Gold Coast Mayor’s Christmas Carols 2020: COVID forces major change to annual event
COVID-19 is the grinch that stole Christmas from the Gold Coast, with some of the city’s most popular events cancelled or heavily modified. SUBSCRIBE TO SEE WHAT’S GONE
Lifestyle
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COVID-19 is the grinch that stole Christmas from the Gold Coast.
Some of the city’s best-loved events, including the annual Christmas lights competition, the Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach carols have all been cancelled for the first time ever.
They are just the latest in a long list of events which have been abandoned, including the Gold Coast Marathon and GC600.
Mayor Tom Tate said the continually evolving pandemic had forced the council to make difficult choices to ensure locals stayed safe during the festive season.
“This was not an easy decision to make but we couldn’t take risks in this current environment,” Cr Tate said.
The ninth annual Mayor’s Christmas Carols will still be held but will be online-only this year despite boasting a big-name line-up, including Kate Ceberano, Anthony Callea and Casey Barnes.
Cr Tate said the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic meant there was no choice but to abandon a traditional Broadwater Parklands event and try something different
“We decided to look at this as an opportunity and invite back previous headliners as well as local superstar Casey Barnes – Gold Coast Music Awards artist of the year – to be involved,” he said.
“So while it’s disappointing we can’t all be there together for this wonderful tradition, the quality of the talent who will be singing carols and Christmas songs for our city is unprecedented.
“I would encourage everyone to tune in with their families for what will be a truly unique, exciting and fun experience.”
The carols will be broadcast on Saturday December 5 at 6pm.
The annual carols normally attracts several thousand people to the Broadwater Parklands and is one of the biggest events on the calendar.
The 2019 bushfire crisis forced it be modified last year, with the fireworks display abandoned because of the dry conditions.
The Gold Coast has no active cases of COVID-19 and there are just two left in the entire state.
Tuesday saw the lowest number of active cases since July 21.
The festive season is expected to look significantly different this year as a result of continued social distancing measures introduced to slow the spread of coronavirus.
It was revealed in September that the annual family tradition of a visit to see Santa at a shopping centre was under threat because of these restrictions.
Many shopping centres are yet to book Santas.
However one popular Gold Coast Santa Claus has made alternative arrangements including online meetings, insisting that cancelling Christmas “was not on the cards”.
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