December 4, 2014
The South Burnett’s annual Christmas celebrations have kicked off with Blackbutt and Wondai leading the festive charge.
The 14th annual Blackbutt-Benarkin Lions Club Christmas Festival began in Blackbutt on Sunday night with the annual Christmas Concert in the Memorial Hall.
Christmas celebrations will ramp up over the next fortnight as most of the region’s towns and villages join in with carnivals and carol nights of their own.
Wondai launched its Yuletide celebrations on Wednesday night with the town’s annual Community Christmas Carols in Coronation Park.
This year’s event was organised by the Wondai Regional Art Gallery and a small group of local volunteers.
A crowd of several hundred enjoyed performances by the Wondai Kindy, Wondai State School, the Wondai and District Band, the Stolzenberg Brothers, the Wondai CWA & Community Choir, and the Wondai Senior Citizens Choir.
Kindy volunteers manned the barbecue and refreshments stand while compere Winston Burrows introduced the performers. Ivan Sinclair, from the Wondai Baptist Church, gave the Christmas message, and Cr Ros Heit provided the official address.
Santa’s arrival in the CROW-FM ute at 7:00pm produced excited screams of delight from younger audience members, who persuaded Father Christmas to part with special treats he’d brought along especially for the occasion.
And while the clouds looked ominous at times, the hoped-for rain failed to fall.
This weekend will be full of similar events, with Proston and Goomeri both holding their Christmas Carnivals on Saturday, while the Maidenwell CWA hosts the town’s annual Christmas Tree event.
And on Sunday, Hivesville will hold its Christmas Carnival while Kingaroy, Kumbia and Murgon have Christmas Carol services.
Information about our region’s Christmas celebrations can be found in our Major Annual Events Calendar, just click any hyperlinked event to obtain more details.
