COVID-19 Gold Coast: Santa tells Gold Coast ‘cancelling Christmas is not on the cards’
Christmas 2020 is going to look radically different on the Gold Coast due to COVID-19, with one especially popular tradition unlikely to take place. However a local Santa has a plan to keep the spirit of the season alive.
Gold Coast
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THE annual family tradition of a visit to see Santa at a shopping centre is under threat due to the need to social distance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However a popular Gold Coast Santa Claus is making alternative arrangements and insists “cancelling Christmas is not on the cards”.
Sporting events, festivals and international travel have been axed due to the COVID-19 crisis but Mr Claus is making sure Christmas still goes ahead.
Mr Claus said instead of being able to offer traditional catch-ups in Gold Coast shopping malls, he’d instead be offering live video calls and recorded shout out videos to keep Christmas alive.
“I’ve been working overtime to make sure the children of the world still get to experience the magic of Christmas and they won’t even need to leave the comfort of their own home,” he said.
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“This coming COVID-Christmas is set to look and feel very different than previous years. Many questions about Christmas still have no definitive answers.
“One thing we do know for sure is children will not be sitting on my knee this year. It’s unlikely you’ll even see me at any events like Christmas Carols or Santa’s arrivals, but I’ve found a way for the children to still get their Santa fix.”
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The modifications to his traditional festive schedule have come after a Gold Coast children’s entertainer reached out to Mr Claus and they came up with the perfect COVID-Safe solution.
Local business Gold Coast Santa is co-ordinating video calls or Zoom meetings with the man in red for kids from the safety of their home.
The business owner Chadd Small said he’d felt first-hand the impact COVID-19 has had on small businesses especially within the arts and events industry.
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“When COVID hit we basically had every booking cancel plus we lost all future bookings,” Mr Small said, who also runs Magic Castle Gold Coast.
“COVID is like the Grinch of Christmas. It wants Christmas cancelled but I’ll do everything I can to make sure kids still get to see Santa.”
The Gold Coast has two active cases, with zero new ones across Queensland in the past 24 hours on Thursday which has 27 active cases in total.
Originally published as COVID-19 Gold Coast: Santa tells Gold Coast ‘cancelling Christmas is not on the cards’