Fortunately For The Millennials and Gen Z folk, Pesta Sukan (or ‘sports festival’ in Malay) will soon no longer just be a fond memory of our parents and grandparents. This year, GetActive! Singapore is bringing back the well-loved festival from 1-10 August in commemoration of Singapore’s Bicentennial and our sporting heritage.
While Pesta Sukan originally featured events like mass jogging, cycling and dragonboat when it first launched in 1964, it will now be given a modern update to include up to 24 different sports. Among these, aquatics, badminton, dragon boat, fencing and indoor volleyball will be held at the Singapore Sports Hub. For those looking for family-friendly fun, non-competitive mass events such as a round-island bike adventure, Canoe Discovery and Adventure Race @ Sentosa have also been planned as integral parts of the festival.
Most importantly, GetActive! Singapore will continue to drill through themes of care and giving by encouraging Singaporeans to organise inclusive activities and raise funds through sporting activities. The festival targets to achieve 500,000 acts of care — which can be any helpful act such as volunteer work, donation or simply a nudge to get others to live healthier lives — in the lead-up and during the period of Pesta Sukan.
Blast From The Past
1 The inaugural edition of Pesta Sukan in 1964 was launched by then-Minister for Culture S Rajaratnam.
2 After Singapore gained independence on 9 August 1965, the festival was briefly renamed Pesta Sukan Minggu Merdeka and became an annual feature of the National Day celebrations.
3 In 1971, the first Asian Wimbledon tournament was organised in conjunction with Pesta Sukan, attracting top tennis players in the region to Singapore.
How To Attend? Visit getactive.sg to register for the events above, or simply to find out more about what else is in store for Pesta Sukan at GetActive! Singapore 2019.
Team Up With Your Friends Or Loved Ones To Get Your Adrenaline Pumping During Pesta Sukan:
Pedal away on a cycling adventure race around Singapore at the Round Island Bike Adventure. This is a 106km route which will take riders around the whole of Singapore, starting and ending at designated sports centres as well as the Singapore Sports Hub. Of course, no island adventure would be complete without cheeky station challenges and milestone checks along the journey to keep participants both physically and mentally stimulated!
If sprints or marathons are up your alley, put your name down for the Stadium Run, a mass run event in which you can challenge yourself to run around the 100PLUS Promenade, Singapore’s largest fully-sheltered, free-to-use civic space that encircles the National Stadium. Runners can either sprint as fast as possible, or test their endurance by seeing how many rounds they can go. There will be also be family-friendly fringe activities for all to take part in during and after the run.
Enjoy an outdoor escape from the hustle and bustle from city life at Adventure Race @ Sentosa. Think island life with a ‘Spartan’ twist, with obstacle stations designed to test participants’ stamina, endurance, strength and perseverance. Terrain varieties such as sand and jungle will further challenge fitness levels. Participants are welcomed to complete the stations in any preferred sequence, and teams will be awarded according to their finishing times.
