Orchard Road is preparing for the festive season as Christmas on A Great Street (COAGS) returns on 17 November 2026, bringing back its signature Christmas Light-Up, Great Christmas Village and Christmas Eve Street Party. This year’s programme will feature new family attractions, immersive experiences, live entertainment and shopping promotions for both locals and tourists.
The Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA) has also introduced the inaugural Orchard Road Tourist Pass, offering visitors exclusive hotel discounts, shopping and dining vouchers, and credits for the Kiztopia Christmas Carnival. The initiative adds to the tourist GST refund promotions announced earlier by Mastercard and Global Blue, which provide up to 30 per cent more GST refund value at selected retailers.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will officiate the Christmas on A Great Street Community Chest Light-Up Ceremony on 17 November. Co-organised by ORBA and Community Chest, the ceremony will mark the start of the Season of Golden Joy, with a 3.1km stretch of Orchard Road illuminated from Tanglin Road to Dhoby Ghaut until 3 January 2027.
This year’s decorations will feature vine-inspired designs, Christmas trees and mistletoe motifs in three shades of gold, reflecting Orchard Road’s resilience and renewal. The celebrations will also support more than 300 critical programmes funded by Community Chest. An accompanying Stories of Hope exhibition will highlight the journeys of children and youths supported by these programmes.
The Great Christmas Village, which spans Ngee Ann City and Shaw House, will return with an expanded selection of carnival games, children’s rides, food and entertainment. Operated by family edutainment provider Kiztopia, the village will feature neon-pop colours and dessert-inspired installations, alongside snow bubble machines and new themed attractions.
One of the main highlights at Ngee Ann City will be a 13-metre-tall Christmas tree inspired by Marvel Studios’ upcoming film, Avengers: Doomsday. Designed in a stained-glass style, the installation will feature the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four, with experiential booths, photo opportunities and a life-sized Doctor Doom figure. Visitors can also take part in a Marvel Christmas trail by collecting stamps, share photographs on social media or present their movie ticket stubs to redeem exclusive Avengers: Doomsday premiums.
The LEGO Group will make its Singapore debut with LEGO Santa’s Toy Factory, an interactive playground where children and families can take on hands-on workshop missions. Children aged four to 12 will receive a personalised Factory Mission Badge and complete activities at Gingerbread’s Bakery, Santa’s Sorting Station and Yeti’s Order Station. Those who finish the missions will receive a free LEGO Make & Take mini-build and a voucher.
Families can also look out for appearances by the LEGO Santa mascot and Santa’s Holiday Gift Drop, which will feature special giveaways. One lucky participant at each session will have the chance to take home LEGO sets worth up to S$200.
Kiztopia will operate a total of 50 carnival game booths, children’s rides and game stations across both village locations, 20 more than in 2025. At Ngee Ann City, visitors can enjoy 20 carnival game booths, five children’s rides and five game stations, as well as photo installations, a River Duck Ride, Mastercard Train Ride and bouncy castle. Arcade games and claw machines will provide additional entertainment for adults.
The popular Hitachi Santa House will also return, featuring nightly snowfall shows. At Shaw House, a larger-than-life dessert-themed installation featuring Kiztopia characters will be accompanied by 13 carnival game booths, claw machines and six children’s rides.
Food and retail offerings will add to the village experience. Premium tea brand CHAGEE will make its debut with a pop-up truck selling its popular teas and exclusive merchandise. The Grocer Bar by FairPrice Finest will serve cocktails by Brass Lion Gin and local snacks from Singapore’s Top Must Buy list, including IRVINS, Song Fa and Toast Box. ASA Brew will offer craft beer, while Michelin Guide-listed Birds of Paradise will serve its gelato with curated toppings. Hot and cold food options will also be available from vending machines.
Visitors purchasing a new carnival card or topping up S$50 or S$100 in carnival credits with Mastercard will receive an additional S$10 or S$20 in bonus credits respectively. Tourists making these purchases with Mastercard will also receive one complimentary ride on the Mastercard Train for S$50 transactions, or two rides for S$100 transactions. The complimentary rides are limited to the first 10,000 rides.
Five festive photo installations will also be placed at locations along Orchard Road. These include Steps of Golden Joy outside Shaw House, Gateway to Golden Joy and A Golden Christmas Moment outside ION Orchard, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe outside Ngee Ann City, and The Golden Christmas Tree outside Mandarin Gallery.
