Singapore National Day parade

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Singapore National Day parade
A nighttime scene of the National Day Parade at the Padang in 2023.
Status	Active
Genre	Parade
Date(s)	9 August
Frequency	Annually
Venue	The Float at Marina Bay The Padang National Stadium Former National Stadium
Country	Singapore
Years active	59
Inaugurated	9 August 1966 (1966-08-09)

The National Day Parade (NDP) is an annual parade held in Singapore to commemorate its independence. Held annually on 9 August, it is the main public celebration of National Day, and consists of a parade incorporating contingents of the Singapore Armed Forces, Ministry of Home Affairs, local institutions and community groups, followed by a cultural presentation featuring music, dance displays, parachuters, and a fireworks show.

First held on 9 August 1966 to mark the one-year anniversary of Singapore's declaration of independence from Malaysia, it has been held annually since then. The parade had historically been held at the Padang, but were occasionally held at the former National Stadium, and in a "decentralised" format across the country to encourage wider public participation. Beginning in 1984, the Padang began to host the parade on a regular cycle (initially once every three years, and then every five years beginning 1995) and during all years marking anniversaries of national significance, with the event otherwise hosted by the National Stadium.

While the parade officially takes place on 9 August, full-scale rehearsals and "preview" shows begin as early as mid-June, including a series of "NDP National Education Show" events hosting Primary 5 students, complete with pyrotechnics and fireworks.^[1][2] These full-scale, replica productions every weekend allow for up to 300,000 Singaporeans to participate as a spectator at one of the parades, with tens of thousands more around Marina Bay taking in the weekly aerial flypast and fireworks display each Saturday evening.

With the closure of National Stadium in 2007, it would be replaced in the rotation by The Float @ Marina Bay—a temporary, floating venue on Marina Bay designed to host events of national importance while the new National Stadium was under construction. Even with the completion of the new stadium, it would only host the parade once in 2016, after which The Float was designated as the event's "primary" venue. In 2023, the parade began a three-year tenure at the Padang due to the reconstruction of The Float as NS Square.