As the main location I have set the course for on my first-ever Southeast Asia trip, Singapore was the ideal entry point: a small country that unites Chinese, Malay, and Indian cultures with Eastern influences. The peninsula is known for its breathtaking architecture, vibrant cultural variety, and eye-catching attractions.

And yet every year, on August 9th, all the activities the country has to offer get overshadowed by Singapore’s national day celebration—a day marked by red and white; tradition and innovation; fireworks and water shows.

The main event on National Day is the “NDP”—the National Day Parade. It consists of aerial showcases, military parades, and multicultural acts, finalised with spectacular fireworks.

After being unable to get my hands on a main stage ticket, I managed to muster one for the side stage. It was situated at “The Promontory at Marina Bay,” a piece of land surrounded by skyscrapers on one side and falling off into the sea on the other. The first thing I saw once I got out of the car was the “flag flypast”—three military helicopters showing off an enormous national flag, accompanied by the noise of the crowd. And all of a sudden, I was drowning in a sea of red and white. People wearing the national colours, waving the national flag. A local has told me that National Day is the only day that Singaporeans feel patriotic.

While making my way through the crowd, everything fell silent for a brief moment, followed by people cheering and shouting as the fighter jets flew by, accompanied by an ear-splitting roar, before disappearing again.

Upon arrival, I was greeted with a goodie bag, filled with different kinds of cold teas, cookies, snacks, a Singapore flag, and a wristband with LEDs that are meant to match the ongoing show, among other items.

While the display of a short film, showcasing their Total Defence in action, had started, I wandered towards the food stand, attracted by the savoury smell of curry puffs. It has started to rain a little, but the government has provided everyone with plastic rain ponchos.

Eventually, once the official part was over, the Grand Finale; a beautiful firework, sparkling in all sorts of different colours above Marina Bay; across the water, the buildings were illuminated in the colours of Singapore; the flag with a moon and five stars projected onto the world-renowned Marina Bay Sands Hotel. And when I turned around—away from the fireworks—I could see their reflection in the countless skyscrapers around me, shimmering in every window to the music of this year’s national day song.

As I am originally from Luxembourg, I’m unfamiliar with celebrations of this magnitude. For us, National Day means parade, speeches, fireworks. And so, to have a fully organised schedule for the whole evening, a special song written for this occasion every year, people wearing the national colours, and a short movie display was a major culture shock, in the best way possible. A local explained to me that every year, the students rehearse the new song in school in the weeks leading up to National Day. She furthermore said that her favourite part of national day is the preparations leading up to it. Seeing the city turn red and white by everyone putting up the flag on their balcony. The unison of the country. “Together as one united people” was this year’s slogan.

Besides the national song, the National Day show also featured local artists, such as singer, model, and influencer Iman Fandi. While the music was, in my opinion, exactly how you would expect it from a “nepo baby” and professional model, I found the performance to be very entertaining and nice to watch. The perfect closure for the night.

To visit the NDP yourself, you must know that the distribution of tickets works via balloting. This year’s tickets for the main stage were already sold out more than two months before the event, but thankfully, they introduced an official side stage for the first time ever, with a separate balloting one month later for everyone who didn’t get lucky at the first ballot.

A major difficulty is that tourists cannot buy tickets by themselves. To apply, you must either be of Singaporean nationality or at least a long-term resident of Singapore.

However, the main spectacle, namely the firework, is going to be visible from several locations throughout the city.

The local concluded: “Everyone’s questions will be ‘What’s your plan for tonight?’ Because there will be fireworks everywhere, so if you don’t have tickets to the show, most of the time, you go out to locations where you can see the fireworks.”