President Halimah Yacob waving from a float during a street parade at the Deepavali Light Up Ceremony in Little India's Race Course Road yesterday evening.

The event marks the start of Deepavali celebrations in Little India. An estimated 5,000 people turned up for the light-up, which will last about 60 days.

The parade, which was organised by the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association and attended by people of different ethnicities, also marked Singapore's bicentennial year with segments involving vintage vehicles and bullock carts.