The Civic District is about to get lit once more, thanks to the fourth edition of Light to Night Festival, which returns Jan 10 to 19. You know the drill: it’s the time of the year where beloved monuments come to life with artful digital light projections on the outside, and heave with even cooler light art on the inside. This year’s theme is Invisible Cities, which draws upon the interplay of reality and the imagined state of majestic, surreal cities.

With the 10-day extravaganza sprawled over the likes of the Arts House, National Gallery Singapore, Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), among others, it’s imperative to plan your strategy/route before you mosey over to brave the crowds. To help with that, we tell you more about some of this year's highlights to zero in on.

A handful of installations will be artfully designed to provide different experiences for the visitor by day and by night. Among them, the Optical Maze at the Padang (artist's impression above) is a cocooned colourful pavilion in the day; at night, it not only lights up, but the kaleidoscopic display changes according to the beats of the lights, making for perfect Boomerang opps. Other day programmes include talks, theatre programmes and day guided tours.

The Floating City at the National Gallery Singapore’s Padang Atrium is an abstract take on skyscrapers by day. By night, it comes alive as it responds to music and changes colours and intensity according to the sound that fills the space.

Art Skins on Monuments is among the highlights at the yearly affair, with the digital art and music spectacle taking place on various building facades like the National Gallery Singapore, The Arts House, Asian Civilisations Museum, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. This year’s festival ups the ante by allowing visitors to control and interact with the City Hall façade via their mobile phones.

...Like this one that may look invisible IRL. Between Two Worlds is an installation at the Esplanade Park with a mirrored exterior, so blink and you may miss it. But as you step into the installation, you may seem to onlookers on the outside like you’re disappearing in plain sight. How’s that for something super cool and IG-worthy?

Every year, the crowds throng the festival village, and we reckon it won’t be any different with this year’s Art X Social festival village (Jan 10-11, 17-18). Sprawled over St Andrews Road, Connaught Drive and Empress Lawn, the grounds will comprise F&B stalls, booths hawking sustainable goods and crafts, as well as a plethora of music performances by homegrown talents.

Light to Night Festival 2020 is on Jan 10-19, various locations in the Civic District, 10am-12am (depending on venues). Admission is free; admission charges apply for select programmes. More info at www.lighttonight.sg.