BY CHERYL LIM

SPECTATORS can join in the festivities during next year's Chingay parade for the first time, by shimmying alongside 2,000 performers in a samba parade.

They can register and rent costumes on the spot, and will be taught the steps of the Brazilian dance by instructors.

They can also participate in home-made costumes, if the costumes reflect their interpretation of Chingay and are creatively made, said Mr Nah Juay Hng, group director (networks) of the People's Association (PA), which is organising the Chingay parade.

There will be an audition at the registration point to screen the costumes.

The public is advised to register at least two hours before the start of the Chingay parade, which will be held on Feb 19 and 20 next year.

Mr Nah said these moves are in line with the PA's hope to involve more people of diverse groups in Chingay, to further anchor it as the "People's Parade".

When asked if having spectators take part would affect the synchronisation of the dance moves, he said: "The emphasis is on their passion, energy and spontaneity, and not on the choreography."

At least 200 tourists from Zhejiang province in China will also be taking part in the samba show, as part of a tour organised by homegrown travel agency Chan Brothers.

"The idea of incorporating tourists into the parade is to add more flavour and colour to the parade," Mr Nah explained.

Other highlights include a banner- art exhibition to decorate city lampposts, and a parade contingent dressed in home-made costumes.

About 350 colourful paintings by participants from various organisations and schools, including the Singapore Association for the Deaf and the Yellow Ribbon Project Singapore, will be hung as banners from lampposts in the city from Jan 23 to Feb 20 next year.

Each banner depicts the participant's interpretation of Chingay.

One of the painters, Mr Manger Ong, 42, who works as a missionary, said: "The experience is healthy for the mind, and is very interesting because I enjoy art."

A 350-strong contingent of people, mostly students, will wear artistic costumes made of wearable recycled items in the The Community Development Council Public Wearable Art Contingent.

Chingay 2010 will also take place in a new and larger venue - the F1 Pit Building, next to the Singapore Flyer, with a seating capacity of 36,000, twice that of the capacity at this year's venue at the Padang near the City Hall.

Spectators, who buy tickets priced at $25, will be seated at the F1 Pit Building, while others can watch it for free along the 1km parade route.

The PA expects 120,000 standing and seated spectators and 14 floats next year, similar to the turnout and the 13 floats at this year's parade.

The first Chingay parade took place in 1973, after then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew mooted the idea of a procession to celebrate Chinese New Year.

cheryll@sph.com.sg

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