Introduction:The Chingay Parade is a street parade, which is observed annually in Singapore. The Chingay Parade in Singapore is a part of the Chinese New Year Festivities. The term Chingay itself originated in South East Asia, particularly in places like Penang, Malaysia. The term Chingay is a phonetic counterpart of a Chinese word which means ‘a decorated miniature stage’, or ‘float’. Description:The Chingay Parade in Singapore retraces its origin to a competition of decorating floats held in Penang in 1905. This practice of float decoration stretched to the rest of Malaya by 1960s and in due course became associated with the Chinese New Year. The Singapore Chingay Parade began in Singapore as an expression of communal unity and festivity in the year 1973. This was started to replace the absence of the customary firecrackers which were released every Chinese Year, but was banned in 1972. The very first procession of the Chingay Parade in Singapore was entirely Chinese, which was a miscellany of big-headed dolls, stilt walkers, mini opera, pugistic groups, prancing lion, flag bearers and dragon dancers.In the present days, the princeliest street parade in Asia, after coming a long way, has developed into a massive international and multi-cultural occasion and gets a live telecast on television every year. The Chingay Parade features not only the best international and local performers, but also the most beautiful and magnificent floats of Asia.
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