Welcome to a list and calendar of anime, manga, games, and cosplay-related events here in Singapore. If you are an anime fan, gamer, or Japanese culture lover – These are the events that you should not miss out on. Pack your bags, get your cameras ready, and prepare your costumes!
P.S. I will try to update this list occasionally, but cannot monitor it every single day – Please do comment below if there are event updates and if I missed out on any.
COVID SITUATION IN SINGAPORE 2023
Singapore is “almost normal”. Masks are only required on public transport and in medical facilities (clinics and hospitals). But it’s best to mask on in crowded areas to protect yourselves – Especially for you guys who are here on a holiday, it will suck a whole load to get sick for an entire week.
QUARTER 1 (JAN TO MAR) 2023
SINGAPORE LARP: BATTLE ARENA
LARP stands for “live-action role play”, and Singapore does have a small community of LARPers. Do join in if you are interested in some “old-style physical exercise”.
| WHEN 28 Jan 2023 |
WHERE Singapore Stadium |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB | Web |
| NOTES The LARP community seems to run a bi-monthly “battle session” – Check out their FB or Insta page. |
|
DOUJIN MARKET
In layman’s terms, Doujin can be translated as “fanart by independent self-published artists”. Yep, Doujin Market is something like Comiket of Singapore.
| WHEN 28-29 Jan 2023, 1100 to 2000 (Sat & Sun) |
WHERE Scape Level 5 |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES A D&D themed mini event. |
|
HARAJUKU FASHION WALK SINGAPORE
Harajuku fashion walk celebrates Harajuku fashion (and culture) by parading down the streets of Singapore in style – Fashion and Japanese culture fans, feel free to join in and just enjoy a nice slow walk.
| WHEN 18 Feb 2023 1600 |
WHERE Merlion Park |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES This is a fashion walk, please do not attend in cosplay! |
|
SAKURA MATSURI
The sakura season is right here in the heart of tropical Singapore. Enjoy the sakura in the Flower Dome in Gardens By The Bay, Japanese foods, performances, and more.
| WHEN Q1 2023 (Usually Mar – Apr) |
WHERE Gardens By The Bay Flower Dome |
| ADMISSION Locals – $12 (adult) $8 (child and senior) Tourists, see notes below – $28 (adult) $15 (child) |
LINKS Web |
| NOTES Book the tickets online in advance if you don’t want to queue. They don’t seem to offer “flower dome only” tickets online, only a package for both Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. |
|
QUARTER 2 (APR TO JUN) 2023
COSFEST ??
Cosfest is another one of the big events in Singapore, that is “officially” dedicated to cosplay – They have various different themed cosplay events every year. Not sure about this one. Yet. They gave a date and nothing else.
| WHEN 8 Apr 2023 |
WHERE ? |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES Unconfirmed. |
|
MAY 4 STAR WARS DAY
May the force be with you, a day for Star Wars fans to remember.
| WHEN 4 May 2023 |
WHERE All over Singapore |
| ADMISSION NA |
LINKS 501st SG Garrison |
| NOTES Events will probably pop up island-wide – The airport and Marina Bay are popular locations. |
|
HARAJUKU FASHION WALK SINGAPORE
Harajuku fashion walk, quarter 2 meet up.
| WHEN Q2 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Merlion Park |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES This is a fashion walk, please do not attend in cosplay! |
|
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE SG
Just heard of this last minute. A small event featuring a couple of booths.
| WHEN Q2 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Suntec |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES NIL |
|
ARC MARKET
Some ahem… drama before the event even starts, but still hope these guys do well. Support the booths yo.
| WHEN Q2 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Singapore Expo |
| ADMISSION ? |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES NIL |
|
ACAS MINICON
This is an open house and a small convention at the Association of Comic Artists Singapore. Offering some workshops, merch, and old DC/Marvel comics at affordable prices.
| WHEN Q2 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Goodman Arts Centre Block B #02-02 |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES NIL |
|
QUARTER 3 (JUL TO SEP) 2022
HARAJUKU FASHION WALK SINGAPORE
Harajuku fashion walk, quarter 3 meet up.
| WHEN Q3 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE National Museum of Singapore |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES This is a fashion walk, please do not attend in cosplay! |
|
ASIA ESPORTS FESTIVAL
Hosted by Esports Entertainment Asia, featuring various games. This event will span across the Atrium, Esports Experience Centre (2nd floor), NewMedia Lab, and the Sports Hub Library. Can’t miss it.
| WHEN Q3 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Kallang Wave Mall |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES NIL |
|
SINGAPORE NATSU MATSURI
Organized by the Japanese Association of Singapore (JAS), get a slice of Japanese culture here in Singapore. Summer Festival holds various food stands, performances, Bon Odori, and much more.
