Chingay Parade 2015 on Orchard Road

Every year, Singapore holds the Chingay parade, a uniquely Singaporean Lunar New Year tradition held during the first weekend of the Lunar New Year. This yearly street parade is now a national festival, celebrated by Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians alike.

Now I had never seen it before despite living here for 6 years because no one ever invited me to go, I suppose, so when Armar suggested watching the free version of the Chingay Parade 2015 in Orchard road last Sunday, I said sure! I really did not know what to expect.

So we headed to Orchard after our high tea at The Salon, Fort Canning Hotel, and I was overwhelmed when I saw the huge crowds on the sidewalks.

This was a few minutes before the parade began. I was able to snap a few pictures of the impressive floats on the sides. I’m sorry if I don’t have better pictures, people were always milling around and blocking the view and I could not find a good spot from which to take good photos.

Then the parade began and it became worse. I could not take any decent photos of the parade at all, so I thought, whatever! And just watched the following walk down the closed off Orchard road the old fashioned way with only my eyes, like some sort of caveman.

* Fancy motorcycles
* People modelling period costumes inside clear giant balls
* Performers in giant feathery costumes
* Gorgeous vintage cars (including one with Marilyn Monroe in it)
* Little girls wearing gold skirts on unicycles
* Jugglers and twirlers
* Brightly lit floats alongside costumed performers from all over the world

It was a grand sight to behold, even from my less than ideal vantage point.

I realized that the “old fashioned way” of watching a spectacle wasn’t so bad after all! I ought to do this more often, but the blogger in me just finds it really hard, you know? Snatching up my camera/phone to take a snap has become an instinct that is so ingrained in me, it will take a major surgery to pull it out.

You can watch the video of the parade below. It’s not the Orchard version, though. I found it on Youtube.

For more information (and pictures that are much MUCH better than mine), check out the Chingay Parade Singapore website.

P.S. Here are a few snaps of Ion Orchard’s beautiful Chinese New Year decorations!