- Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Community Trust South are proudly supporting the Invercargill Santa Parade, Murihiku Christmas Tree festival, ILT Christmas Variety Show, Christmas in the Park and the QLDC Remarkable Christmas Show - to help spread the joy of Christmas to those people who need it the most.
Why? For the community of course.
For many different reasons Christmas can be a time of unwanted worry, anxiety, and stress for families and that makes it challenging to get into the spirit of Christmas. These festive events cater to people of all ages and are aimed at giving families and individuals a safe place to come together to connect and socialise, as the opportunities to do this over the last two years have been severely hindered by Covid restrictions.
“Community is at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make, and we are excited to help bring Christmas to the South this year”, says Community Trust South General Manager Jackie Flutey.
The 2022 festive season kicked off in November with the Invercargill Santa Parade and the Murihiku Christmas Tree Festival. It was great to see local businesses get on board their floats for yet another successful Santa Parade, creating festive cheer for the onlooking families and children and decorate their trees at The Murihiku Christmas Tree festival - the largest display of Christmas trees in Southland. With an extra special community focus the festival encouraged the community to share their own piece of Christmas magic by voting for their favourite tree and local charity of choice.
“It is just incredible to see the people who volunteer their time to make these free events like the Santa Parade and the Christmas Tree Festival happen for the people of Southland. They are so passionate about delivering events that cater to everybody in the community. It’s great that we can support such positive events for individuals, families and groups to spend time together at Christmas – that’s what it’s all about”, explains Jackie.
But the excitement doesn’t stop there.
One of the most anticipated events of the season is the sold out ILT Christmas Variety Show. For the 22nd year the Christmas Variety Show takes to stage on December 22nd at ILT Stadium Southland. The show’s secret sauce for 2022, is of course, the passionate and talented members of our community. The show this year is entirely produced and performed by local Southlanders, giving it an extra special local ‘buzz’.
Many of the performers are taking to the stage for the first time, giving them the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of a large audience, and start gaining knowledge and experience of the musical theatre industry, right on their back doorstep.
Another chance to showcase talent is at the Invercargill Christmas in the Park - an annual event that creates a friendly, welcoming environment for all ages.
“The concert will be held on the grounds of Queens Park and with having had the event cancelled last year due to Covid restrictions, it is exciting to see this popular and free event make a return for 2022”, says Jackie.
The concert will be showcasing a myriad of Southland's finest talent and will be incorporating several cultural experiences to cater for all. The fun is due to kick off Sunday 18 December around 12pm with a finish time of 6pm.
The Remarkable Christmas Show is another showstopping event where over 100 performers from the local dance studios take part. Held at the Queenstown Events Centre, The Remarkable Christmas show is well known as a fun, successful and family orientated event that caters for both adults and children.
Families enjoying prime entertainment while watching their children having fun and meeting new friends – this is the goal of the season and Community Trust South are excited to be involved in bringing events like this to life this year.