Ghost Month (the seventh lunar month) runs 13 August to 10 September 2026. The first day is Thursday 13 August 2026; the Hungry Ghost Festival itself — Ghost Day, the 15th of the month — falls on Thursday 27 August 2026; the month closes on Thursday 10 September 2026, when the gates are said to shut and the last offerings are burnt.
Also called the seventh month (七月), Zhongyuan Festival, or simply ghost month. Dates shift yearly with the lunar calendar — 2026’s fall later than usual. Nothing closes, no tickets are needed, and visitors are welcome to watch respectfully.
From 13 August to around 10–11 September 2026, Singapore's streets change. Small fires burn at kerbsides after dark, tables of food appear on void decks with nobody eating, joss sticks stand planted in grass verges, and open-air stages blast Hokkien pop to rows of empty front-row seats. This is the Hungry Ghost Festival — the seventh lunar month, when Chinese Singaporeans believe the gates of the underworld open — and if you're visiting during these weeks, understanding what you're walking through will transform it from confusing to unforgettable.
Ghost Month closed on 10 September, so the getai stages are down and the kerbside offerings have stopped for this year. The next seventh lunar month runs early August to early September 2027. Everything below still holds — read it now, use it then. What’s on in Singapore right now →
The kerbside fires are joss paper — “hell money” and paper effigies of clothes, phones, even cars — burned as gifts to ancestors and wandering spirits. The laden tables are offerings: rice, fruit, tea, sometimes a whole roast duck, set out for spirits, not people. And the loud open-air stages are getai (“song stage”) — raucous variety shows of Hokkien and Mandarin pop, comedy and neon costumes performed to entertain the spirits. The empty front row isn't unsold seating; it's reserved for the guests of honour you can't see.
Local’s note: Getai is the best free show in Singapore and visitors are genuinely welcome — stand at the back or take any seat except the front row. Geylang, Redhill, Chinatown and older HDB estates have the densest stages; evenings from about 7:30pm, peaking around 27 August.
The festival isn't staged for tourists, which is exactly why it's worth seeing. Look in these places, in roughly this order of reliability:
You'll see plates of oranges, rice, roast meat and cups of tea left on pavements, at void decks and beside trees, often with lit joss sticks pushed into the ground beside them. These are offerings for wandering spirits. Never step over them, move them, or photograph them at close range with flash — walk around, always. If you accidentally kick one, the local response is to apologise aloud, quietly; nobody will scold you, but the gesture matters.
The same logic explains the empty chairs, the untouched front rows, and why some locals avoid swimming, moving house, starting businesses or travelling during the seventh month. You don't have to believe any of it to respect it — and respecting it is what turns a tourist into a welcome guest.
Getai has been quietly declining for years as the older audience thins — and simultaneously enjoying a revival as younger Singaporeans rediscover it, filmmakers document it, and social media spreads clips of its bilingual, wisecracking hosts. If you get the chance to stand at the back of a heartland carpark and watch a singer work a crowd of aunties and uncles in three dialects, take it. It's the most unfiltered live culture Singapore offers a visitor, and there may be fewer of these stages each year.
Most cities put their traditions in museums; Singapore performs this one on public pavements for a month, unticketed and unstaged. It's the deepest expression of what our Singapore's Chinese dialect groups still practise daily — and it pairs perfectly with a Telok Ayer heritage walk, since the same communities that built those clan houses fund many of today's rituals. Come in the evening, walk slowly, and read the street.
Visiting in August? Get a plan built around the festival →
Ghost Month runs from 13 August to around 10–11 September 2026, with Ghost Day — the peak — on Thursday 27 August 2026. The 2026 dates fall later than usual because of a leap month in the lunar calendar.
Yes — getai stages are free, open-air and visitors are welcome. Take any seat except the front row, which is reserved for the spirits. The densest stages are in Geylang, Redhill, Chinatown and older housing estates, from about 7:30pm.
Never step on or over kerbside offerings and ash, don't take food from offering tables, and avoid close-up photos of people mid-ritual. Observing from a respectful distance is welcomed.
Completely safe and arguably one of the most culturally rewarding months to visit — the city functions normally, and the festival adds a layer of living street culture you can't see any other time.
Authority References
Ghost month rewards knowing where to stand and what not to touch. The same is true of most of Singapore — the ten rules locals live by are free, and the etiquette above is only the first of them.
Ghost month moves every year. Four times a year I write a short note on what has actually changed in Singapore — what is on, what has closed, what is worth booking now and what has quietly stopped being worth it. It is the same honesty as the guides, sent before the dates matter rather than after.
Send me the seasonal note →One click opens a pre-written email — send it as it is. Four notes a year, nothing else, and one line unsubscribes you. Your address is never shared or used for anything else.
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