Chingay Parade

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A Chingay Parade performer

The Chingay Parade (Chinese: 妆艺大游行; pinyin: Zhuāngyì Dàyóuxíng) is an annual street parade held in Singapore as part of Chinese New Year festivities. The term Chingay itself originated in Southeast Asia, particularly in Penang, Malaysia, which is a phonetic equivalent of the Chinese words "妆艺", which means "a decorated miniature stage" or float. Today, the parade has evolved into a massive multi-cultural and international event telecast live on television every year.

[edit] History

The Chingay Parade traces its origins to a float decorating competition held in Penang in 1905. This practice of float decoration spread to the rest of Malaya by the 1960s, and eventually became associated with the Chinese New Year.

On 4 February 1973, the first Chingay parade was held in Singapore, partly as a result of the ban on firecrackers a year earlier in 1972 as a result of fire hazards. This ban was viewed unfavourably despite the safety issues involved. Some people felt that the ban would result in a much dampened festival mood for the Chinese New Year period. To address this issue, the People's Association and the Singapore National Pugilistic Association jointly organised a street parade from Jalan Besar to Outram Park featuring the signature floats, acrobatic acts, lion and dragon dances, stilt walkers, and the like, to bring back some cheer to the general public.

The largely Chinese parade became a multi-cultural one from 1977 when Malay and Indian groups started joining in the performances, which was to mark a major precedent in the overall flavour of the parade into one which has become largely multi-cultural in character, despite the continued presence of traditional Chinese acts such as lion dances and stilt walkers till this day.

In 1985, the parade marched down Orchard Road for the first time, a move which was to prevail for much of the parade's subsequent history. Although the change could be attributed to the desire of organisers in bringing it closer to tourists along the major tourist belt and for ease of organisation on a relatively long and straight stretch of road, it also further signified the increasingly desinicized character of the parade. This is further evidenced when in 1987, an international flavour was added to the parade when a group from Japan participated for the first time with their float sponsored by The Straits Times.

The Chingay Parade became an evening-to-night parade in 1990, changing the overall feel of the parade towards one in which lights and pyrotechnics dominate. In 2000, the parade was shifted out of Orchard Road to the Civic District centering at City Hall, an area steep in Singaporean history and culture. Construction works at the City Hall area resulted in the parade marching through the streets of the Chinatown district for the first time. Faced with limited space for spectator stands and a much more complicated and winding route in these locations, however, the parade moved back to Orchard Road in 2004 along with an effort to introduce audience participation and involvement in the traditionally passive parade. Firecrackers were let off for the first time in the parade that year. Despite the authorities allowing the firecrackers to be let off under some safety procedures, it was decided that the Chingay be preserved. In 2008, the parade was once again held at City Hall, with the route lasting from the City Hall building to The Esplanade.

Post-parade street parties have been held for the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 editions of the parade.

[edit] Spectators

An estimated 200,000 spectators attended the 2005 Chingay Parade on February 19 while an additional 300,000 people participated in other fringe events. One million Singaporeans watched the parade on television and another 16.3 million homes and hotels across Asia received the television broadcast through Channel NewsAsia.

Floats and dances	A Malay dance performer encourages spectators to participate.	Puppets add colours to the festive mood.	Traditional lion dance
Dragon dance and fire ball display