Tradisi & Transformasi: Evolution of Dikir Barat in Singapore
Photo: Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
📅 When
Sat 31 Oct 2026, 5:00pm
📍 Where
Esplanade Black Room
1 Esplanade Drive, Singapore 038981
💸 Price
Free
👶 Ages
6 and above.
🧭 Getting there
- 🚇 Esplanade MRT, Exit D — about 4 min walk
Walking times are estimates from the venue’s location.
The two practitioners who pushed dikir barat in new directions in Singapore explain what they changed, what resisted, and why. Esplanade, 31 Oct, free.
Dikir barat in Singapore has not stood still, and two of the people who introduced creative changes to it take the stage to explain what they did and why. Djohan A. Rahman and Sazali Zainal draw on their own experience — the creative shifts they brought in, the difficulties that came with them, and how far the community accepted the changes or pushed back against them.
It runs Sat 31 Oct 2026, 5pm to 6.30pm at Esplanade Black Room, 1 Esplanade Drive, for 1h 30min. The session is in Malay, admission is free, and it is open to ages 6 and above. Presented by Norazam Hakub (Andika Kencana) and the Singapore Dikir Barat Federation, in collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.
If you have grown up hearing dikir barat at weddings and community halls, this is the backstory to the sound, told by the people who made the calls — including the ones that met resistance.
Details compiled by Onz from public listings — always confirm with the organiser before heading down.
