As part of Singapore’s SG50 Jubilee Celebrations, the Jubilee Big Walk took place this morning.

A historical 5km route

The Jubilee Big Walk took place this morning with 25,000 walkers.

Jointly organised by The New Paper and the People’s Association, this walk started from the National Museum of Singapore. It took participants through a historical 5km route that allowed them to relive Singapore’s past, appreciate the present and look forward to the future.

About 25,000 participants took part in this morning’s event, which was flagged off at about 7.00am, by Prime Minster Lee Hsien Loong.

There were plenty of iconic and meaningful landmarks along the 5km route.

Some of the landmarks along the way, had included The Peranakan Museum, Hill Street Fire Station, the Padang, Esplanade, the Marina Bay Floating Platform, the ArtScience Museum and Marina Bay Sands. The finishing point was at The Meadows @ Gardens by the Bay – one of Singapore’s newest iconic attractions.

Participants warm up before flag-off.

Starting line was colourful and interesting

Prior to commencement, the starting line was pretty amazing to look at – as it was adorned with many colourful balloons – in the shape of iconic landmarks and figures in Singapore. These had even included a MRT train and Singa the Courtesy Lion.

In addition, colourful balloons, which I thought had really added to the pre-event carnival atmosphere – were given out.

There were lots of colourful balloons at the starting line.

Sights to absorb

When the starting horn blew, I took it slowly, absorbing the sights and sounds along the way. But at times, I broke into a slow jog when the crowd had dissipated slightly.

The Big Walk in progress.

As it had been raining earlier, the weather was also very pleasant in the early part of the walk. It was cool and breezy, but after a while, unfortunately, it became a little more humid than I would have liked.

The participants passed by Marina Bay Sands, one of Singapore’s newest icons.

So many photo opportunities along the way

Throughout the walk, there were many photo opportunities available, ranging from being able to take photos of iconic buildings to costumed participants and performers such as colourful dancers and stilt-walkers. So I couldn’t help myself, but stopped on a number of occasions to take pictures.

Lots of older iconic buildings also lined the route.

SG50 Singapore Heart Map festival at the Marina Bay Floating Platform

The most interesting part of the walk though, came at the halfway point when we passed the Marina Bay Floating Platform. This was where the Singapore Heart Map festival was taking place.

This is an SG50 festival that marks some of the most cherished locations on the island, including the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Haw Par Villa and Tiong Bahru – expressed through literary and visual arts.

The SG Heart Map festival was the most interesting part of the route too.

But what had caught my eye though, were the colourful balloons shaped like landmarks such as the Changi Airport Control Tower, an airplane and a palm tree. These were awesome and I posed for photos with a few of them.

These colourful balloons on the right, caught my eye.

The Jubilee Bridge, which was also launched today, was definitely eye-catching, as it had been adorned with colourful, gold SG50 balloons for the occasion. A few metres down, we were given SG50 balloons as an interesting mementoes of the morning. This was a gesture that participants really appreciated.

The SG50 balloons lining the Jubilee Bridge was a sight to behold.

The post-event carnival at the Gardens by the Bay

Upon passing the Singapore Heart Map festival, we headed through Esplanade Park before reaching the finishing line – at The Meadow @ Gardens by the Bay.

And when I reached the end point, a huge carnival greeted the walkers upon crossing the finishing arch.

Participants crossing the Helix Bridge.

There were plenty of photo opportunities at the carnival, with various ‘green screens’ – and complimentary goodies, such as Dodo fishballs and boxes of Centrum vitamin tablets, being available as well.

A lucky draw was conducted on stage too, and there were also a few bubbly castles at the far end, for the young ones to bounce around on. This really captivated the kids – and maybe their mums and dads too.

One of the many colourful performers along the route.

Unfortunately, the sun had come out in full force by the time we had crossed the finishing line. So it had started to get quite hot.

A balloon magician and a bubble art performer greeted the walkers too.

That was when I decided to make my exit – but had promptly bumped into a huge human traffic jam that continued all the way to Bayfront Station.

Participants heading through the finishing arch.

While it was a little frustrating, I was glad though, that I had completed the walk early enough to not have encountered this bottleneck along the way.

Participants relaxing on the grass after the Big Walk is over.

Overall, it was a really fun event and I look forward to taking part in this leisurely casual walk again – perhaps next year.

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