Block parties, carols to welcome Hobart festive season

Published on 13 November 2020

Community Christmas carols will have an online presence and retail “Block Parties” will spice up Christmas shopping with music, games and entertainment as Hobart heads into the festive season.

A program of activities to celebrate the lead-up to Christmas will include five Block Parties and four community-led Christmas carols events taking place over four weeks.

The City of Hobart earlier called for expressions of interest from city and suburban retailers to submit their ideas to activate their shopping precincts in the lead-up to Christmas.

The City also called for carols event proposals from the community sector. Both initiatives received grants and in-kind support from the City to help bring life to the city during the festive season.

“We are all looking forward to Christmas and we are thrilled to be able to support these special Christmas festivities,” Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said.

“While these events will be smaller and a little different to what we have seen previously, they will still feature that fabulous community spirit and creativity that we see in Hobart.

“I want to thank all of the people who have worked with our staff to create events in short timeframes and under challenging conditions.”

The first Block Party will be at Battery Point on Saturday 28 November. Running from 11am to 3pm, the event will include demonstrations and displays by local artists, choirs and a dog parade.

Other Block Parties will be held at Hobart Midtown, South Hobart, the K&D building in Hobart, and at Macquarie Point. Further information on each party will be made available on the City of Hobart’s Facebook page.

The City of Hobart is also supporting, through its grants program, four Community Carols events in December, to be held at St Davids Park, West Hobart (two events) and the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens.

“The Community Carols program has become a staple of the festive season in Hobart,” Cr Reynolds said.

“We know this year has been a little more difficult to organise community events, but we are thrilled to be able to support four Community Carols events – one of which will be a multi-location interactive event in West Hobart, with residents encouraged to decorate their driveways and join in from home.

“The Botanic Gardens carols will feature a big band and will be livestreamed to make sure everyone is able to attend, even with restrictions on crowd size.”

In addition, the Mawson Place Christmas tree will be installed and lit next week and pop-up and roving festive entertainment will be a feature for city shoppers every weekend from 21 November until Christmas Eve.

CITY OF HOBART FESTIVE SEASON EVENTS PROGRAM

Block Parties:

Sat 28 Nov      11am-3pm      Waterloo Cres, Battery Point

Sat 5 Dec        3pm-7pm        Elizabeth St, Midtown

Sat 12 Dec      10am-2pm      Cnr Bathurst and Brisbane sts, Hobart

                         4pm-8pm        Elboden St, South Hobart                        

Sun 13 Dec     11am-3pm      Evans St, Macquarie Point

Community Carols:

Sun 6 Dec       10am-noon      Family Carols Festival, St Davids Park Hobart

Fri 11 Dec       6pm                 West Hobart Carols, various locations

Sat 12 Dec      6pm                 Carols on the Hill, Guilford Young College West Hobart

Sat 19 Dec      7.30pm            Big Band Carols Under the Stars, Botanic Gardens