The Show Master, a new blockbuster entertainment arm by Uncle Ringo, revives our festive cheer with a bang after a three-year hiatus with The Great Bay Fiesta from 1 December 2022 to 1 January 2023 at the Bayfront Event Space.
The Great Bay Fiesta, presented by Trip.com, is held in conjunction with Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2023, presented by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Open daily from 1 pm to 10 pm, this event spans over 20,000 sqm at the Bayfront Event Space with a lineup of merrymaking activities clustered into four main event segments – The Great Cirque de Cascades, The Great World Carnival, The Great Food Fiesta, and Ice Magic: The Great Fantasy on Ice.
We brought our two kiddos to check out the latest happenings at The Great Bay Fiesta, and it was unfortunate that the weather wasn’t on our side. It poured quite heavily in the afternoon, but thankfully, the rain subsided, and all that was left was drizzles. The first thing we checked out was The Great World Carnival by Uncle Ringo.
Apart from the usual carnival games where carnival-goers can have a go at winning mega-sized plushies; classic rides like the Big Carousel, Bumper Car, and Pirate Ship are also available for the thrillseekers. Mikayla rode the Big Carousel, and it was the only ride she took because she did not meet the minimum height requirements for the other rides. In case you are wondering, a ride on the Big Carousel costs $6. We noticed that many other rides were not in operation when we were there, and given the bad weather, the giant inflatables were a no-go for us as it was “flooded” with rainwater, and we did not pack any spare clothes for the kiddos.
Something different from the regular rides and games was an experiential inflatable playland reimagined and redesigned from one of OpenSea’s renowned projects, Prime Ape Planet. This is Uncle Ringo’s first foray into the web3 landscape to explore an omnichannel integrated experience for its visitors using the NFT IP space. If there were some utility that Prime Ape Planet’s NFT holders could take advantage of at The Great World Carnival, we would have found it super interesting and even more newsworthy, but it was interesting to see a giant inflatable that is designed after a popular NFT collection.
To enter The Great World Carnival, you will need a Carnival Admission Ticket that will cost SGD$10, which comes with SGD$5 Carnival Credits.
As a strategic partner of the annual SG Cares Giving Week, The Show Master is proud to announce that The Great Bay Fiesta will be the main Giving Hub throughout December. On four consecutive Tuesdays, i.e. 6, 13, 20, and 27 December, the opening act of The Great Cirque des Cascades’ 7 PM shows will be performed by charities or non-profit organisations such as Breast Cancer Foundations, SASCO Khatib Active Ageing Centre, and more. The Show Master will also be donating 5% of the total revenue earned from their Tuesday 7 PM shows to the performing beneficiaries.
Before The Great Cirque des Cascades show, we went to The Great Food Fiesta to grab a quick dinner. There were many food options available, but we felt the prices were not wallet-friendly and the food quality (at least for the ones we had) was subpar. As some of the stores are serving Thai cuisine, including grilled meats, seafood and desserts (and were specially flown in from Thailand), this might explain why they are so pricey.
We ordered one serving of Pad Thai, one serving of octopus, one serving of fried sweet potato balls, and one serving of beer, and all these added up to SGD$34.50. For a carnival-styled setting (which is what we would also refer to as a street-hawker setting or food-festival kind of setting), the pricing was definitely on the high end.
After a quick dinner, we went to queue up to enter the climate-controlled 1,000-seat Big Top where The Great Cirque des Cascades was taking place.
Proudly presented by Gandey’s Circus, one of the best international circus acts the world has to offer, the 80-minute circus show features nine premium circus acts specially curated from all over Europe. The thrilling performances put us on the edge of our seats, and we were very glad that Jacob managed to take a nap during the show and did not kick up too much fuss. As for Mikayla, she was dancing away to the music and got very excited when she saw balloons in some of the acts.
If you have not been to a circus performance before and you have no plans to travel, The Great Cirque des Cascades is a good option to consider. For the best views, avoid booking the Standard Ticket. As seats are not numbered, do queue up early before the showtime so that you can secure the best spots. Bookings for The Great Cirque de Cascades tickets are now exclusively available at Trip.com.
Due to the lack of time, we did not check out the Ice Magic: The Great Fantasy on Ice, which is part of The Great Bay Fiesta and the biggest pop-up winter-themed attraction in Singapore. However, from what we know, tickets to Ice Magic: The Great Fantasy on Ice cost SGD$45 for an adult and SGD$35 for a child (aged 2 to 12). The Family Package for 2 adults and 2 children is worth considering as it costs just SGD$140.
This pretty much sums up our experience at The Great Bay Fiesta and if you have any thoughts about this event, feel free to share your comments with us too!