Kalaa Utsavam 2026 at Esplanade: a family guide to the Indian arts festival

Kalaa Utsavam, the Indian Festival of Arts at Esplanade, turns 25 this year and runs from Friday 20 to Sunday 29 November 2026. Only three of its 39 programmes carry Esplanade's Family and Children tag. Look closer and you find two shows written for children, two dance workshops you do side by side with your child, and plenty of free dance and music in the Concourse and at the Outdoor Theatre by the bay. The children's shows open on Saturday 21 November, which is also the first day of the year-end school holidays.

We took every date, time and price below from Esplanade's own pages on 18 October 2026. Programmes can still change, so check the official festival page the day before you go.

Dates, times and prices for families

At Esplanade every person needs a ticket for a ticketed show, babies included, unless the listing says otherwise. The free programmes issue no tickets at all, so you just turn up. Members of the free Esplanade&Me scheme who add a child to their profile get a PIP's Club badge, which takes 10% off standard tickets for Paati's Spice Kitchen and the parent-child workshop when you buy at least two. Paati's Spice Kitchen also takes SG Culture Pass credits, the $100 that Singaporeans aged 18 and over can spend on the arts.

The two shows made for children

Paati's Spice Kitchen, a sensory story about a grandmother's tea

Paati, the grandmother, makes the family's famous tea. As she grows older and starts to forget, the secret to her brew slips away, and her granddaughter Maya sets out to save it with a crew of unlikely kitchen friends. Esplanade calls it a sensory show for young audiences and their families, and you can expect the smell of cardamom and tea in the room. It lasts 40 minutes and runs in a relaxed environment.

Everyone sits on the floor. Each child needs an adult aged 16 or older beside them, and the admission age is 6. There are four sessions in all, at 11am and 4pm on the first weekend only, so book this one first if your child is old enough.

Not Quite Murukku, the free one

Manisha is helping her mother make murukku for Deepavali, and hers come out zigzagged, lumpy and broken. She gives up. That night Twisty the Murukku Genie-us whisks her off to see how many kinds of murukku there are. The story runs 30 minutes in English in PIP's PLAYbox, the children's space on Level 4. It is free, with four shows on each of the four weekend days, and the admission age is 6.

Dance workshops to do together

Both workshops teach bharatanatyam, the classical Indian dance that tells stories through movement, hand gestures and facial expression. Wear clothes you can move in. The meeting point is the Theatre Studio entrance on Level 4, 15 minutes before the start.

• Parent-Child Bharatanatyam Workshop: Sahachara - Moving Together on Saturday 28 November at 11am. Guru K. H. Haritha leads an hour of simple dance moves, rhythm games and storytelling where you and your child take turns to lead and follow. It suits children from 6 to 12, and the adult must be 16 or older.
• Stories in Motion: Discovering Bharatanatyam on Sunday 29 November at 11am. Guru Nishita Joshi teaches basic postures and hand gestures, then shows how to use them to act out a sudden downpour, a garden in bloom or a jungle. It is open to all experience levels, from age 6, for $20.

Free shows you can drop in on

These need no ticket. They suit a family with a toddler or a baby, because none of them lists an admission age and you can leave between sets.

• The opening performance on Friday 20 November at 6.45pm in the Esplanade Courtyard, where students of the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS) dance bharatanatyam and kathak for 15 minutes.
• Rhythms of Tradition follows straight after at the Outdoor Theatre, with three 30-minute sets at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm. Each set mixes different pieces, and the dancers cover bharatanatyam, kathak and kuchipudi.
• Rooted in Tradition: A Youthful Insight brings young dancers from the Temple of Fine Arts to the Concourse at 12pm and 1pm on both days of the first weekend, with a storyteller who links the old stories to the dancers' lives today. Got a child who has just started dance lessons? Take them to this one.
• Samyojana - Amalgamation puts more than 30 dancers from Omkar Arts on the Outdoor Theatre stage on Sunday 22 November at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm, with classical pieces, dances from films and fusion numbers.
• On the last day, Sunday 29 November, Music Minds play hits from Indian films in a free outdoor set called REELS to REAL.

