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SINGAPORE – The Singapore Food Festival is back, but its festival village is not returning this time.  Instead, the month-long extravaganza, which runs from Oct 1 to 31, will be split up into over 20 culinary experiences scattered around the island.  Themed A Celebration Of Old And New, it is anchored by three Signature Events, which are large-scale, immersive experiences held at iconic local venues – Chijmes Hall, Marquee Singapore and Marina Bay Sands’ (MBS) Digital Light Canvas.  Guests attending The Long Table in Chjimes Hall on Oct 17 and 18 will get to feast on a four-course lunch ($155) or six-course dinner ($220), while enjoying a live ballet performance. The menu is crafted by chefs Damian D’Silva of Rempapa, Marvas Ng of Path Restaurant and Cheryl Koh of Tarte.  “Beyond showcasing traditional and new techniques, we want to spotlight ingredients chosen to support Singapore’s move towards sustainability and preservation of our Singapore heritage,” says Mr D’Silva, 67. He has been appointed one of the ambassadors of this year’s festival, alongside fellow chefs Akmal Anuar of Harummanis and Janice Wong, who runs her eponymous chocolate brand.  Other Signature Events include Future Food at Marquee Singapore, where chefs use futuristic techniques and cutting-edge mixology to envision what their dishes might look like in 20 or 30 years. It takes place on Oct 10 and tickets cost $275. Then there is the Food Is Art exhibition at MBS’ Digital Light Canvas on Oct 19. It features installations that explore the connections between food and art, like pastry chef Wong’s intricate chocolate sculptures. Tickets are free. Now in its 31st edition, the festival also consists of Unique Events hosted in establishments like Indian restaurant Yantra and modern Malay restaurant Harumannis. Tickets range from $99 to $275. Chefs at these restaurants and bars will put together special menus that delve into Singapore’s culinary and cultural heritage. Many of these meals will also be accompanied by song and dance. Modern Asian restaurant Jiak Kim House’s four-course dinner ($240) on Oct 12, for example, is set to a Chinese opera-inspired performance, while an evening at the Alkaff Mansion on Oct 11 will be enlivened by 1920s dances like the Charleston and Lindy Hop. Ticket prices for the latter have not been released yet. “We’ve themed our menu around Chinese opera and the different dialect groups, like Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese, because we thought this would be a good angle to showcase modern Southeast Asian fusion food,” says Jiak Kim House’s chef partner Tzi Qin Seow, 36, who is participating in the festival for the first time.  “It’ll be an elevated version of familiar dishes from these cuisines, like oyster cake, Hokkien laksa, and pomfret with tomatoes and sour plum. Things people can recall and which are close to their heart.”  Foodies who do not manage to snag seats at the events can get a taste of the festival at one of its free pop-up booths, located in selected malls like MBS. Aimed at making gourmet cuisine more accessible, these family-friendly showcases will offer bite-sized samples from top chefs.  These free offerings will also balance out the fine-dining events and help to ensure the festival remains accessible, according to Ms Guo Teyi, Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) director of retail & dining.  The festival is organised by STB in collaboration with Blake Harris Entertainment, a Singapore-based creative production agency. Organisers decided to give it a makeover to better set it apart from the rest of Singapore’s food and beverage offerings.  “We were doing some research into cultural trends and we noticed that people like to experience more immersive, more experiential dining concepts that are different from what they can get on a day-to-day basis,” says Ms Guo. Mr D’Silva adds that though people usually expect food festivals to consolidate their offerings under one roof, this decentralised format will allow guests to experience the vibrancy of Singapore’s food and beverage offerings at multiple locations, and let chefs play with different themes.  “I believe this year’s event will set the groundwork for an exciting new direction with lots of potential to grow year on year.”