Excitement is building for a magical evening of Christmas carols at the Railway Lands this Sunday for the annual Blue Lake Carols.
The much-loved community event is set to celebrate a remarkable 77th anniversary this year.
Those eager to get into the festive spirit are welcome to join in the fun starting with the Little Ray Workshop kicking off the evening at 6pm.
Supported by Ray White Mount Gambier, children will have the opportunity to take part in Little Ray’s adventure trail and elf mail.
The Ray White team have planned some super fun activities loaded with Christmas cheer.
The Railway Lands platform will be the place to be for face painting, hair braiding, Christmas photos and make your own reindeer food, all before settling in for the night.
A talented line-up of local artists will take to the stage from 7.30pm singing an array of traditional and modern Christmas carols.
Event organiser Rudy Furlong said this year there were about 12 artists with two large choirs and a range of professional musicians.
“It is all about local talent and incredibly gifted people,” Mr Furlong said.
“Behind the stage there will be about 60 people all up so there are a lot of moving parts on the night.”
He said the Christmas event was family-focused with a range of entertainment and hot food available on the night.
“One of the highlights will be the fact you can enjoy yourself,” Mr Furlong said.
“The Lions Club will bring their van and they serve hamburgers, hotdogs and we will have food vans which supply lamb and pork ribs, coffee vans and a spread of different foods on the night.”
Mr Furlong said the event had a long history in town with it being one of the largest community events each year.
“We really want to honour the sponsors who help us put on the event,” he said.
“When people arrive, we will have two large electronic screens with a QR code and people can download the program from there.”
Blue Lake Carols band are fine-tuning their instruments and voices with rehearsals in full swing this past week.
Stepping into the spotlight in a whole new way is Isaac Bruggemann, usually on the trumpet he will be singing ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman’.
Among the line up of talented vocalists heralding in the Christmas season will be Amanda Lengyel, Tamara Seely and Shannon Wilcox.
Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin will also take to the stage to make her Christmas speech.
There is nothing quite like having the energy of the crowd bursting in Christmas spirit.
Everyone is encouraged to come dressed in their Christmas best, bring along a picnic rug or deck chair for a fantastic night of entertainment.
For those unable to attend but do not want to miss out, the entire event will be live-streamed for viewing via YouTube and socials, plus live listening on radio 5GTR.
