Singapore holds light-up ceremony for Mid-Autumn Festival

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's Chinatown held a light-up ceremony on Tuesday (Aug 30) evening, kicking off the annual Mid-Autumn Festival celebration that last close to a month.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean turned on all the neon light on the streets of Chinatown, before performers of dragon dancing and foreign artists went on stage.

There was a display of 18 dragons, including a glowing 188-feet-long illuminated Lotus Lantern Dragon to set a Singapore record.

The celebration will last 27 days till Sept 25. A business competition known as "I am a Bazaar King" has been organized from Aug 28 to Sept 11 to encourage entrepreneurship.

A mass lantern walk will be held on Sept 10, two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar and the second most important festival in the Chinese culture.

The deputy prime minister also presented the top prizes to winners of an inaugural Iconic Lantern Design Competition, including the champion Ivy Yeo and her granddaughter who emerged a runner-up.

Yeo said the lantern that won her a surprise prize was eco- friendly and is made of recycled materials and powered by rechargeable batteries.

Over 1,000 works from a lantern painting competition will be displayed at the Pogoda Street in Chinatown. The lanterns were painted by children and students aged 16 and below.