Here we are once again at the close of the year.
2024 marks the 41st edition of the annual Orchard Road Christmas light-up. This year, a segment of Orchard Road was also closed on Christmas Eve for a Christmas party, though I wasn’t there to witness it.
This year, I took a walk on the evening of 20th December. It had rained earlier in the afternoon, so the weather was somewhat pleasant and a welcome respite from the unusually warm December we had experienced thus far.
Dhoby Ghaut
I started my walk this year from Dhoby Ghaut. Outside Plaza Singapura, some purplish lights can be seen hanging from the trees.
The decorations this year are comparatively simpler as compared to last year’s medley of colours. Orbs feature quite prominently this year (for the first time since 2019) although this time there are no Santa butts accompanying them.
There is some elegance in its simplicity, although I can’t help noticing that one of the tree-behind-a-tree motifs seems reminiscent of a hiking brand’s logo.
What I especially like about this year’s decorations are the mini Christmas trees adorning each street lamp. Having taken a look at my archives, I think this year’s street lamp decorations are the best by far.
Somerset
Over at Somerset, CentrePoint has a very elaborate display on street level with a yummy selection of Christmas treats (non-edible, of course). The decorations at Orchard Gateway and 313@somerset are comparatively simpler.
I like taking a photo of the large billboard outside the Apple store each year. This year, it’s the iPhone 16 taking centre stage, complete with Apple Intelligence.
The tree at Courts Nojima finally looks decent, although it is still upstaged by the usually extravagant tree at Paragon, which has been upgraded to include windows.
As you look towards the Orchard Road stretch, there’s a subtle colour change where white lights have substituted the blue lights earlier. However, the warm yellow lights remain a constant. And this is something I really appreciate as I felt that the Christmas lightings have gotten “colder” over the years, especially since whitish street lamps were installed on Orchard Road (and now, across most of Singapore). In a way, it’s a throwback to the 1990s or early 2000s.
At the junction between H&M and Takashimaya, the lamppost decoration changes from a Christmas tree to a… snake-like decoration? Perhaps it’s to welcome the year of the snake?
Orchard
Finally, moving on to the “main” Orchard area. There’s a small “Christmas Village” outside of Takashimaya, which pales heavily in comparison to the one outside Marina Bay Sands.
There are street performances aplenty this year, which is a sign that COVID-19 is but a distant nightmare now. Over at ION Orchard, the “Christmas tree” this year is an elaborate display by Dior. I mentioned last year that the brands featured at ION Orchard seemed to be different every Christmas. This trend has now been broken, since Dior was also featured back in 2022.
At Wheelock Place, you get a tree-in-a-tree design once more.
Looking over to the Tanglin/ Far East stretch, the colour of the lights changes once again – this time you get warm white in all its glory. I guess that’s pretty in theme with this exceptionally, unusually warm Christmas and a nice switch up from the typically “cold” lighting ever since white LEDs took the world by storm.