Next year's Chingay parade is poised to be one with many firsts, including a contingent of about 30 giant puppets, a community drama performance and a parade of horses to commemorate the year of the horse.

The parade, which will take place on Feb 7 and 8 at the F1 Pit building, will also feature a 360 metre-long batik painting and a pair of 360 metre-long tapestries, hand-knitted by constituency volunteers out of recycled fabric. Members of the public who wish to donate their unwanted t-shirts and other fabric for the tapestries may do so by emailing pa_scene@pa.gov.sg for more details.

The event will also involve 70,000 individuals - the largest number of participants in the parade's history. "I want it to be a people's parade. A parade for the people, by the people, and with the people," said Mr Ang Hak Seng, chief executive director of People's Association, which has organised the parade since 1973.

The parade's official song "Knit As One" was composed by music maestro Lee Si Song and features lyrics in Malay, Tamil, English and Mandarin.