Dazzling performances and vibrant parade floats filled the atmosphere
as the audience was surrounded by unique cultural performances and riots of colours.

Brightly-coloured and high-spirited performers and floats paraded down the streets of Singapore while onlookers watched in awe and glee. In February this year, the street performances of Chingay 2018 filled the atmosphere with their cultural themes, celebrating the diverse culture of multi-ethnicity in Singapore throughout the years.

 

The theme behind Chingay 2018, which is ‘Cultural FUNtasy’, aims to provide audiences with engaging items and performances, giving more opportunities for Chingay’s performers to participate and compete in conjunction to the parade. The theme proved to be significant for this year’s Chingay parade as participants showcase their creative talents and engage audiences along the parade route at the same time. An example would be one of the many acts of young performers danced to KPOP which took the audience by surprise. The audience was up and about, dancing to the rhythm of the song as the performers went by. This is one of the many examples that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.

 

This year, Chingay 2018 will feature multi-ethnic, cultural performances by both local talents and international acts and even elements in modern-day entertainment. One such example of the many performing groups to be featured in the parade is Aliran Bebas. Their performance consists of multiple traditional stunts and choreographies, the song choice will be a blend of both traditional and Electronic Dance Music. This team was formed through different tertiaries and this is the second time that they’re attending Chingay. As a team from different walks of life, this put a test to their communication and skills as they train tirelessly to prepare for Chingay 2018. “We’ve been working hard for 2 months and we’re really excited to showcase our skills to the audience,” said Muhammad Irsyad Bin Samian, 19, performer from Aliran Bebas.  

 

As the aim is to convey the message of the dance choreography across to the audience, the hip-hop element in the choreographies helps by adding parts of modern-day culture while sustaining their traditional roots. Having different acts from both traditional and modern day coming together helps to broaden the definition of culture as something that could be shared as a community.

 

The Chingay parade is known to be the largest street parade in Asia. As different themes influenced the parade’s performances throughout the years, this year’s theme proved to be a prominent one due to the diversified meaning to what culture could mean in many different contexts. Not only will this year’s street parade feature floats and performances from various traditional, ethnically-themed groups but also cosplayers, martial arts groups and even performers on vehicles ranging from hoverboards to cars. This year’s Chingay parade will bring a new meaning to culture by showcasing performances loosely tied to both traditional culture and popular culture, making the parade a diversified event of cultural showcases.

 

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