Digital for Life Festival 2026: free AI workshops and booths

The Digital for Life Festival 2026 is a free, two-weekend tech fair run by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA): Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October at VivoCity's Central Court, 10am to 10pm, then Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November at Heartbeat@Bedok, 9am to 4.30pm. Alongside the booths, there are 15 workshops in Harbourfront and Bedok libraries, several of them practical AI sessions for working adults, and slots are limited.

IMDA announced the line-up on 16 October 2026. For adults, the useful parts are the library workshops (prompting, AI at work, AI agents, spotting deepfakes, Canva AI) and a booth floor that works as a low-pressure outing with older relatives who want to try new technology.

What is at the Digital for Life Festival?

IMDA's release describes interactive booths "where Singaporeans of all ages build the knowledge, skills and confidence to thrive safely in the digital age". New this year are three "quests", each a series of hands-on activities: Screen Smart Superhero (healthy digital habits, aimed at families and youths), AI Adventurer (emerging technologies in everyday life) and Digital Discoverer (doing daily tasks online with more confidence). Finishing a quest earns a turn at the Digi-Diet Salad Bar, where you build a bag charm.

Booths named in the release include:

• AI for daily living: trying on AI glasses and visual-to-speech AI from Meta, and a humanoid robot from Stellaris Robotics.
• Scam awareness: a life-sized Snakes and Ladders board testing what you know about scams.
• For seniors: "HUAT! I Booked My Ride", a Mahjong-inspired game by Digi-Up! and Grab that teaches booking a ride with a voice assistant.
• Public sector: a Grow Well SG x Screen Smart zone, and the National Library Board's guidance on navigating AI-generated content.

Which free AI workshops can adults join?

IMDA's workshop list (Annex C to its release) gives 15 sessions. These are the ones aimed at adults or useful at work; the other three cover screen time, gaming and online safety.

Harbourfront Library, Saturday 24 October

• 11am to 1pm: Talk to AI Like a Boss: Craft Prompts that Deliver.
• 2pm to 3.15pm: From Chatbot to Sidekick, Build Your Own AI Agent.
• 5pm to 7pm: AI at Work: Save 30 Minutes a Day and Future-Proof Your Career.

Harbourfront Library, Sunday 25 October

• 11am to 12pm: Practical AI for Everyday Life.
• 11am to 1pm: Using Gen AI for Content Creation.
• 2pm to 3pm: Future Smart: Navigating AI and Digital Safety with Confidence.
• 5pm to 6.30pm: AI Agents: Design One, Build One Together.
• 5pm to 7pm: Work Smarter with AI: Boost Your Daily Productivity.

Bedok Library, Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November

• 31 October, 2pm to 3pm: Can You Spot What's Real? AI, Deepfakes and Smart Prompting.
• 1 November, 10am to 12pm: Design Made Easy with Canva AI.
• 1 November, 1pm to 3pm: Artificial Intelligence 101: AI for Everyday Life.
• 1 November, 4pm to 5pm: AI for Daily Living.

The other sessions are Managing Your Teen's Screen Time and Mobile Use (24 October), a parents' workshop on gaming (25 October) and prAImer, on academics and online safety (31 October). The list says "limited slots are available"; IMDA's release says workshop registration details are on the Digital for Life portal, which we could not open, so we cannot tell you how many places remain.

How do you plan a half day around a workshop?

Pick the workshop first, because it is the part with limited places, then use the booth floor before or after. Two illustrative plans built only from the published times:

1. Working adult, Sunday 25 October: the 5pm Work Smarter with AI session at Harbourfront Library (until 7pm), then the VivoCity booths, which stay open until 10pm. This suits someone who wants practical skills without giving up a weekend morning.
2. With an older parent, Sunday 1 November: the 1pm Artificial Intelligence 101 session at Bedok Library (until 3pm), then the Heartbeat@Bedok booths before they close at 4.30pm, 90 minutes after the workshop ends. The release does not say whether every booth appears at both venues, so if a particular one matters, such as the ride-booking game, ask on arrival.

A checklist before you go:

• Register for the workshop through the Digital for Life portal and keep the confirmation.
• Bring a charged phone; several booths involve trying apps and devices (our expectation from the booth descriptions, not an IMDA requirement).
• For an older relative, agree beforehand what they want to learn, such as scam checks or booking a ride, so the visit has a purpose.
• Check the haze before setting out. NEA's 16 October update forecast an Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy PSI for the next day (NEA update); the pages we read do not say whether the booth areas are indoors.

Who is the festival for, and who should skip it?

It suits adults who want a free, structured introduction to AI tools, people looking after a parent who is wary of digital services, and parents of teenagers (the screen-time and gaming sessions). It is not a professional conference: admission is free and the sessions are one to two hours long. If you want industry networking, our guides to AI meetups and business conferences cover that kind of event, and the Singapore Media Festival 2026 in December is aimed at creators and media professionals. More community events are on the going-out topic page.

Common questions