Another new landmark will be a glowing 6.2-metre Christmas Merli installation on the garden rooftop of Shaw House, adding to the festive decorations along the shopping belt.
The Great Christmas Eve Street Party will return on 24 December 2026, continuing an event that has attracted close to 300,000 visitors annually since its debut in 2023. The celebrations will take place along Orchard Road between the Paterson and Bideford Road junctions, featuring live performances by Benjamin Kheng, DJ Tinc (Kate Yong), Maia Lee and Sambiesta, alongside festive mascots, food trucks and other entertainment.
Benjamin Kheng will headline the final performance of the evening, leading the crowd into the midnight countdown to Christmas. The programme will also include Sleigh the Street! by *SCAPE, featuring street dance performances, graffiti art, street theatre by local and international artists, and hands-on creative activities. The affected stretch of Orchard Road will be closed to traffic from 6pm on 24 December until 2am on 25 December 2026.
Visitors can also look forward to a 100-metre-tall 3D multimedia projection mapping show on the façade of Hilton Singapore Orchard. The three-minute Christmas animations will feature Merli, the Singapore Tourism Board’s mascot. In November, Merli will embark on an adventure to recover missing Christmas elements along Orchard Road, followed by a December showcase featuring iconic Singaporean elements. Special countdown sequences will be presented on 24 and 31 December.
The projection mapping show will run daily from 7pm to 10pm. Festive instrumental music will also be played from 44 lamp posts along Orchard Road between 10am and 6.59pm, with the music synchronised to the projection show during the evening.
Several additional activations will take place along the shopping belt. The LEGO Santa’s Toy Factory pop-up in front of Ngee Ann City and the Marvel Christmas Trail in front of ION Orchard will begin on 13 November. The Google Pixel 11 Experience will be set up in front of Mandarin Gallery from 20 November to 6 December.
Electricity retailer Geneco will present Forevermore, an exhibition featuring incarcerated individuals and their reflections on family as part of their rehabilitation journeys. Kintsugi pottery created in partnership with Awful Grace and the Yellow Ribbon Project will be displayed in front of Wisma Atria from 7 to 20 December.
From 16 to 22 December, more than 200 performers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Canada, the United Kingdom and Singapore will take part in Celebrate Christmas in Singapore, organised by the local charity of the same name.
Tourists can qualify for the new Orchard Road Tourist Pass through either of two options. The first is to book and pay with Mastercard for a minimum three-night stay directly at one of five participating hotels, with discounts of up to 20 per cent off the Best Available Room Rate. The second is to spend at least S$1,000 with Mastercard at participating Orchard Road establishments, using up to five receipts.
The Tourist Pass includes S$60 worth of shopping, dining or services vouchers, S$30 in Kiztopia Christmas Carnival credits and an exclusive Mastercard x Orchard Road foldable tote bag.
Mastercard will also run a separate Christmas Rewards programme for tourists. From 13 November to 27 December 2026, visitors who spend at least S$400 using an overseas-issued Mastercard at nine participating malls can receive S$40 in mall vouchers. Up to five same-day receipts can be combined, and redemptions are available while stocks last.
This promotion is in addition to the Mastercard and Global Blue tourist GST refund offer introduced on 1 October. Eligible Mastercard transactions at participating merchants islandwide qualify for 15 per cent more GST refund value, with the total additional refund value reaching up to 30 per cent at Paragon, Takashimaya Shopping Centre and Wisma Atria. The additional refund is calculated based on the eligible GST refund value and capped at S$600 per transaction.
Local Mastercard cardholders can also redeem S$30 in mall vouchers when they spend at least S$400 across 11 participating malls from 13 November to 20 December 2026. Up to five same-day receipts can be combined. The offer is limited to the first 100 Mastercard cardholders each week. The previous year’s campaign recorded a 26 per cent increase in gross sales at participating malls.
Beyond the celebrations and retail promotions, ORBA will continue its sustainability and community initiatives. Festive decorations will be recycled, reused and repurposed, with lights donated to EQUAL, a charity that uses animal-assisted learning to develop social and life skills. Charities and community groups will also be invited to express interest in reusing decorations from previous years.
ORBA and Mastercard will additionally support the restoration of close to 60,000 trees globally through eligible transactions at 12 participating Orchard Road malls from 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. The initiative will be carried out through Mastercard’s Priceless Planet Coalition partner, Conservation International Foundation.
Other community activities include open-top bus tours for migrant workers, as well as festive gatherings and wellness programmes at Fei Yue Active Ageing Centres.