| WHEN Q3 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE JAS clubhouse |
| ADMISSION Free (But tickets are required and sold out) |
LINKS WEB |
| NOTES This is not a cosplay event – Please do not attend in cosplay. |
|
TOFF ANIME MATSURI
Odex Film Festival X Anime Matsuri
| WHEN Q3 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Downtown East |
| ADMISSION From $10.00 |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES Ticketed Event! |
|
COSFEST – SINGAPORE COSPLAY CLUB SHOW
I shall call this an “experimental long-running cosplay event that spans over an entire week”.
| WHEN Q3 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE HarbourFront Centre |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES “Main event days are 3 and 4 Sep”. Not quite sure what that means yet. Check out their FB/website for more info. |
|
HARAJUKU FASHION WALK SINGAPORE
Harajuku fashion walk, quarter 3 meet up. Round 2.
| WHEN Q3 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Merlion Park |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES This is a fashion walk, please do not attend in cosplay! |
|
CAMPUS GAME FEST
Call it the “big-scale Internet party”. Campus Game Fest hosts various esports competitions between local and regional teams.
| WHEN Q3 2022 (TBA) |
WHERE ? |
| ADMISSION ? |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES NIL |
|
QUARTER 4 (OCT TO DEC) 2022
STAR ME UP
A “warm up” before the “main Cosfest event”?
| WHEN Q4 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Jurong Point |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES NIL |
|
COSFEST 2023
The “main event” is finally back after 2 years of hiatus.
| WHEN Q4 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Downtown East |
| ADMISSION 1 day $12, 2 days $22 |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES NIL |
|
GAMESCON
Gamescon is an event that is more geared toward game developers and technologies. But apparently, it is not open to the general public.
| WHEN Q4 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Suntec |
| ADMISSION Not open to public |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES Not a public event, need RSVP. But they are going live online on 19 and 23 Oct. |
|
HANAMI MARKET – IMPACT PLAYGROUND
This is a small pop-up market featuring various artist booths.
| WHEN Q4 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Suntec City |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES Genshin Impact-themed mini-event. |
|
C3 ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA SINGAPORE (AFASG)
AFA is one of the biggest anime events here in Singapore. You can expect a lot of foreign guests, cosplayers, performances, and even Anisong concerts.
| WHEN Q4 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Suntec City |
| ADMISSION ? |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES Ticket pricing to be confirmed. |
|
SINGAPORE COMIC CONVENTION (SCC)
Previously known as the Singapore Toys Games Comic Convention (STGCC) – This event has now “specialized” to just comics, featuring various artists.
| WHEN Q4 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Marina Bay Sands |
| ADMISSION ? |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES No information on admission. |
|
HARAJUKU FASHION WALK SINGAPORE
Harajuku fashion walk, quarter 4 meet up.
| WHEN Q4 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Merlion Park |
| ADMISSION Free |
LINKS FB |
| NOTES This is a fashion walk, please do not attend in cosplay! |
|
EOY J-CULTURE FESTIVAL
Captain Obvious – EOY stands for end-of-year. What better way for Japanese culture lovers to end the year with a Japanese culture-themed festival?
| WHEN Q4 2023 (TBA) |
WHERE Suntec City |
| ADMISSION ? |
LINKS FB | WEB |
| NOTES NIL. |
|
GETTING TO THE EVENT LOCATIONS
First time in Singapore or not sure how to get to the event locations? Here’s a short section on how to find da way (yea, it’s a long-dead meme).
| Location | Map | Short Directions |
| Downtown East | Click Here | Please don’t be confused. Downtown East is not at the Downtown MRT station, but all the way east at Pasir Ris. Take bus 3 or 358 from the station, pretty much just 1 stop or you can walk for 10 minutes. |
| Gardens By The Bay | Click Here | Gardens By The Bay can be rather hard to reach for first-time visitors. Walk from the Bayfront MRT station (follow the huge crowd of tourists), or take bus 400 from the bus stop beside Marina Bay Sands, in front of Marina Bay Link Mall. |
| Marina Bay Sands | Click Here | Right at the Bayfront MRT station. |
| Merlion Park | Click Here | Just a 5 minutes walk from Raffles Place MRT station. |
| Clarke Quay | Click Here | Right at the Clarke Quay MRT station. |
| Singapore Expo | Click Here | Right beside the Expo MRT station. |
| Singapore Stadium | Click Here | Right at the Stadium MRT station. |
| Suntec City Conventions Center | Click Here | Stop at the Promanade train station, or take a 10-minute walk from Esplanade station. |
| Scape | Click Here | A short walking distance from either Sommerset or Orchard MRT station. |
Are you updating this for 2023 as well?
Will be doing so very slowly…
Many thanks for this, for us overseas its hard to get any info on the events, looking forward to AFASG ( I was hoping they’d run it adjacent to the comic festival and id get away with one airfare!)
Hi, just wanna ask if this article has a 2022 version? thanks
Sorry for the slow update. Took quite some time to compile… Some event organizers have reopened for registration. Wait and see what they say la.
Is the AFA at Sunsec city counted as over or will the event resume in a later time, do you know ?
Yes, there will be no physical event. AFA 2020 will be streamed online on their Facebook page and YouTube channel.