General News
3 December, 2021
Lights Are On For Christmas On The Esplanade
CAIRNS is feeling the holiday spirit now that the Christmas tree lights are turned on after the switch-on event on December 1 to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season.
The event catered for families began at 4:30 pm; it counted with the presence of the Queensland Youth Orchestra Big Band, FNQ Dance Academy, Cairns Young Voices, and a Santa Claus meet and greet.
Cr Kristy Vallely visited the tree on November 30 with Mrs Claus and her elf to celebrate the beginning of the holidays.
“I’m very excited, we’ll have three hours of events, performers, the Queensland Youth Orchestra, and we’re lightning up the tree at 7,” she said.
“The tree is ten meters tall; it has 8,000 LED lights on it, and the theme is reef and rainforest. We’ve also got some gorgeous trees the local schools have made, and they’ll be all along the promenade.”
This year, the newest addition is the Palm Tree Alley, which includes 30 colourful trees installed along the Esplanade promenade.
Mayor Bob Manning said talented students from schools across the city decorated the trees.
“A few months ago, we invited schools to have students decorate these trees to be part of the city’s festive celebrations,” Cr Manning said. “
The result has been spectacular; we have some wonderfully unique decorations that really reflect that we love Cairns.”
For Cr Vallely, it’s important to keep this Christmas community tradition alive.
“This is my favourite time of the year. I think that the lightning of the tree is a lovely tradition for us all to get together, enjoy this beautiful time of the year and come together as a community,” Cr Vallely said.
