A rare (and final) opportunity to visit the Caldecott Broadcast Centre (CBC) presents itself during this year’s edition of the Singapore Heritage Festival. The centre, home to radio and television for as long as we can remember and out-of-bounds to most for the longest time and which was recently closed for good, will have its gate opened during the weekends of 28 April to 1 May and 5 to 7 May for SHF Takes Over.
Set for an old street used in the making of the Chinese TV drama The Lead – the last production CBC was used for, which will make its debut on 22 May.
While it may not be all of Caldecott that will present itself for exploration, there will be a chance to explore soem of the oldest spaces, and ones in which in more recent times, local productions were made. The event will also see a host of activities such as performances and exhibitions, such as TV50, which offers a glimpse into the history of television broadcasting in Singapore since it was launched in 1963. There even is a mock-up of a community centre television viewing area, a living room and a kopi-tiam that many of my era and before will find nostalgic.
There is also a chance to also recall some memorable local television productions and their characters in Studio 6, lip-sync your heart out, listen to stories of our islands, watch a load of re-runs and join special guided tours – led by the stars themselves. For the latter, Mediacorp artistes and industry staff will lead Walking Caldecott and tell stories associated with various locations around the CBC. There is also The Lead Special Guided Tour, in which the likes of Rebecca Lim, Shaun Chen and Xiang Yun, will take participants “behind-the-scenes” with stories related to the filming of the local drama, The Lead, which is making its debut on 22 May 2017.
Relive memories of local television programmes with Studio 6.
Registration for the guided tours will be conducted on-site outside the TV50 Exhibition, 30 minutes before the start of the tour. The hour-long Walking Caldecott tours run on 28 April, 5 May and 6 May at 6.30pm, on 29 and 30 April at 4.30 and 6.30 pm and on 1 and 7 May at 10.30 am, while half-hour-long The Lead Special Guided Tour will be held on 6 May at 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm. Spaces are limited and will be given on a first-come-first-served basis.
More information on the tours and the event can be found at http://heritagefestival.sg/programmes/all-caldecott-hill-programmes. Information on the Singapore Heritage Festival 2017 is available at http://heritagefestival.sg/. Entrance to CBC will be vai the Old Main Gate along Olive Road and as parking is unavailable, visitors are advised to catch the shuttle buses from Bishan and Caldecott MRT Stations or MacRitchie Reservoir Carpark. More information on these arrangements can be found at http://heritagefestival.sg/about/getting-to-caldecott-broadcast-centre.
More information and photographs:
Festival Schedule
Festival Map.
There’s lots of makan too at the Festival Village.
The festival village.
A wall to leave memories on post-its.
The Long and Winding Road 