Huayi 华艺节 2013

I brought Naomi on a walk around the Esplanade on Friday morning and chanced on the fact that Huayi, the Esplanade’s Chinese Festival of Arts was about to kick off that very day.

Oo, so many programmes to watch!

One of the three annual cultural festivals organised by the Esplanade, Huayi neatly ties in with Chinese New Year festivities, showcasing the works of Chinese artists of all genres.

In addition to the ticketed shows, I noted that there were quite a number of free programmes held at the Esplanade’s concourse, forecourt and outdoor theatre. My interest was piqued, and that was how we ended up heading to the Esplanade for dinner on Saturday.

(Well, that and the fact that DD really wanted to eat at Space@My Humble House as soon as I mentioned the Esplanade. We love the place, and I’ve been hooked to the Claypot Jasmine Rice Consommé pretty much ever since the place opened. The Rack of Lamb Bak Kut Teh is also really good, as is the Rock & Roll Salad.)

We took a walk around after dinner to see what was on. We headed over to the outdoor theatre first and were very tickled to come across a big sing-a-long session with folks merrily belting out oldies like Teresa Teng’s (邓丽君) 甜蜜蜜! “A mass karaoke,” said DD. There was even an elderly gentleman waltzing around in front on his own to the music. Haha. That really wasn’t our scene, so we didn’t linger, but instead chose to try catch the puppet show that was being held by the waterfront just beyond No Signboard Seafood. 

Waiting, waiting…

The hand puppetry show was presented by Hui An Puppet Troupe from China. We watched the 8.15pm show and it featured two segments. The first was an energetic segment full of dances and activity extolling the virtues of 惠安女 (Hui An Maidens) who are apparently known to be hardworking and kind. This segment, both kids enjoyed. Noey particularly liked a part where a puppet emerged on a motorcycle that went “beep beep!” He really laughed out loud then! As for Nomi, I think she provided entertainment to those around by trying to clap and dance to the accompanying music. The second segment was a tale that we, alas, didn’t understand at all, as it was performed in Hokkien. All DD and I caught was a smattering of words here and there. 

After the performance, a host had the performers come out to explain and demonstrate how they worked the puppets, which I thought was interesting. You need some mighty dextrous fingers to be able to get the puppets moving along naturally!

Two of the puppeteers demonstrating how they worked their puppets. The lady is dressed in the traditional garb of Hui An ladies.

Some of the puppets they had on sale — 唐僧 and 孙悟空 .

We didn’t stay for the later show as the kids were fast tiring, though we were told that they would be performing two other different stories.

On the way back to our car, we spied the drum performance going on in the forecourt and couldn’t resist stopping to watch. This turned out to be my favourite performance of the night — an energetic Chinese Drum performance by Zingo Festival Drum Group. Rhythmic beats with stylo-synchronised moves and macho showmanship. Love it. (Hah!)

Sadly, the kids who were wilting from tiredness and the heat started getting restless so we had to leave after watching for a short while. It was time to head back home anyway.

Overall, I thought it was a nice way to spend an evening and expose the kids to more Chinese culture at the same time. We might pop down again to check out some other shows before it ends, the weather permitting!

Huayi 华艺节 2013 is on at the Esplanade from 15 to 24 Feb 2013. There are plenty of free shows going on in the evenings (and some afternoons), especially in the weekends. More details can be found here: Free Programmes.