Carols by Candlelight attracts thousands

It may have been bucketing down as the singers got started but it didn’t stop thousands from turning out for the annual Carols by Candlelight.

SUNDAY EVENING: COME hell or high water the angelic voices of Darwin’s Christmas carollers were determined to be heard.

Despite the best efforts of the wet season’s afternoon rains the annual Carols by Candlelight lit up the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens on Sunday evening.

The annual charity fundraiser was completely sold out, with 6000 people booking in their picnic spot in the gardens to watch the festivities.

Darwin families dressed in their most tinsel-covered holiday cheer, with many Santa and elves hats and reindeer horns spotted in the crowd.

Soon after the gates opened the garden’s green grass was covered in blankets and chairs as the crowd surrounded the stage to mingle and chat with their new picnic neighbours.

But soon after the music started some could not stay in place, letting the tunes take over while they danced to the classic Christmas bops. The Woolworths Candlelight Choir and the Band of the 1st Brigade Australian Army Band awarded their audience with their best renditions of classic holiday jingles.

And by the end of the night it was fireworks, not lightning, that dazzled the Darwin skyline.

Entry fees, voluntary donations and candle sales all raised money for Variety the Children’s Charity.

SUNDAY MORNING: IT was a sight to behold, more than 500 sweaty Santas ran (mostly walked) 2km around the Darwin Waterfront on Sunday for a good cause.

The annual Variety NT Santa Fun Run raised more than $10,000 for the local swim Program Starfish Swim Group which enables children with a disability to learn how to swim.

The run was a personal affair for Tania Lesnueck and her son Max Lenoir who has a disability called Benign Hereditary Chorea.

“Max has been supported in the past by Variety NT – he has received a number of pieces of equipment and swims with the Starfish Group,” Ms Lesnueck said.

She said Max has been swimming with the group for more than seven years and could almost swim independently.

“It has taken quite a while so without the swim program we wouldn't have been able to keep affording swim lessons – so it has been really good,” she said.

Plan your route: Your 2021 guide to Darwin and Palmerston’s Christmas lights

Mr Lenoir was the winner of the Wheels category with a red hot time of 14 minutes and 38 seconds.

“It was quite sweaty but I had a good time,” Mr Lenoir said. As the race unfolded under the warm 32 C morning Darwin sky, there was no shortage of sweaty faces as red as Rudolph’s nose.

Variety NT general manager Katrina Fong Lim said the event had a total of 572 registered Santas and “at least 500 of them turned up”.

“You should see the smiles on the kids’ faces – there’s families connecting and groups of people getting out and getting together and fundraising for such a good cause,” Ms Fong Lim said.

Originally published as Carols by Candlelight attracts thousands