staircases into an abstract monument to Singapore’s growth and resilience. Viewed from different angles, the illuminated frames appear to shift and compress, echoing how progress itself depends on perspective.

No i Light Singapore experience is complete without a stop at GastroBeats 2026. Returning to Bayfront Event Space, the festival village celebrates its fifth anniversary with a larger lifestyle offering that blends food, music and active experiences. Visitors can expect:

• Up to 40 food vendors
• An Elevated Dining Zone with artisanal concepts
• Daily live music performances
• Pickleball activations in partnership with the EPIC World Championship
• Arcade games and family-friendly activities during the June school holidays

The atmosphere is designed to feel less like a standalone event and more like a social playground woven into the festival itself.

“As one of Marina Bay’s signature events, i Light Singapore continues to captivate locals and international visitors alike, transforming the waterfront into a vibrant evening destination where communities come together – fostering connection, creativity and a shared sense of place. This year’s theme, Movement, embodies the spirit of Marina Bay – constantly evolving as a People’s Bay. By bringing art into our public spaces, we are transforming the precinct into an interactive gallery, where visitors can explore and experience how individual actions can collectively shape our environment,” said Mr Lim Eng Hwee, Chief Executive Officer, URA.

Photos courtesy of i Light Singapore 2026

i Light Singapore runs from 5th to 28th June 2026 around Marina Bay. More information and full programme line-up available here