Those attending this year's National Day Parade (NDP) will get a better view of performances with the stage being moved closer to them.

At this year's parade, the stage will extended into the promenade and will be 8m closer to the audience. This is to make the parade more "engaging, and in a way, interactive" for the audience, said Military Expert 7 Chow Wai Yein, who is the chairman for infrastructure and decoration at NDP 2013. Performers will also have more usable space, he added.

The stage has a larger projection area this year as well. Multimedia elements will cover over half of the stage, or 25 per cent more compared to previous National Day Parades.

One of the multimedia features of this year's parade is a 3D animation of the Merlion sharing its story. A mascot of the national icon will then make its way onto the floating platform. This is the Merlion's debut appearance at the National Day Parade.