Santa and The Space Cowboy back for Bangalow Christmas Eve Carnival

SANTA and The Space Cowboy will return to Bangalow Showground for the town’s annual Christmas Eve Carnival in 2025.

Event coordinator Chris Hayward, from Bangalow Lions Club, said Santa would arrive by fire engine and hand out free ice-blocks and lollies to children. The event will also feature face painting, tie-dye making and stilt walkers.

Multidisciplinary artist Chayne Hultgren, known as The Space Cowboy, will entertain crowds with his trademark sideshow stunts.

Fascinated by the Guinness Book of World Records as a child, Hultgren began busking at the Byron Bay Markets at just eight years old, riding a unicycle, juggling and performing magic tricks. He has since performed as The Space Cowboy in more than 40 countries and broken 56 Guinness World Records.

Among his feats are standing barefoot on a one-million-volt Tesla Coil to create the longest lightning bolt from human skin, catching the most speeding arrows bare-handed while blindfolded, and juggling chainsaws on a tall unicycle.

Bangalow Lions Club will also run a bar and barbecue at the carnival, with funds raised going back into the local community. The evening will conclude with a fireworks display between 7.30pm and 8pm.

Bangalow’s Christmas Eve celebration has been held in various forms since the 1950s. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the town’s main street was closed for the event. After the Chamber of Commerce disbanded, Bangalow Lions Club took over its organisation and moved it to the Showground due to factors such as parking, permits and insurance.

“It’s a beautiful setting there,” Hayward said.

“It’s safe, kids can have a ball on the oval. Everything is centralised and it just creates a family atmosphere.”

The Bangalow Christmas Eve Carnival will be held at Bangalow Showground on December 24 from 4pm to 8pm.