Geelong’s famous floating Christmas tree will be illuminated next month as part of a free community celebration on November 11.
The family-friendly festivities will commence at Steampacket Quay at 7pm, culminating with a fireworks display at 9pm.
Performers and live entertainment will be announced prior to the event.
Following opening night, the six-minute Floating Christmas Tree Sound and Light Show will be staged each night from 8.30pm until midnight, running every 15 minutes.
Visitors can control the colourful light show in between shows via mobile devices by logging onto a nominated URL.
Family-friendly shows will be staged on Saturdays in December commencing at 5.30pm, to give families and those not wanting to be out after dark the opportunity to enjoy the show at an earlier timeslot.
The light show on the tree will be changed three times, running from November 11 to December 1, December 2 to December 25 and December 26 to January 7.
The tree will also feature in a New Year’s Eve fireworks display.
Mayor Trent Sullivan said Christmas in Geelong is a joyous time of the year.
“No Christmas in Geelong is complete without our Floating Christmas Tree Sound and Light Show down at the Geelong Waterfront. It attracts thousands of visitors from near and far,” he said.
“Once again this year we’ll give one lucky child the opportunity to help Santa light the tree at our opening night celebration.”
Decorating the floating tree is not a simple task, and lighting experts from Geelong company Total Events will spend the week before the opening event testing and programming the LED lights. Total Events has worked on the Christmas lighting display for the last six years.
The full Christmas in Geelong program will be released next month.
More than 297,000 attended last year’s Christmas in Geelong program and there was an economic output of $15 million for the region.
The City consulted closely with local RSLs to ensure there is no impact on Remembrance Day activities which are taking place in Johnstone Park at 11am.
