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TEMPO.CO, Singapore - The Gemilang Kampong Gelam Ramadan festival and bazaar in Singapore will be held for 35 days from February 18 to March 25, 2025. Last year, the festival and bazaar attracted more than 1.1 million visitors. The festival organizers aim for at least the same number of visitors for this year's event.
"In 2024, our target was 700 thousand people, but it turned out to be not less than 1.1 million visitors. Our hope is that this year's target is at least the same. I still want to maintain at least that number," said the Chairman of One Kampong Gelam, Zaki Ma'arof, on Friday, February 21, 2025, to several media including Tempo in Kampong Gelam.
Zaki mentioned that of the estimated 1.1 million, at least 30 percent are foreign tourists.
"Including from Indonesia, many people visit during Ramadan, enjoying the food and drinks at this bazaar," he said.
120 Food and Beverage Tenants
To achieve such a number, the organizers of the Gemilang Kampong Gelam event have brought in 120 diverse traditional and trending food and beverage tenants in Singapore. Zaki said three to four months before the event, they provided opportunities for food and beverage traders to participate by renting stalls through the event organizer.
In addition to food and beverage stalls, there are also clothing tenant stands. They occupy several streets around the Sultan Mosque, such as Muscat Street, Kandahar Street, and Baghdad Street.
Various food and drinks at these stands are sold from 4 to 16 Singapore dollars (Rp49,000 to Rp 195,000). Visitors can buy beverages such as boba, iced tea, pulled tea, and various juices. There are also foods ranging from pastries, otak-otak (fish cake), mandi rice, smashed chicken rice, kebabs, satay, burgers, lemang (glutinous rice), tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cake), martabak (pancake), tacos, ice cream, fried meat bread, and many more.
Glamour of Kampong Gelam
From noon to late afternoon and evening, you can see the bustle of visitors. Hundreds, maybe thousands filled the streets where tents were set up. The streets are decorated with twinkling lights hanging between the tents, adding to the evening atmosphere.
One Kampong Gelam has invited Tempo to see this lively festival from 19-22 February. Not less than 120 food and drink traders rented tents to serve traditional and trending foods and drinks that were popular in Singapore. Some traders participated in last year's festival and bazaars, such as House of Lemang, Satay Ummi, Picahans, and Smashed Burger.
The organizers also provide a tent area called a carpet for visitors to eat or break their fast. "This time we set up a floor seating for meals," said Zaki.
Workshops for Visitors
Zaki raised an interesting point when answering why the bazaar started more than a week before Ramadan. "We want to provide the opportunity to enjoy this food from day to night. If during Ramadan it can only be enjoyed when breaking the fast," he said.
Before the iftar, visitors can fill their time with several workshops organized by the committee, such as four special workshops celebrating the area's heritage, both past and present. Visitors must prepare 20 dollars or around Rp244,000 to join the workshops. The workshops include Arabic Calligraphy by Erwan Bar, Art workshops by Hanisa M, and Coffee Revive. There are also workshops for batik and painting. Seni Sini will also hold free workshops, including communal art installations.
Visitors can also participate in games such as Stamp Rally and Mystery Treasure Hunt. They placed several boxes for the Stamp Rally where visitors can stamp postcards with ink at several rally points. Similar to Mystery Treasure Hunt with a weekly prize of 8,000 Singapore dollars.
There are also events such as the 2025 Kampong Charity Run in collaboration with Drugfree SG, and the Kampong Tour in the Kampong Glam area. The plan is that towards the end of Ramadan, Kampong Gelam will also hold an annual iftar event in the area, attracting no less than 1,000 visitors or participants. This celebration is also supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Tradition of Iftar at Sultan Mosque
Zaki also explained that the tradition of iftar around the Sultan Mosque has been going on for generations. The Sultan Mosque, the largest mosque in Singapore, influences the surrounding community and Muslims in Singapore. This oldest and historic mosque in Singapore, he said, usually also becomes a gathering place for prospective Hajj pilgrims.
This mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Hussain Shah from the Sultanate of Johor in 1824, the first sultan in Singapore. Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, provided $3,000 for the construction of a single-story building with a two-tiered roof.
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