Singapore in festivals

Singapore is a multi-ethnic society. Different ethnic groups, different cultures, and different religious beliefs coexist and blend harmoniously on this small island.

The four races in Singapore are Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian. Different ethnic groups have colorful cultures and Singapore’s diversity is vividly reflected in various ethnic festivals.

New Year

The festival most representative of the Chinese is undoubtedly the Lunar New Year.

Every year when the first lunar month is approaching, the streets of Singapore’s Chinatown will be lit up with zodiac lights, red lanterns… with the streets and alleys beaming with festive atmosphere.

To celebrate the New Year, the government will also organize an annual makeup parade. The colorful floats, wonderful performances, and lively dragon and lion dances will all appear in this “Asian Carnival”.

As far as every family is concerned, the way of celebrating the New Year is much more traditional. Everyone will carefully prepare a New Year’s Eve reunion dinner to watch the New Year together with their loved ones and will organize ‘lao yu sheng’ and wrap red packets for the children at home.

In these customs and celebrations, the Lion City in the first month is still full of a strong flavor of the year.

Deepavali

For the Indians, Deepavali is undoubtedly the most important festival.

Deepavali is the festival of Narakāsura, the goddess of wealth. It is also a festival that “drives away darkness with light and defeats evil with goodness”. On this day, every family of Hindus will light candles and oil lamps at home. In the swaying lights, they pray religiously that Goddess Shirashmi can bestow luck and wealth on them.

On the eve of Deepavali, Singapore also has many unique celebrations. This festival, together with much joy and laughter, the silver carriage parade carrying the statue of the goddess Sri Drowpathai Amman, will commence. We will get to see many devotees step barefoot on charcoal fires in the Mariamman Indian Temple, and colorful lights in Little India. These elements together form a radiant and colorful Indian world.

Christmas

In Singapore, the atmosphere of Western festivals is also very strong. The annual Christmas lights-up event will start one month in advance. In the four-kilometer-long shining lights of Christmas, many happy photos and precious memories have been created.

Before and after Christmas, no matter where you go, there will be well-dressed Christmas tree. Various shopping malls seize the opportunity to carry out various Christmas activities and Christmas promotions. No matter which ethnic group, they will be involuntarily infected by this Western festival and throw themselves into the carnival.

In fact, every national holiday in Singapore is not only a national holiday, but a holiday in Singapore as a whole. These festivals are all public holidays in Singapore. In each festival, everyone will go to the streets, feel the cultural customs of different ethnic groups, and give the best wishes to Singapore and everyone living in Singapore.