Carnival of Drums is an annual event organised by the Student Care Service's (SCS) to highlight their services as well as to raise funds in support of children and youths aged between 5 to 18 years who were referred to them for help.
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So of so many things, why a carnival of drums? That's because drumming is an activity that knows no boundaries. Beside that, one do not need to have any prior drumming experience to join in the fun.
I was there for this fun and meaningful event with Jessie. In fact, we reached quite early to explore the different cultural villages that were set up all over the area of Downtown East. Let's take a tour around!
Japanese Village
Taiko means drums in Japan. At the Japanese Village, we have TENKO, a Japanese Taiko drum group in Singapore to showcase different performing styles by using different types of instruments such as small drums, metal instruments and a bamboo flute.
Chinese Village
At the Chinese Village, the public have a hands on opportunity to play with the different types of drums set up by the KMSPKS Zen Drum Ensemble. There is even the Wooden Fish commonly found in temples.
Children Village
Both of us couldn't resist buying cute things at the Children Village!
Guided by experienced rhythm facilitators from Junior Jamz, be assured that both the young and young-at-heart can find joy in playing with the musical instruments. Junior Jamz is a family-friendly and highly interactive hands-on workshop that engages children in playing music with child-friendly rhythm instruments.
Korean Village
For a small amount of fee paid, one got a chance to wear these traditional Korean costumes.
Hahaha. I was really happy that I don't have to travel to Korea to look like a Korean!
Nice photos! This traditional Korean costume I'm wearing is called the Hanbok. It's really not easy to wear. It's a two piece costume and one have to tie it very tightly around the chest area.
Korean Village by PAN, literally refers to a platform of getting together and enjoying the art of playing Korean drums.
Indonesian Village
At the Indonesian Village, Kesenian Tedja Timur put up a little performance and they were selling some Indonesian snacks. I bought their biscuit and it's quite nice, with sugar on top.
Marching Band
Somebody wished us good luck in finding the Marching band as they do not have a fixed location. We considered ourselves quite lucky as we spotted the band right after we came down from E!hub. They were there at the event square. The roving marching band called SIGS Drumline is a full marching band equipped with a full set of musical instruments and they came from across the causeway. Nice performance of the song "Jai Ho"
Indian Village
With a small amount of donation, I got my hand painted with this beautiful henna flower design by the professional henna artist. It was extremely hard to wait for the paint to dry up totally and my camera strap smudge the paint all over so I have to wash it off before the paint can dries up naturally. Luckily, the dye is strong enough and even though the paint was washed off, the marking is already there.
Singapore Dhol Federation (SDF) was established to promote DHOL drumming. It were founded by Sunil Kumar in 2006 and for those interested in learning this instrument, the classes are held at Kallang Community Club.
Clay Model Village
Clay Model Village was the last station we went to before we declare that we've finished exploring all the villages! At the Clay Model Village, trainers from That Hobby Place and some volunteers were there to demonstrate how to make a Carnival of Drums souvenir to bring home.
Cultural Drumming Experience
Taking place at the Begonia Pavillion from 4pm to 5pm is the Cultural Drumming Experience. It's an on-stage performances by the different ethnic groups.
First, we see the performance from KMSPKS Zen Drum Ensemble. This Zen Drum Ensemble was founded in 1998 when Ven Kwang Sheng (Current-Abbot of Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery) gathered some devotees to perform for a concert in Kallang Theatre in December 1998. It was a rhythmical performance with the initial part just the wooden fish and bell but later on the drums all came in.
Next up is the performance by Kasenian Tedja Timur, known as 'Rainbow of Arts from the East' and was founded in 1948.
The performance by TENKO is my favourite. One can literally see and feel the power and energy of each and everyone of them on stage. Combine with some shouting, it was a great performance.
Performance by PAN was short and sweet.
The last performance by the Singapore Dhol Federation was another highlight. Watched the first few performances sitting down but when it comes to this last performance, we were all asked to stand up and dance the Dhol dance. Right hand up like turning the light bulb, left hand down like patting a dog was the instruction given to us. LOLOL. Quite fun la.
Around 5.30pm, we entered the D'Marquee for the last segment of the day.
Community Drum Circle - Beating As one
This is the finale of the whole event where all participants, drum groups and enthusiasts came together to create music and rhythm. I even saw my Secondary School friend there but it was too crowded and so we didn't chat much too.
Every seats will have a different instruments and the above two were my instruments of the evening.
A different instructor would be up on stage to guide us. Sometimes, we play the music according to which instruments we are holding. Sometimes, by gender. Sometimes, he wants us to play our own random beats or he would first play a set of beats and all of us follow after. It was really 1.5 hours of funbeats and rhythm.
The Guest-of-Honour, Mr Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for Social and Family Development, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence joined in the fun as well.
Thanks for the invitation. Had a fun drumming day!
For more information on Students Care Service please visit their website at
The Student Care Service relies on public donations and sponsorship to continue their operating programmes. Hence, the generosity of individuals, corporate companies and foundations are important to ensure they can continue with a range of quality services and programmes. Not forgetting, donors are able to enjoy tax deduction of 2.5 times of the donations. Let's show them some supports!
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