Singapore marks 61st birthday before 42,000 at National Stadium
What's new: The parade returned to the National Stadium for the first time since 2016 and featured its first indoor drone display.
Singapore celebrated its 61st birthday on Sunday with the National Day Parade returning to the National Stadium for the first time in a decade, drawing 42,000 spectators. The fully indoor show included new songs, laser and lighting effects, fireworks over Kallang Basin and the parade’s first indoor drone display using 300 drones. Organizers also staged the presidential gun salute at Kallang Basin for the first time. This year’s military ceremonial segment included more than 1,200 civilian participants across 26 contingents, the biggest such turnout in more than 10 years. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, in a National Day Message released a day earlier, pointed to resilient economic growth while warning that global uncertainty remains a concern.