At the Concourse and the Outdoor Theatre you can take photos and short videos for yourself, as long as you skip the flash and keep out of other people's way. Food and drinks are usually fine at outdoor programmes but not inside the theatres.

Which ages it suits

For children aged 6 and up, the festival gives you a full weekend: a show, a workshop and some free dance in between. Under-6s cannot go into the two children's shows or the workshops, since each sets 6 as the admission age. For a baby, toddler or preschooler, plan around the free sets and a stop at PIP's PLAYbox. The play space opens from 11am to 6pm, shuts from 2pm to 3pm for cleaning and is free for Esplanade&Me members, who register everyone at the door, infants in arms too. Shoes come off for PIP's hideout, and food and drinks stay outside.

Getting there by MRT, bus, taxi or car

• Esplanade MRT on the Circle Line and City Hall MRT on the North-South and East-West lines are the two closest stations. Esplanade's map gives an underground route from each, which keeps you dry and out of the sun with a stroller.
• Bus stop 02061, The Esplanade, sits outside the Esplanade Mall entrance on Raffles Avenue. Services 36, 56, 75, 77, 97, 106, 111, 133, 171, 195, 857, 960 and 961 stop there, among others.
• Bus stop 02111, Esplanade Bridge, is on Esplanade Drive and takes services 10, 57, 70, 128, 162, 196 and more.
• The taxi stand is at Esplanade Mall, 8 Raffles Avenue.
• The basement car park has 808 lots, opens 24 hours and charges $2.30 an hour every day, with no grace period.

The building itself is open from 8am to 11.30pm daily, and Esplanade says its premises are wheelchair-friendly.

Where to feed, change and park the stroller

Esplanade has two nursing rooms. One is on the Mezzanine Level and opens from 8am to 9pm, and the other is on Level 4 outside PIP's PLAYbox, open from 8am to 6pm. The children's toilets are on Level 4 opposite the PIP's PLAYbox entrance and open from 11am to 6pm.

Park the stroller on Level 4 under the staircase to PIP's PLAYbox. If you are going in to a show, leave it at the baggage carts outside the venue.

Food nearby

Esplanade Mall, in the same building, lists a 7-Eleven, Foreword Coffee, Subway, Aniplus Cafe, BayBay, Harry's and Red House Seafood in its directory. Subway gives an offer to anyone who shows an e-ticket for an Esplanade Presents show, and Paati's Spice Kitchen and both workshops are Esplanade Presents programmes. If you would rather eat Indian food after the show, our guide to Indian food in Singapore lists places to try.

Rain plan

Rain can delay, move or change outdoor shows such as those at the Outdoor Theatre, and Esplanade puts ushers and signs on site when it does. Any change or cancellation goes up on the event page, so look at it before you leave home on a grey day. If you need to wait out a shower with small children, PIP's PLAYbox has a cosy loft, a craft area and a reading corner of books by Singapore writers.

Make a day of it

Deepavali falls on 8 November, two weeks before the festival, so if your child wants more lights and sweets, our Deepavali guide for families covers the Little India light-up. The Esplanade family guide explains PIP's Trail and the rest of what the arts centre runs for children all year. With the holidays starting on 21 November, our school holiday activities guide has ideas for the weeks after.

Frequently asked questions

What are the dates for the festival this year?

From Friday 20 to Sunday 29 November 2026 at Esplanade. The family shows and workshops fall on the two weekends, 21 and 22 November and 28 and 29 November.

Is Kalaa Utsavam free?

Much of it is. The free programmes in the Courtyard, the Concourse and the Outdoor Theatre need no ticket, and so does the children's show Not Quite Murukku. Paati's Spice Kitchen and the parent-child workshop cost from $40 for one adult and one child, and Stories in Motion is $20.

Can I bring a toddler?

Yes, to the free sets, which list no admission age. Both children's shows and both workshops are for ages 6 and up.

Do babies need a ticket?

For a ticketed show at Esplanade, yes. Every person needs one, infants and children included, unless the listing says otherwise.

Which MRT station is closest?

Esplanade on the Circle Line, with City Hall on the North-South and East-West lines close by. Both have an underground route to the building.