Geelong’s floating Christmas tree is set to be turned on with a free community celebration on Saturday 12 November.
A lucky local child will get to flick the switch to turn on the iconic tree with Santa.
The community event is back for the first time since 2018, after the celebrations were rained out in 2019 and cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The event has been moved to a Saturday night as a trial to see whether more families and visitors from outside the region will travel for the festivities and boost Geelong’s economy.
Opening night celebrations include a stage show, roving performers and live entertainment.
“Everyone looks forward to the return of the tree to Geelong, but this year’s celebrations will be so much bigger and better now that we can again celebrate together as a community,” mayor Peter Murrihy said.
“This year, we will also see a return of more in-person activities, with the 2022 program being more accessible and held in more venues than ever before. Projections on City Hall will also be turned on the same night.”
Out of 12 finalists on the night, one child will be randomly drawn to flick the switch with Santa. The competition is now open and can be entered at bit.ly/3Ri07Vh.
The light show on the tree will be changed three times, running from 12 November to 2 December, 3 December to 25 December and 26 December to 8 January.
Geelong company Total Events will spend the week before the opening event testing and programming the LED lights.
