New organiser is ‘confident’ Carols by Candlelight will return to Elder Park in 2022

Carols by Candlelight has a new organiser after 78 years and its new custodian is confident the much loved festive event will return to its spiritual home after two years online.

The new custodian of South Australia’s oldest community carols event is “confident” the beloved Christmas event will return to the live stage this year after being devastated by Covid restrictions for two years.

St John Ambulance SA will this year take the reins as the custodian of Adelaide’s Carols by Candlelight after disability charity Novita announced it would step down before this year’s event.

Novita, a charity which supports children and families with disabilities, has been involved with the carols as both a charity partner and custodian since the event began in 1944.

St John chief executive Mark Groote said the organisation would begin talks with stakeholders in the next fortnight about bringing carols back to Elder Park this year but was committed to returning the event to its long-time home.

“I’m confident that carols will come back,” he told the Sunday Mail.

“That’s certainly the intent, is that we bring it back to an in-person event.”

Adriana Annetta said the event was a “family tradition” that she hoped she could enjoy again with her own children.

“I’ve got a two-year-old and she hasn’t been at all, so hoping that she can have her first experience,” she said.

“It’s (the streamed event) not the same...you’re missing that atmosphere and just being around people and everyone getting in the festive spirit.”

The 2020 and 2021 events were streamed virtually after Covid restrictions meant the tens of thousands of spectators who would usually head to Elder Park had to watch from home.

Mr Groote said he had been in talks with Novita for four to six weeks about taking over the event.

“We saw this as a really good opportunity for St John to be the custodian of the event and to help bring some of that joy back to our community after a very, very hard couple of years,” he said.

“We wanted to make sure that the carols weren’t lost to the community overall and so for us that’s why we stepped forward to make sure that the carols remained as an event for the community and we wanted to make sure it didn’t just become a memory of something that used to happen in the state.

“There would be nothing worse than not having a custodian for this event and for it not to go ahead.”

Matthew, Pia, 2, Leo, 6, and Adriana Annetta are pleased for Christmas Carols to return to Elder Park this year. Picture: The Advertiser/ Morgan Sette

Novita chief executive Greg Ward said that the charity’s focus needed to be on the welfare of its clients and their families but he was delighted that St John had taken over.

“Unfortunately, we can no longer maintain the significant investment and the considerable

time and effort involved in organising a community event that delivers little direct value for

Novita or the people living with disability that we support,” he said.

In 2019 AdelaideMetro bus operator Torrens Transit became a major sponsor of Carols by Candlelight after it was revealed the event was at risk of being cancelled without major funding support.

SeaLink then became the event’s major naming-rights sponsor after it acquired Transit systems, the operator of Torrens Transit.

Mr Groote said SeaLink was yet to be confirmed as the naming-rights sponsor of the event but he was hopeful they would continue in their current sponsorship role.

“They’ve been supporting carols for many years so we would want to see that continue into the future as well.”

A SeaLink spokeswoman said the company valued its partnership with Novita and looked forward to early discussions with St John about the event.