Christmas is little more than a week away, but here in Ballarat we were lucky enough to get an early taste on Sunday night.
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After days of persistent rain, the weather cleared perfectly in time for the Christmas Carols.
Held at Mars Stadium for the first time, hundreds of people turned out for the carols.
Check out the photos above to get a taste of the atmosphere.
Who knows? You might just spot somebody you know!
Event director Sonia Venema was full of praise as the crowd filed through the gate.
“Isn’t it amazing, the crowd’s still turning up and I think the weather’s going to hold off,” she said.
“We have a really good team, we worked really well.
“We’ve been doing it for a few years now – it’s just getting used to the new place.”
The band, made up of local musicians, introduced a few new Christmas songs, as well as the traditional carols – with a few surprises for the children as well.
Many in the crowd said they looked forward to event every year, and noted the high production values.
“I like the new venue because there’s obviously drainage under here, and if we were at the lake like last year, it’d be a boggy mess, so we’re really happy about that,” Angela McCallum said.
“I didn’t mind it around the lake, personally, but this is nice – you’ll get more people here,” Karl Waldron added.