Gastrobeats - Food and Music festival draws crowds and rightfully so.

In collaboration with i Light Singapore, Gastrobeats has returned with bazaar hawker favourites, local retailers, live performances and more.

Written by Y.S.Chia(20 Yr Old Agent)

If you’ve seen the i Light TikToks, you’ve also probably seen the Gastrobeats Tiktoks. Located at Marina Bay, the event goes on till 26th June.

It’s open daily from 4 pm - 1030pm and if you’re expecting a hefty price tag, you’ll be happy to know you’re wrong. Entrance fees cost $9 on weekdays and $11 on weekends. Here’s our honest opinion…

What we saw:

Gastrobeats is separated into four areas: Art Zone, Local Streets(Retail & F&B), Jumptopia, and Culinary Masters. Being on a budget, we visited Art Zone, Local Streets and Local Streets.

What we liked:

Watch geniuses at work - for free!

After paying your $9 entrance fee($11 on weekends), you're free to roam the streets of Art Zone, and Local Streets and check out Culinary Masters. The first, Art Zone, lets you see multiple graffiti artists transform cargo boxes into their artworks. Unlike visiting Kampong glam where you'll likely find completed artwork, this felt like an exclusive, personal show.

That said, if you want photos for social media but don’t wanna be social, there are completed pieces too!

Adding to this were roaming musicians that put on free shows that reminded me of theme park orchestras.

Perhaps the performance all should look forward to are the live music performances.

Local talents performed concert-quality music on a proper concert stage. The free seating meant you could sit far in front for a VIP experience, but you could also watch comfortably from further away thanks to the lack of crowds at the front.

For the love of Gram

If you thought you left the instagrammable light installations behind at I Light, Foodpanda, Visa and Pepsi are gonna ask “Sure boh?”. And you don't have to pay either!

The trio have all created individual grammable set pieces and they give opportunities you’ve probably missed before. Visa’s tunnel feels like walking through a light prism!

Meanwhile, Pepsi's Neon lights allow you to take that neon photo you’ve been too paiseh to take at aesthetic cafes.

Foodpanda - steals the show and a literal shopping cart, providing 3 attractions: various photo-op spots including a shopping cart set!

It's a bummer they don't let you sit in the cart though, that's the best place to take pictures.

They also had games for you to win prizes with!

Free Samples & Discounts We all love free stuff. So upon entry, most will be pleasantly surprised to receive a tote bag with vouchers for Local Street F&B. Unfortunately I am not most people and I was a tad bit disappointed when I realised they forgot to give me a bag.

Nevertheless, the friendly vendors at Local Street Retail got me back up with tasty samplers of their F&B products.

What I found unexpected, however, was that some stores were already sold out of certain products just two hours after opening.

What We didn’t like:

Not Q Mate Not Q.

With affordable yet tasty dishes, queues are to be expected, but perhaps it's time to point out it's crazier than you think.

While the crowd is smaller than the one at I Light, trying to get dinner from popular stores at "dinner-time" is a pain.

The best advice is to order early. Don’t worry too much about seats though.

Later at night, you can also expect a bigger queue at the grammable spots mentioned earlier - especially the Visa exhibit.

Rain Rain Go Away

The weather’s been iffy recently and our visit was no different. We were a bit pissed when we realised there weren’t enough tables under the shelter for dinner but thankfully the rain subsided quickly.

Except for live performances, most outdoor activities were understandably halted for safety. The bouncy castles were also deflated.

Our advice would honestly be to bring a poncho instead of an umbrella.

MasterChef Meals OR Street Eats with Live Music

If the map confuses you, let me explain. On one side of the field lies the stage in front of the dining area for the Local Street F&B. This area is separated from the Culinary Masters by the Local Street F&B stores themselves. This means eating at the Culinary Masters area doesn’t let you see the live music.

Why not do both? Those of you with thick wallets I envy might say. Well, remember the crowds from earlier? Yeah, chances are you won’t get to taste much if you try to go for bo

Speaking of food, however, you’re probably wondering what we ate.

What we ate:

Starting us off simple, we went for a Chicky Big Boy($9.00) from Big Boy Franks. The titular big sausage was filled, with a generous amount of their special chilli and nachos sauce making it a savoury delight with a slight sweetness to it.

We then got our hands on the Kombucha Steak and Frites($16) from CraftB. Cooked to a medium-rare, the pieces were tender and juicy, and the strong truffle smell didn’t constitute its flavour overpowering the tart kombucha. The fries were a bit too salty for me but crispy.

We moved on to something more local, the Nasi Lemak Cutlet($6.00) from Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang. (The Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang had been selling out quick so do head to this store early!) The sambal was sweet but not spicy and perfectly complemented the crunchy juicy cutlet. The perkedel(under the cutlet in pic) was crispy on the outside and soft inside - perfect for the rainy weather that day.

Still not full, we then tried Otah You Tiao($9.90) from You Tiao Boy. Otah pieces wrapped in Youtiao made for an enjoyable savoury crunchy snack though it was pricey.

We also got a Nutella You Tiao($2.50) and a Strawberry Cream You Tiao($2.50).

The sweet Nutella felt balanced with the savoury You Tiao, with the sprinkles giving it a crunch. The strawberry cream youtiao was sweet and creamy, but if I close my eye I could mistake it for a piece of bread with jam and cheese I made at home. The last thing on our adventure was the Gula Melaka Putu Piring($4). The Putu piring melted in our mouths after digging it out from the excessive amounts of shredded coconut.

Our Honest Opinion - 4/5 Stars

Beating to the sound of its drum

All things considered, I think Gastrobeats might very well be the best thing about i Light 2022.

For the $9 entrance fee, you do get more than what it's worth. From watching graffiti artists work their magic; to vibing to live performances and even taking some photos with sets I still can't get over.

The food is great and at a reasonable price for typical Carnival fare.

Sure, not enough covered seats for when it rains and the queues might be crazy, but both are quantifiable things they could easily improve.

Besides - Singaporean logic says queues are good right? Gastrobeats goes on till 26 June with entrance fees of $9 on weekdays and $11 on weekends. For live music, visit at night between Thursdays to Sundays.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gastrobeats is smack in the midsts of i Light's exhibits, so should you check them out? Why not let our Honest Review on it here help you make your decision!

If you got a place you want us to check out? DM us on our socials or email us at getahonestreview@gmail.com and we’ll see whether it's worth your time.

About the Writer: Y.S. Chia(he/him) is our 20-year-old Honest Agent who loves going on adventures - be it hiking nature trails or checking out Singapore's latest festivals. When he's not out and about, you can find him being a potato watching netflix or on the rare occasion - at the gym.

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