Walking through Suntec City Mall tiredly after a mac meetup with my ‘kakis’, the captivating melodies of a fusion band filled the air and then came the thunder of drums!

That certainly caught our attention and we looked up to discover musicians rehearsing for the launch of Heritage Fest ’07 the next day. Then we looked around to realise that Suntec City Mall was all abuzz with exhibit and launch preparations!

Staff of NHB’s Public Education Division were going over exhibits and examining the sequence and performance. Amidst the bustle of the final assembly of exhibits rapidly taking shape, the words for the launch presentation the next day were slowly forming into sentences on a huge LCD screen in front of me.

We hopped over the barrier upon invitation and began laughing in reminiscence, over a variety of exhibits – old newspaper articles, we sang the ditty of the soothing 4711 Eau De Cologne from the fevers of my childhood, old toys including some electronics that gamers will love, a picture of the beloved old National Theatre that stimulated a collaborative history lesson, a car license plate evolution, old records and even a barber’s chair!

We had fun, and I am looking forward to seeing it after it is all setup in a few more hours – I’m certainly going back with friends and visitors. Well, I do need a haircut and they will issue 10 tickets daily for haircuts!

The staff from the Public Education Division certainly looked comfortable in the surroundings. Suntec City has been a long-time venue partner for this festival and its predecessor, Museum Fest. Old hands by now, NHB must be proud of this festival which was winner of the Uniquely Singapore Award at the 21st Singapore Tourism Awards 2006.

More photos on flickr tagged with “heritagefest07″.

Link

• Heritage Fest ’07 webpage.
• “Try to catch Singapore HeritageFest ‘07 @ Suntec City,” by Kevin Lim. theory.isthereason, 18 Jul 2007.
• Heritage Fest prelaunch preprations, 17 Jul 2007. Flickr photo album by Airani S.
• Heritage Fest 2007 @ Suntec City. Flickr photo album by Kevin Lim.
• Photos on flickr tagged with “heritagefest07″.