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| Getting into the spirit of things with our fabulous gold pompoms |
It’s daubed as the best of the Chinese New
Year celebrations in Singapore, so there was no way that I was willing to let
another Chingay Parade pass me by without bagging us tickets.
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| Singapore Through the Ages - celebrating the arrival of the MRT |
The
only parades that I have ever been to are the Notting Hill Carnival, which is
more of a street party than a parade, and one in Reno with Catherine and her
family where the roads were filled with people riding horses – some cowboy themed,
some Spanish and some classic Rodeo queens. Neither of these experiences could
have prepared me for a full on parade of Singapore extravaganza.
This
year is Singapore’s 50th birthday, and whilst National Day will be when
the real celebrations kick off, the parade was considered a starting point for
the year of partying.
Nick
and I had tickets to the F1 pit lane seating (where there run a number of
events throughout the year to make use of the otherwise deserted part of town).
We arrived and were handed a bag each containing flashing lights, gold sparkly
pompoms, flowers made out of old plastic bags, and a bottle of water. We were
ready to go!
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| A traditional fire cracker opening scares away the spirits before the celebrations begin! |
Surrounded
by Singaporean locals, some who had brought their elderly relatives along (a
very sweet idea, but the nightmare of travelling to and from the event in
crowds of people did worry me for their safety slightly) we joined in some of
the crowd warming up chants, ready for the real show to begin when the sun set
at 7:30.
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| Incredible costumes! |
The
parade is well known as Asia’s largest street performance and float parade, and
with the added force of a 50th birthday to acknowledge, this year
was the biggest yet! The theme was a rather uninspiring “We Love Singapore”, but
with 11,000 performers representing all of the many cultures living within
Singapore (the Russian dancers were particularly impressive), and a ridiculous
number of impressively sized floats and fabulously bright costumes, it was a
great way to see the people of Singapore really celebrating their culture and country.
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| My favourite float of the night |
We
were definitely the odd ones out, but we were incredibly welcome, and I am so
glad that we managed to spare the time to stop by. I think that Nick was
slightly concerned about spending his Friday night somewhere a bit miserable,
but even he had to admit that it was a great night out, and that he would definitely
recommend it to others!
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