Singapore Food Festival 2008 serves up sizzling local favourites and more...

The 15th Singapore Food Festival returns this year bursting with rich local flavours as it spotlights Singapore's celebrated local delights with the new Singapore Food Sampler.

Co-organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Peter Knipp Holdings (PKH), the island-wide food festival will feature more than 40 events from 4 to 27 July 2008. Besides the month-long food festivities featuring weekend feasts at Lau Pa Sat, Suntec City, Robertson Walk and Sentosa, this year's Singapore Food Festival is set to tickle the tastebuds further with Makan Classes, food tours at ethnic precincts and, for the first time in South East Asia, a Major League Eating Competition.

"Over recent years, Singapore cuisine, featuring Laksa, Satay and Hainanese Chicken Rice amongst others, has reached the far corners of the world with local street food even listed in the popular travel guide 1,000 Places To See Before You Die by Patricia Shultz. Through the STB's efforts to promote local cuisine overseas, we hope that local must-try dishes will be inextricably linked to Singapore in the minds of diners worldwide," said Mr Andrew Phua, Director of Cluster Development, Tourism Shopping and Dining, STB. Noting that Singapore presents a host of restaurants, eateries and hawker centres which serve up a range of Peranakan, Chinese, Malay or Indian cuisine to whet every appetite and satisfy any craving, he added: "With so much variety to choose from, we have introduced The Singapore Food Sampler for visitors to taste more of the rich flavours that local cuisine offers. Once they discover their personal favourites, we hope that they will be irresistibly drawn to a full portion of seconds!"

The Singapore Food Sampler

The Singapore Food Sampler makes its debut this Singapore Food Festival. Visitors simply need to present their passports at the Singapore Visitor Centres and core event venues to receive Singapore Food Sampler redemption vouchers. These vouchers allow visitors to sample any three available must-try dishes at participating dining establishments in key tourist precincts for free. The Singapore Food Sampler provides visitors smaller portions so that they can sample even more of Singapore's diverse must-try dishes.

'Makan' Classes

Budding chefs can look forward to some culinary action as the popular cooking workshops returns with highlights including "Old Fashion Cakes", "Claypot Favourites" and "Some forgotten Dishes". Held at Lau Pa Sat for the first time, these classes will feature several renowned Singapore chefs and local food operators who will showcase their skills and provide food enthusiasts with treasured cooking tips.

Major League Eating

For the first time in South East Asia, Singapore will host the Major League Eating competition. Robertson Walk will come alive as it hosts the Singapore leg of the competition on 12 July. The winning contestants will fight for the chance to compete head on with the reigning World Champion in a Satay Eating Competition on 27 July.

Apart from the Singapore Food Festival, visitors can also take advantage of the compelling deals at the Great Singapore Sale during the month of July. With so many tempting delights, activities and compelling deals from both the Singapore Food Festival and the Great Singapore Sale, we hope visitors will pamper themselves with a Uniquely Singapore gastronomic and retail experience.