SINGAPORE - As part of this year's Chingay Parade, a section of Orchard Road will be closed on the evening of March 1 for a street carnival.
Visitors will be able to get up close to Chingay performers and go onto some of the 13 floats on display at the carnival, which will also be attended by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife.
"This is the first time we're having a night fiesta. Spectators will have opportunities to interact with performers at this mega party and enjoy a wide range of performances," said Mr Ang Hak Seng, chief executive of the People's Association, the parade organiser. Admission to the carnival, unlike the main parade shows on Feb 27 and Feb 28, will be free.
The carnival will take place from 7pm to 10pm on the stretch of road between Ion Orchard and Ngee Ann City.
There will be 1,500 Singapore and international performers such as street buskers, cosplay artistes and cultural troupes from 13 countries at the carnival. Visitors will be able to sing along to familiar National Day songs such as Chan Mali Chan, Di Tanjong Katong, and Home alongside 2,000 community singers in front of Paragon shopping mall.
Some 100,000 "We Love SG" flowers made of recycled plastic bags will be given out to visitors for them to exchange among one another, as an expression of good wishes for Singapore's Jubilee year.
Fireworks will light up the sky above the civic plaza in front of the Wisma Atria shopping centre at 9.30pm.
Four lanes along Paterson Road and two lanes along Orchard Boulevard, next to Ion Orchard, will also be closed for the floats to enter the carnival. The road closures will be from 5.30pm on March 1 to 2am the next day.
