Adelaide Oval plan to salvage Christmas Pageant tradition
Health officials are expected to give the all clear for a 2020 Christmas pageant at a new time and place within days — but it won’t be as easy to get good spot this year.
Coronavirus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coronavirus. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Christmas Pageant is poised to be given the green light within days – as an Adelaide Oval twilight arena spectacular to help Santa Claus safely arrive in South Australia.
Australia’s biggest pageant usually attracts crowds of more than 300,000 people, who line CBD streets on the second weekend in November for the traditional start of the festive period.
But as the coronavirus pandemic prevents large scale mass gatherings, organisers are expected to be given imminent approval for a vastly different COVID-19 safe event on November 14.
For the past several weeks, Events SA officials have been negotiating with SA Health chiefs about Adelaide Oval hosting a ticketed event via a public ballot for up to 25,000 people. Tickets will be free for the lucky spectators drawn.
Such an event will allow health authorities to contact trace attendees if an outbreak erupts and to maintain social distancing in a “controlled” area rather than on the streets.
Floats would circle the ground as spectators watched from allocated seats.
Father Christmas rides on top of the last float before he usually arrived at the Magic Cave but it is expected he would instead wave to children from a makeshift stage.
The Transition Committee of senior public sector officials, including Police Commissioner, and state COVID co-ordinator Grant Stevens as well as Chief Public Health Officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, reviewed the 87 year-old event’s detailed management plans last week.
“I would be optimistic that there would be some version of the pageant that would be able to be facilitated so that we can welcome Father Christmas to South Australia just as we did the Easter bunny,” Mr Stevens told the Sunday Mail.
A public announcement is expected this week after “finer details” on contact tracing and crowd numbers are finalised and the committee signs off on the logistics.
Officials say Oval management has shown it can successfully deal with limited crowds.
The committee on Friday authorised an increase in crowds from 10,000 to 25,000 within weeks.
Events SA executive director Hitaf Rasheed said the agency was “continuing to work through several scenarios and is committed to bringing Father Christmas to Adelaide on 14 November”.
“(We) hope to be in a position to announce details very soon,” she said.
An SA Health spokeswoman added: “We have had positive discussions with Events SA and are continuing to work with them on the finer details of the Christmas Pageant.”
Last year the 3.2km route ended at the Town Hall instead of the Magic Cave in David Jones, after the retailer scrapped its sponsorship.
Since being established in 1933, the pageant has only been suspended during the Second World War between 1939 and 1944.