093245Y (Group 4)
It’s a Friday evening and the sidewalks along Clarke Quay are filled with people, dressed for a night out. Nothing out of the ordinary really, except for the fact that this time most of the crowd is here for a different reason. It’s the week of the Singapore Food Festival. This year the festival takes place on Clarke Quay Food Street along Read Bridge from the 16th to the 24th of July.
The festival is held every July for duration of about 2 weeks. Tourists and locals flock to the locations, hoping for a taste of the delightful delicacies. If we could put it simply, it’s the Great Singapore Sale of food. The prices aren’t that much different anywhere, but since it only comes around once a year, it would be the cardinal sin not to go.
The deal seems so good that even first time visitors can’t help but get in on all the fuss. One such example is Australian backpacker, Alexandria Garcia. The self-confessed food junkie admits that she was immediately drawn to the festival when she saw the stalls were selling exotic dishes. “I was actually backpacking through Clarke Quay when I saw this festival, so my friends and I just decided to come here for food”. She says she enjoys the atmosphere as well as the cheap pricing here compared to the cost of food back home. The Aussie claims to love the food so much, she would return to the Backpacking Inn, where she is holding up here, to tell all the patrons there to try it. When asked what her favorite dish was, she grins widely and without hesitation says,” the chilli crab!”
The food festival has been a vital and large part of Singapore’s rich food culture. It started out in 1994, and is in its sixth year now. As the years go by, the numbers increase. This could be due to the rising population in Singapore, from the influx of foreign talents and immigrants, or it could just be that more Singaporeans are being born into the culture of `food-lovin’.
Indian expatriate, Mr. Steve M Dadlani, is visiting the Food Festival for the second time, this year. He said he was introduced to it last year by a friend, and has fallen in love with it ever since. With a big grin and a hearty appetite, it’s impossible to miss that very fact. Though he loves the food in hawker centers, he decided to come to the festival, for a change. The festival offers a variety of dishes that are difficult to find in food courts these days. Dishes like tau sar piah and a select few Teochew dishes are truly a delicacy.
The sport shop owner plans to bring his family back again, to let them try out some of the dishes. “I also hope to eat some of the stuff I didn’t get to eat today, like my favorite, duck rice”, he smiles toothily.
The food festival is also being held at other locations such as Central River Promenade and Clifford Square.
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