Singapore Chinese Orchestra plays Jurong Lake Gardens for free on 26 September 2026 at 6.30pm. Music Oasis is one hour, no interval, on Ficus Lawn at Chinese Garden. Bring a mat. The lanterns from Lights by the Lake will already be on. This is the concert inside that festival, not a substitute for the lantern walk.
Associate conductor Lien Boon Hua leads. Mediacorp is the broadcast partner. The vocal line-up is Bonnie Loo, Gao Mei Gui and Desmond Ng, which is a television-familiar west-side picnic rather than a concert-hall subscription night. Official repertoire on the SCO page:
- Blossoms and Harvests by Wang Yunfei
- Restart, vocals Bonnie Loo
- Brewing Tea Under the Moon, vocals Gao Mei Gui
- Grandma's Words, vocals Desmond Ng
- Clouds Chasing the Bossa Moon by Sulwyn Lok
- The Ceilidh by Eric Watson
SCO's event copy also flags a world premiere by Singapore composer Germaine Goh, written around Chinese Garden. That work is not in the numbered programme list yet, so treat it as announced rather than timed. If it lands, it is the local detail that separates this year's picnic from last year's CNY Music Oasis on the same lawn.
How to sit this next to the lanterns
Lights by the Lake runs 19 to 27 September, 6.30pm to 10.30pm, with lanterns staying until 4 October. Full dates and the White Snake trail live on our Lights by the Lake 2026 guide. Music Oasis is the Saturday in the middle of that run. The Cloud Pagoda light show starts at 7.30pm, every 30 minutes, last show 10pm. If you want both, sit the concert first, then walk toward the pagoda. Do not count on a seat. Ficus Lawn is picnic grass. Foldable chairs are allowed. Open flames, candle lanterns and sparklers are not. The gardens are smoke-free.
Same night, Science Centre's MOONBEATS silent disco starts at 7pm on the other side of the lake. You cannot reasonably do a 6.30pm orchestra set and a 7pm headphone parade unless you skip one. Pick. Families with kids should stay for the concert and the lanterns. People who want the disco should skip the lawn.
NParks is pushing public transport for the festival. Chinese Garden MRT (EW25) is the obvious stop for Ficus Lawn. Lakeside (EW26) is better if you start at Lakeside Field's food market, which runs 6.30pm to 11pm with BBQ, Ramly burgers, taiyaki and Thai desserts. After 8pm the lawn hosts family film screenings on 26 and 27 September (Migration at 8pm on the 26th). If you stay for the movie, the concert is your opening act.
Admission to the concert is free. There is no ticketing page because there is no ticket. Arrive early if you want a sightline that is not a row of phone screens. The last Music Oasis at this lawn was 7 February for Lunar New Year. This one is Mid-Autumn, shorter, and timed to the lanterns. That is the whole pitch.
Practical Details
- Dates: Saturday 26 September 2026
- Time: 6.30pm, about 1 hour, no interval
- Venue: Ficus Lawn, Chinese Garden, Jurong Lake Gardens
- Nearest MRT: Chinese Garden (EW25)
- Price: Free
- Website: Music Oasis @ Jurong Lake Gardens (SCO)
