Singapore’s oldest satellite town was given a fitting celebration to mark its 60th anniversary in 2013.

A packed arts and heritage calendar, featuring 18 plays, gigs, performances as well as exhibitions inspired by the estate’s built and living heritage, was rolled out by My Community in 2013. The My Queenstown Festival received heavy media coverage and was a huge hit with residents and the wider Singaporean public. Event venues were packed to the rafters.

The festival was so successful that My Community held another edition in 2015. Both editions which were co-curated with the community, drew more than 30,000 participants in total.

Highlights from the festivals’ two editions include:

• Street Parade @ My Queenstown (2013): My Community organised a neighbourhood-themed parade involving dance troupes and performers from Queenstown’s community institutions and cultural groups. Believed to be the first of its kind for an estate in Singapore, the ground-up programme drew young and old alike. Attendees were treated to pyrotechnics, a procession of colourful floats as well as showstopping Indian cultural dances and Chinese opera performances.
• Anniversary Concerts (2013 and 2015): Audience members were serenaded by a talented pool of homegrown musicians with ties to Queenstown. Among them were Brian Richmond, Huang Shujun and the Ding Yi Youth Ensemble Orchestra. Their emotive vocals enlivened Queenstown’s communal spaces.
• Getai @ My Queenstown (2013 and 2015): To cater to the estate’s elderly population, My Community invited amateur and veteran getai performers to perform an eclectic mix of captivating pop ditties and ballads.
• Theatre performances (2013): The Necessary Stage’s Theatre for Seniors performed skits set in Queenstown while the Tapestry Playback Theatre put on an improvisational play where actors drew on real stories from the audience.