Chingay Parade
Chingay which means "a decorated miniature stage" originated in China but was adopted by Singapore in 1973. This was in response to the fireworks ban a year earlier which was viewed unfavorably by Singaporeans as many people thought it would dampen the mood for Chinese New Year. The parade with floats, acrobatics, lion dances and stilt walkers was organized to "bring back some cheer to the public."
It has since grown to a very unique multi-racial parade with performances and floats from all over the world. In fact one of our friends from Mexico was a dancer in the parade. 
The parade began with a 88 meter long dragon float. The double 8's being a very lucky number. 
Next came the star wars troopers...don't worry I still have no idea what they were doing in the parade but some things are better left a mystery! Lets just say, Kingsley was pretty excited to see them!
For the next hour we saw everything from fire breathing stilt walkers to amazingly intricate floats and dances.
And of course no parade is complete without the token "strange man" running through the dancers wearing a bike helmet and knee pads.
Fortunately for us, fireworks are no longer banned in Singapore so we were able to enjoy a colorful fireworks display at the end.
Labels:
Living in Singapore
What a SPLENDID parade!