Teroka Nusantara Festival 2026 at the Malay Heritage Centre: four Malay house types, zapin and a night bazaar, 6–8 November

By Jonathan Lee · Researched guide · Details checked 31 October 2026

Dates: 6–8 Nov 2026 · daily 10am to 10pm

The Malay Heritage Centre’s first Teroka Nusantara Festival runs from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November 2026, and most of it is free. The best parts cost nothing: a courtyard of four traditional house types from across the Malay Archipelago, cultural booths from three countries, and a bazaar open until 10pm.

Why go?

It’s the first edition of a new annual festival at the Malay Heritage Centre, and almost everything outside the auditorium is free.

The Rumah Kita Play Space puts four house types side by side, from the Minangkabau Rumah Gadang to the Javanese Rumah Joglo, which is a rare chance to compare them in one courtyard.

Saturday night has a free folk-jazz set on Baghdad Street, so you can make an evening of it with dinner in Kampong Gelam.

What to do

01 · The free daytime trail: houses, booths and a play space

From 6 to 8 November, 10am to 6pm, the Rumah Kita Play Space in Courtyard 2 shows four homes from across the archipelago: Rumah Gadang from Padang, Rumoh Aceh, Rumah Limas (linked to Riau and the Straits Settlements) and Rumah Joglo from Central and East Java, each with panels on the people who built them. On the Saturday and Sunday, Courtyard 1 adds the Nusa Budaya Kita cultural booths, with textiles, food, games and instruments from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah, Sarawak and Aceh. Our tip: start with the houses, then do the booths, so the kids know what they’re looking at.

02 · Free talks and the Baghdad Street folk-jazz set

The festival has free talks you register for in advance: a session on Malay rulership from Sultan Hussein’s descendants in Kampong Gelam onwards (7 Nov, 10am to 12pm), a talk on traditional Malay games, including the region’s own version of chess (7 Nov, 1.30pm to 3pm), and a talk on Singapore’s place in Malay film and music since 1900 with Art Fazil and Wahyu Rahman (8 Nov, 4.30pm to 6pm). On Saturday 7 November, Orkestra Melayu Singapura plays free street sets on Baghdad Street at 6pm and 9pm.

03 · What’s worth paying for

The ticketed highlight is Rumah Orang Kita, the Nusantara Arts Showcase in the MHC Auditorium, about 75 minutes of music and dance from Orkes Nico and Atrika Dance Company (Singapore), Yayasan Warisan Johor (Malaysia) and Kepai Ruai (West Kalimantan, Indonesia). It plays 7 Nov at 3pm and 8pm, and 8 Nov at 3pm, for S$30 (S$24 for students). Families can book Ayuh Menari!, a beginner zapin workshop by Attrians Singapore (7 Nov, 4.30pm, S$20 per parent-child pair), a Malay-traditions workshop by Little Rimba (8 Nov, 10am, S$24 per pair), or a Pulau Ubin storytelling and craft session by Matiin (8 Nov, 1.30pm, S$12 per pair). After 2pm each day, the Teroka Bazaar by Laloolalang fills the MHC lawn with food and retail until 10pm.

Before you go

• Book the 8pm showcase on Saturday, then walk out for Orkestra Melayu Singapura’s 9pm set on Baghdad Street (our suggestion).
• Come on Friday afternoon if you want the play space without the weekend crowds. The booths are only on Saturday and Sunday, though.
• Make a day of it with our Malay Heritage Centre guide, the Sultan Mosque and a wander down Haji Lane.

The Malay Heritage Centre and its grounds

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