By Callum Ludwig
The Warburton Carols by Candlelight event is set to return after a three-year hiatus, hosted by the Warburton Advancement League.
The event will take place on Friday 23 December in the grassed area between the Warburton Holiday Park and Warburton Water World.
Carols organiser Bernie Peeler said past carols in Warburton have held nearly 2000 people.
“It’s always a really nice opportunity for locals to catch up with people right before Christmas, on a nice quiet evening in between all the busyness of Christmas, just to sit down, take in a bit of stillness and just enjoy life,” he said.
“People can bring picnic blankets and food and spread out on the nice grass and enjoy.”
The last Warburton carols held in 2019 were hosted at the Warburton Recreation reserve, with the change of venue aiming to slightly reduce numbers to help with the management of the event.
Mr Peeler said the hope is that the space can become one that is used for more events in future.
“We’re hoping it’ll be a really nice size because we’re thinking the event will be a touch a bit smaller than there’s been in the past, which is a bit what we are aiming for. It’s going to focus more on people from the Valley rather than friends of friends who have come from far away,” he said.
“This will probably be the first event that’s run on the beautiful, big grassy area down there and I think it’s part of the plan to have some entertainment events on.”
Small carol sessions in the past couple of years have been held at the River Valley Church and in the Warburton township in the absence of full-on events.
Mr Peeler said it will be good to reclaim something that has become a bit of an institution of Warburton in the carols.
“Like so many other things, coming back together and the fact that people are able to catch up is really good,” he said.
“People have been thinking ‘Oh, it would be great to get back to our larger venues where we can make a lovely evening of it.”
