The theme for Chingay 2022 (妆艺 2022) is ‘Ignite Our Dreams’. This year’s Chingay will also known as Chingay50 as it commemorates the 50-anniversary of this event. Watch out for the live streams online and social media channels on Saturday, 12 February 2022!
Delayed telecasts will be made on MediaCorp’s Channel 5 and Channel 8 on the 27 February 2022 (Sunday) at 7pm, and 6 March 2022 (Sunday) at 1pm.
The word Chingay is equivalent to the Mandarin word 妆艺 (zhuangyi) which means the art of costume and masquerade in the Hokkien dialect. Here in Singapore, the Chingay Parade started in 1973 as a street parade to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Since then, it has evolved into an annual iconic event that showcases Singapore’s rich and unique multi-ethnic and cosmopolitan cultures.
The first formal Chingay Parade in Singapore was mooted by our founding Prime Minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who was also the former Chairman of the People’s Association (PA). The celebrations, with all its colours and gaiety, compensated for the ban on firecrackers that was once a customary Lunar New Year practice to ward off evil spirits.
The annual event is characterised by vibrant performers in elaborated costumes from different ethnicity, cultures and backgrounds; dazzling display of floats; huge intricate props and structures; and cultural performances from all around the world. Chingay now owns the reputation as one of Asia’s largest street performance and float parade, a colourful epitome of the country’s multi-cultural society.
