And they are also hoping generous Ballarat residents will donate two things toward the success of the annual event - money and time.

Organiser Matt Hustwaite said volunteers were needed for a myriad of carols-related jobs before, during and after the event.

"Coming off the back of COVID, people have changed their habits and volunteering has copped a bit of a whack." he said.

"We need volunteers to make sure all the attendees have an enjoyable and safe time, whether it's helping scan tickets, collecting donations and rattling the tin for local charities, helping people with inquiries or helping clean."

The entire not-for-profit event is organised by a volunteer committee Ballarat Carols by Candlelight Inc which formed to put on the carols in 2019 after its previous organisers from Ballarat's church community were unable to attract enough volunteers to organise the large-scale event.

Although Carols by Candlelight is a free event, it will raise money through donations for four local charities - Uniting Ballarat, St Vincent de Paul, Anglicare and the Salvation Army

"Donations will be split among the four charities to support the amazing work they do at Christmas," Mr Hustwaite said. "North of 5500 families rely on those social services to make sure they get presents under the tree and food on the table."

This year's Carols by Candlelight festivities will begin at 2pm with a Springfest Market before gates for the concert open and pre-show entertainment begins from 4pm ahead of the main event from 7.30pm.

A market was also planned last year but a storm swept through forcing it to be abandoned.

IN OTHER NEWS

"Last year was interesting because we were one of the few events at Christmas that still ran because we did months of COVID-related work, then two weeks before the event all the COVID restrictions for events were lifted," Mr Hustwaite said.

"We had 10,000 registrations but unfortunately were impacted by an exceptional unseasonal storm that kept people away but by the time the concert came around you wouldn't have known it was raining but we were still thrilled to have more than 6000 attendees last year."

The first year of the Ballarat Carols by Candlelight Inc-organised event drew almost 9000 people to City Oval.

Anyone interested in volunteering for Ballarat Carols by Candlelight can click here

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