Those of you who were hoping to score some National Day Parade (NDP) tickets, only to be left disappointed by how quickly that were snatched up and sold out, here’s some not-so-great news to rub salt in your wounds: Many of the tickets — for both the actual event, and rehearsal preview sessions — are now up for grabs on Singapore’s thriving ticket resale market.
A quick search on online marketplace Carousell shows that even the tickets for rehearsals are currently going for up to $80 a pop. There are also wanted ads from individuals who are looking to buy a pair of tickets for the NDP event itself, for as much as $150.
Applications to ballot for this year’s NDP tickets opened last month on May 23. Only Singapore citizens and permanent residents can apply for these tickets, to either the NDP preview or the actual day’s events. Successful applicants would have received an email confirmation on Monday, June 24.
This year’s parade is being marketed as a particularly notable one, since the republic is commemorating its bicentennial this year — the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles in Singapore. It is also the first time since 2015 that the parade will be held at the historic Padang stage and surrounding area in downtown Singapore.
When the results for the ballot came out on Monday, many who were unsuccessful with their application aired their disappointment online, with some citizens lamenting that they’ve been trying — unsuccessfully — to get tickets for the past decade.
It’s a vicious cycle of supply and demand — the more people are willing to pay a premium price for these coveted tickets on online marketplaces, the more scalpers will be incentivized to buy up the supply, leaving the rest of us unable to score tickets.
Shame on you, scalpers.
That said, no matter how desperate you are, it’s wise not to buy your tickets from anyone other than through the government’s official platform. Even though there is no legal recourse for ticket scalping, ticket resellers who are caught in the act can be permanently banned from balloting, and parade organizers reserve the right to deny entry to buyers of resold tickets.
