Our GeTai Night

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Would you have guessed where we were last week?

Being the 7th Month Ghost Festival, we couldnt help but troop down to Toa Payoh Central for a night of fun, music and alot of photography.

We have a small group of photography-keen friends to go around Singapore, taking pictures as a hobby and makan-ing inbetween. This month's theme was Ghost Festival LOL

A "Getai" - is a usually boisterous live stage performance held during the Ghost Festival commonly held in Singapore and Malaysia, in contrast to the generally solemn mood of the festival..The stage setup is usually composed of temporary structures and situated in the suburbs of the city in any empty field or even in parking spaces or housing estate. In the past, performances were usually of Chinese operas or puppet shows. The performances are meant to be for the spirits but also for people during the 7th month. With the decline of Chinese opera and traditional puppet shows, the performances evolved to become what is known today as Getai.

Look at the HUGE turnout!

People from all walks of life come together and enjoy the performance

Getting the best seat in the house

People sat everywhere, on ledges, stools bought from home and even on the grass.

I love the atmosphere!

This uncle super enthusiastic! He personally gave all the performers ang pow!

Children, along with their parents - came along to enjoy the show.

Hungry, much?

Friendly banter between host and performer had the crowd laughing along

The musicians backstage hard at work, trying to look at music scores provided by various singers. And there was alot of songs! Hokkien ones, Mandarin ones ...