SINGAPORE — Festivities for the National Gallery Singapore’s first-anniversary celebrations have kicked off. As hungry Singaporeans would expect, there is much to savour beyond the gallery walls.

Dubbed the Gallery Light To Night Festival (GLNF), and held over two weekends, visitors will see the heart of the Civic District come alive. It’s a lot of ground to cover, but rest assured, visitors will not need to look too far for some equally accessible grub. The gallery’s director (Audience Development & Engagement), Suenne Megan Tan, stresses food is an equally important part of the festival experience. “The gallery worked with our F&B operators to bring in interesting food concepts for the festival’s food pop-ups,” she said. “We wanted to offer festival-goers good-quality food at affordable prices.”

This includes simple breakfast and lunch fixes at the Padang Atrium, where visitors can grab a quick bite anytime between 10am and 5pm on both weekends. Aptly called Tiny Bites, the pop-up setup features organic juices, salads, cupcakes and muffins, pies and pasta, priced from S$2 to S$15. And it includes daytime music performances by Budak Pantai, Jumpstart!, Beats Encore and the cast from Crescendo The Musical, to name a few.

As the sun sets and appetites for something more substantial grow, the Festival Food Street, located outside the Gallery along St Andrew’s Road, is where festival-goers can feast on an array of culinary delights throughout the night (from 5pm to 11.30pm), in between the various performances and programmes. “The Gallery’s F&B operators are also part of the exciting food line-up at the Festival Food Street, and each will be showcasing some special bites as part of the Festival,” Tan said.

Priced between S$2 and S$15, items include hot dogs and rice balls as well as more inviting creations such as pork and crab tacos, Peking duck sliders, and soft shell crab with salted egg yolk, along with evergreen favourites such as mee siam, laksa, and kebabs. These can be paired with hand-crafted cocktails by the folks from Smoke and Mirrors (the gallery’s rooftop bar), or followed by artisanal gelato and popsicles from Momolato. The pop-ups complement the different programme zones and time belts, Tan continued, to add to the existing range of restaurants and cafes at the gallery, which include Aura and Aura Sky Lounge, Yan, Owl Cafe, Gallery & Co and National Kitchen.

And if you are thinking that this is a good time to splurge on a meal at newly crowned two-Michelin-starred Odette, there are new dishes added to the seasonal menu. These incorporate hand-dived Scottish scallops and marinated Fremantle octopus.

There are even considerations for the festival night owls. From 7pm to 2.30am, those partaking of the late-night programmes can head to Bites After Hours, also located inside the Padang Atrium, where local DJs and singers such as Nathan Hartono (featuring Evanturetime) and Charlie Lim will keep you company as you dig into Japanese-inspired rice bowls washed down with wine, beer or fresh coconut juice.

Suffice to say, you can overdose on more than art at GLNF.

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1. Baja Med tacos from &Sons. A variety is available, from a version with pulled pork, smoked cheese and charred pineapple (S$9) to another with crab, salmon roe aioli and avocado (S$10).

2. Beef stew with hand-mashed potato from Lad & Dad (S$10).

3. Noka Bowl (with 24-hour braised beef cheek, baby corn, Korean beansprouts, mixed nuts, onsen egg and semi-dried tomatoes) from Ninja Bowl (S$14).

4. Chilled truffle-scented angel hair pasta (capellini) with togarashi, topped with Avruga caviar, from Portico Prime (S$10).

5.Peking Duck Sliders from Yan (S$8)