Singapore's Chinatown switched on some 20,000 decorative street lanterns in the heritage district on Saturday evening to officially kick off its Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.

The lanterns, in five shapes, five sizes and 7 colors, will be kept on throughout the nights until Oct. 4, or 15 days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on Sept. 19 this year.

"This is a Singapore record for the largest number of street lanterns on display," said Philemon Loh, head of marketing and publicity at the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens' Consultative Committee, which organized the celebrations.

The Mid-Autumn Festival refers to the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese calendar, or lunar calendar.

The theme of the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations of Chinatown this year is Laleidoscope of Lanterns.

"Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival is an important Chinese festival celebration in our cultural calendar as it preserves valued traditions and bonds our community," said Lily Neo, a member of parliament.

Festivals like this can contribute to the preservation of intangible cultural assets such as living cultural knowledge, identity, meaning and core values embedded in certain customs and rituals, she added.

Apart from the light-up ceremony, there are a line-up of activities including a mass lantern walk on Sept. 15, the festive Street Bazaar and Carnival from September 6 to September 19, and the nightly stage shows on the main street from September 7 to September 19.

Neo said organizers also endorsed an initiative by youth ambassadors to organize walking trails, or free guided tours of the heritage district. It will be limited to 15 participants on a first-come-first-serve basis for each tour.