SINGAPORE  — Step into a “time machine” and wander through a tunnel of mirrors. Create a mechanical heart and watch LED stick figures hang on to a museum wall. Spot two men wandering the streets with their heads inside fishbowls filled with goldfish, and watch a theatre show unfold within the confines of a huge rolling wheel as it travels alongside the audience.

These are just some of the highlights of the Singapore Night Festival, which returns for its ninth edition on Aug 19, 20, 26 and 27 at the Bras Basah-Bugis precinct. Its aim? A growing openness for the experimental and eccentric. 

“This is an exciting marquee year as we work towards the 10th year of the festival. We are reinventing and innovating to experiment with new ways to present the festival,” said Ms Angelita Teo, director of the Night Festival and the National Museum of Singapore.

The highlight of the festival, which will be held from 7.30pm to 2am each night, is a House of Curiosities, a performance space filled with creative acts and experiential activities and organised by Sweet Tooth, a branch of Cake Theatrical Productions.

“We are going to be remapping the Cathay Green area into a carnival space based on the story we built titled The Mechanical Heart, and this story draws from the steampunk genre which is all about invention and creativity,” said Ms Natalie Hennedige, Cake Theatrical Productions’ artistic director.

Ms Hennedige shared how the ticketed performance introduces visitors to the main protagonist Professor Chambers and takes the audience on a journey through a tunnel of kaleidoscopic mirrors, magic shows and an architectural tent where you can fashion your own mechanical heart and design clothes as a steampunk fashion designer.

The festival also aims to increase its public engagement with its first-ever “open call” initiative for the Night Lights installations. More details on its artists’ line-up will be revealed at a future date. This year has also seen an increase in the number of partners, from 60 to 76. 

Always a crowd favourite, this year’s Night Lights will not just be static facade projections. Groupe Laps from France are using the facade of the National Museum of Singapore as its canvas for jaunty LED stick-figure men to scale and tumble across windows and walls, enacting retro games.

The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) will also have its own Night Lights. Inspired by the festival theme, the United Kingdom-based creative studio Novak will reinterpret Jules Verne’s 19th-century science-fiction novels to project an adventure that is mapped to fit the facade of the SAM.

Some regular festival fixtures are back. Among them is the Festival Village at the Singapore Management University Green on both weekends, featuring local buskers, food stalls and a flea market in a space that will be slightly smaller this year as construction work is in progress. However, organisers promise “it will be still be a really good space to chill out and relax”. Festivalgoers also have the Bloc Party to look forward to on Armenia Street, jointly organised by The Substation, Timbre and the Peranakan Museum.

The final festival highlight held on the second weekend is titled Invasion, by Close-Act Theatre. This feature involves prehistoric creatures that amble on the lawn in front of the National Museum before suddenly being invaded by aliens. All this takes place with the audience in the midst of the entire act, involving them as participants. “We really want to engage the community,” said Ms Christie Chua, creative director for the Night Festival. “We don’t want just passive audiences coming through.”

Singapore Night Festival 2016 will take place on August 19 and 20, and August 26 and 27, from 7.30pm to 2am around the Bras Basah.Bugis precinct. For more information, visit www.nightfest.sg.