The annual Festival of Carols and Culture was recently held at Christ Church Anglican Church Mount Gambier.

The event is the initiative of Archdeacon of the Limestone Coast Father Neil and is a variation to the traditional nine readings and carols held before Christmas every year.

It included Christmas related carols and songs performed by members of different cultures living in Mount Gambier as well as the traditional nine Bible readings relating to the birth of Jesus.

Some 250 people attended Christ Church for the service with an estimated audience of more than 500 watching the service via live stream.

Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin OAM and Member for Barker Tony Pasin were both in attendance and gave readings.

Some of the readings were also given by local Ministers representing different denominations and Dr Michael Nashed read representing the Coptic Church and community.

The readings were accompanied by the church children re-enacting the Christmas story, all in costume and some with multiple changes.

A variety of groups, some representing different cultures, sang Christmas Carols or songs including St Martin’s Lutheran College, Phoenix Music Studios, the LAST Community Choir and the Sri Lankan, Indian, African and German (Lutheran Church) communities.

A candle for peace was lit by church children at the beginning of the service and prayers for peace in today’s troubled world, were offered.

Mayor Martin was delighted to receive over $600 from the collection taken for the Mount Gambier Mayor’s Community Christmas Appeal.

She told the congregation that many families were experiencing financial stress and that her Christmas appeal aimed to make this time of year happier for those families.

Father Neil was very pleased with the success of the evening and said he hoped to add more cultures to the service in future years as Mount Gambier continues to become more culturally diverse.