Singapore celebrates its National Day Parade 2026 with Ayrton EagleStrike
Singapore celebrated the 61st anniversary of its independence in spectacular style on 9 August with its National Day Parade (NDP 2026) at the National Stadium, returning to its traditional site for the first time in ten years. Displays, fireworks and patriotic festivities brought 42,000 Singaporeans together in an evening of joyous celebration, with a record number of civilian participants – over 1200 – taking centre stage.
Premier technical production company and contractor, The Show Company (ShowCo), under the directorship of Joseph Gan, purchased 430 Ayrton EagleStrike fixtures from Total Solution Marketing as part of lighting designer and director Michael Chan’s mammoth lighting rig. Total Solution Marketing is Ayrton’s exclusive distributor for Singapore. In total, 424 EagleStrike units were rigged on trusses and ladders across the ceiling of the stadium, with throw distances ranging from 30m to 150m, to play a vital part in Mr Chan’s design.
“I was looking for an ultra bright and versatile light that was suitable for a large arena,” says Mr Chan. “The light needed to have sharp shutter cuts, a zoom range that went quickly from very narrow to wide, and a good colour mix.
“For NDP 2026, we moved the parade into the National Stadium and scaled up the production to become the largest lighting rig in NDP history – with over 1,650 lights, of which over 1300 are moving lights. At that scale, with throws up to 150m and a stadium bowl to fill, I needed a fixture that could do heavy lifting as both a wash and a precision tool: bright enough to hold its own against daylight and broadcast cameras, but controllable enough to frame and cut cleanly when the show called for it. EagleStrike gave us that range – from a tight, punchy beam down to a soft wide wash – without having to mix in a second fixture type to cover the gap.”
Having used EagleStrike for the first time, Mr Chan was impressed by what it had to offer: “What stood out for me was the combination of raw output and control. A lot of fixtures at this brightness sacrifice speed or precision – EagleStrike didn’t. The zoom moved fast enough to keep up with our transitions, the shutter/framing system let us shape the beam cleanly for key light, and the colour mixing held up consistently across throw distances – which is vital when you’ve got fixtures at 100m from a performer and others much closer, all of which need to read the same on camera.
“They also proved remarkably robust – we only had 2 EagleStrikes with any issues for the duration of the bump in and show, an impressive feat of durability, especially considering the fact that we do 10 hours of programming daily for three weeks!”
Mr Gan from ShowCo commented: “The EagleStrike demonstrated excellent durability and reliability over the two-month run. The attributes that made it successful for the parade are equally valuable and desirable for other productions we provide to our regular clients. We are happy to be able to add these mighty fixtures to our lighting offering.”
« When a distributor tells us 430 fixtures are going into the National Stadium for NDP, we think, ‘wow, what an amazing opportunity for a fixture like EagleStrike to prove itself yet another time’,” says Ayrton CEO, Michael Althaus. “Many weeks of 10-hour long programming days with several previews and a live broadcast where there’s no second take – seeing EagleStrike come through that with only two units needing attention tells us more about the product than any lab test could. This is exactly the kind of deployment we design EagleStrike for, that we design all Ayrton fixtures for. We would like to thank Mr. Michael Chan and his design team, Mr. Jo Gan for the trust and the entire team from Show Company for a strong partnership.”
“When this opportunity came up, we knew the potential was massive,” adds Juay Ming Hee, TSM’s Director of Strategic Business Partnerships. “Seeing it all materialize—and getting incredible feedback from Michael Chan’s and Joseph Gan’s team—made every hour invested worth it.
“Over the last two months, the sheer reliability and rock-solid consistency of these fixtures through every single cue proved exactly why Ayrton is specified on technical riders worldwide. We are proud to be on this journey with these incredible partners!”
Text: Julie Harper
Photos: © Felicia Khaw, © Vijay Thaygarajoo
Group from left to right: David Prakash, Vijay Thaygarajoo, Tevin Heng, Tai Zi Feng, Joseph Gan, Michael Althaus, Michael Chan and Foon Guey Her
