News Releases
Mark The Lunar New Year At The Istana Open House
12 February 2026
The Istana Open House (IOH) will be held on Sunday, 22 February 2026, from 8.30am to 6.00pm, to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Members of the public can enjoy a festive day filled with live performances, participate in activity booths – including interacting with horses from EQUAL – and explore the heritage of the Istana.
Performances and Activity Booths
2 In this Year of the Horse, visitors can enjoy a meet-and-greet with horses from the EQUAL herd, gain insights into equine communication, and learn more about equine-assisted learning. Visitors can also participate in hands-on creative activities such as water marbling, craft workshops, and reed diffuser making.
3 The programme will also feature live musical, choral, and cultural performances, with renditions of well-loved Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil classics. Highlights include lion dance, wushu, angklung and kulintang performances. Traditional instruments such as the zhongruan, dizi, guzheng, erhu, tabla, and Indian classical violin will also be showcased, alongside a philharmonic orchestra presentation.
4 Performances will be presented by De La Salle School, Four Dimensions, Jurongville Secondary School, LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, MacPherson Philharmonic Orchestra, NUS Lion Dance, The TENG Company, Voices of Singapore Children’s Choir, and Yuan Ching Secondary School.
5 Please refer to Annex A for the full programme.
Touring the Istana Grounds
6 Visitors are welcome to explore the Istana grounds, including its architecture and flora and fauna[1]. Self-guided tours of the Istana Villa are available from 8.30am to 6.00pm, where visitors can view a collection of State Gifts presented to Singapore’s leaders. Visitors who have pre-registered for the guided Istana Heritage Tour will tour the grounds during their chosen timeslot between 9.00am and 4.00pm.
Food and Beverages
7 There will be food and beverage stalls. Only cashless payments via the Credit/Debit Card and QR Code[2] will be accepted.
Admission Details
8 Entry to the Istana grounds will be via the Main Gate at Orchard Road. The nearest MRT station is Dhoby Ghaut. Entry may be restricted due to capacity or inclement weather.
9 Entry to the Istana grounds is free for Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents, and migrant domestic workers accompanying families. Other visitors are required to pay an admission fee of $20 per adult and $10 per child (4 to 12 years old). Additional fees apply for other activities, such as the guided Istana Heritage Tour and visiting the Istana Villa.
10 Please refer to Annex B for fees for entrance into the Istana grounds and Istana Villa, and the Istana Heritage Tour. Only cashless payments via Credit/Debit Card and QR Code will be accepted.
11 All proceeds from the entrance into the Istana grounds and tours are non-refundable and will support the President’s Challenge beneficiaries.
12 More information can be found on http://go.gov.sg/visitistana (opens in new tab).
PRESIDENT’S OFFICE
ISTANA
12 FEBRUARY 2026
ANNEX A
PROGRAMME FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR ISTANA OPEN HOUSE
Table caption
Time | Activity | Venue |
Performances | ||
9.50am to 10.30am | Multicultural music performance by MacPherson Philharmonic Orchestra | Main Tent |
10.30am to 11.00am | Lion dance by Yuan Ching Secondary School | Main Tent |
11.05am to 11.50pm | Multilingual choral performance by Voices of Singapore Children’s Choir | Main Tent |
12.00pm to 12.20pm | Wushu performance by De La Salle School | Main Tent |
12.30pm to 1.20pm | Chinese classical music performance by scholars of Mapletree - The TENG Company | Main Tent |
1.35pm to 2.10pm | Live vocal band performance by LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore | Main Tent |
2.20pm to 3.00pm | Angklung and kulintang performance by Jurongville Secondary School | Main Tent |
3.10pm to 4.00pm | Indian-Chinese musical performance by Four Dimensions | Main Tent |
4.00pm to 4.30pm | ‘Cai Qing’ lion dance by National University of Singapore | Main Tent |
Activity Booths | ||
8.30am to 6.00pm | Visitors can look forward to activity booths for face painting, Chinese calligraphy, water marbling, balloon sculpting and reed diffuser making. Visit activity and merchandise booths by social services agencies like SUN-DAC, Rainbow Centre, Playeum, and Allkin Singapore to learn more about their support and upliftment for beneficiaries. All proceeds from the entry to the Istana grounds, Istana Heritage Tour and the State Gifts Display will go to benefitting organisations supported by the President’s Challenge. Proceeds from the social service agencies’ booths will go to the agencies themselves. | Main Tent (Booth Area) |
Guided Tours | ||
9.00am – 4.00pm | Istana Heritage Tour* *Hourly tours start from 9.00am, with the last tour departing at 4.00pm. | Istana Heritage Tour Booth near the Main Entrance |
Snacks and Merchandise | ||
8.30am – 6.00pm | Food Trucks | Near Food Tent |
Food Stalls | Food Tent | |
Drinks Booths | Food Tent | |
ANNEX B
FEES FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE ISTANA GROUNDS
Table caption
| Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents**
| Standard |
Adult | Free | $20.00 |
Children (4 to 12 years) | Free | $10.00 |
Children (Below 4 years) | Free | Free |
* All fees collected will go towards the benefitting programmes supported by the President’s Challenge.
**including their caregivers
FEES FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE ISTANA VILLA
Table caption
| Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents | Standard |
Self-guided | Self-guided | |
Adult | $2.00 | $10.00 |
Children (4 to 12 years) | $2.00 | $5.00 |
Children (Below 4 years) | Free | Free |
* All fees collected will go towards the benefitting programmes supported by the President’s Challenge.
FEES FOR THE ISTANA HERITAGE TOUR*
Table caption
| Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents | Standard |
Adult | $8.00 | $30.00 |
Children (4 to 12 years) | $4.00 | $12.00 |
Children (Below 4 years) | Free | Free |
* The guided Istana Heritage Tour is conducted by volunteers from NParks. Tours can be booked in advance through online pre-registration. All fees collected are non-refundable will go towards the benefitting programmes supported by the President’s Challenge.
For more information on tour availability and pre-registration details for the next Istana Open House, please visit go.gov.sg/visitistana.
[1] The Istana Main Building is currently closed for restoration until further notice.
[2] Participating payment merchants include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Union Pay, JCB, Bank of China, Citibank, DBS, HSBC, ICBC, Maybank, OCBC, PayNow, Standard Chartered, and UOB.