NDP 2016 to feature indoor fireworks
SINGAPORE — It is a first in the history of the National Day Parade (NDP): An indoor fireworks display to complement the outdoor one over the Marina Bay or Kallang skyline that has been the highlight at every parade.
The indoor fireworks will be accompanied by displays featuring a mix of lights, lasers as well as flame projectors, choreographed to remixes of popular NDP songs.
Military Expert 4 (ME4) Joel Li, 28, chief safety officer of the parade’s fireworks committee, told the media at a briefing on Friday (July 22) that the new segment would be the largest indoor fireworks ever staged in the National Stadium, and it would be “five times” the scale of the indoor fireworks set off during the opening and closing ceremonies of last year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the same venue.
“Fireworks have always been a crowd favourite for NDP… This time, we are taking the action closer to the audience, and allowing them to feel the full mood of the celebrations,” ME4 Li said.
For the fireworks display, a 50-man strong team of contractors and personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces will take four days to prepare and set up, from sorting out the fireworks to mounting them carefully in 98 wooden pyrotechnic boxes before installing them at the stadium.
These boxes will be lined along the stage, ramps and performance area. Indoor fireworks are also loaded onto mechanical structures rigged to the stadium's roof.
Electric fans will also be installed around the stage to help improve air flow and dissipate the smoke.
ME4 Li, who was also the deputy chief safety officer of the fireworks committee at the SEA Games, maintained that safety is of “topmost consideration”.
“The indoor fireworks have been cleared by an independent safety board, and measures have been put in place, like (having) a safety distance between performers and the audience. And we do air quality management and sound-level tests to ensure that it’s safe for everyone,” he said.
The outdoor fireworks, which will be installed on a platform in the Kallang Basin and on the outer dome of the National Stadium, will be set off across the Kallang Basin, although the details of the duration is still being worked out.
