North Geelong’s own to light up the region for sixth year

A NORTH Geelong-based audio and visual consultant has had to drop half of their full-time workers and all their volunteers over the course of the pandemic but will again provide the region with another spectacular sound and lights show for the popular floating Christmas tree.

Entertainment provider, Total Events, has been lucky enough to stage the city’s floating Christmas tree’s sound and lights show for the past five years and will again have the honour of doing it for a sixth-straight year.

Times have certainly been challenging for Total Events, one where a large majority of workers at the company have had to be let go.

Nevertheless, securing the award to provide the sound and lights show again has created a boost of morale for the local business.

“Prior to the pandemic we employed 12 full-time staff and a pool of around 20 casuals. Now we have six full-time staff and no casuals. It’s been a tough time,” project manager Scott Parker said.

“Getting the contract to light the tree is so important for us because it’s a big project that our whole team can sink their teeth into.”

There is always a sense of pride when producing the show according to Mr Parker, given that he and his team have kept it a local one for now the better half of a decade.

“We’ve held the event in high regard since we first locked in the project six years ago and we know it is a very big centrepiece of the Geelong Christmas program,” Mr Parker said.

“We were the first Geelong company to do the sound and lights show because for the first two years, this show was run by Melbourne companies before we got it in 2016, which as a company we are super proud of keeping it a local product.”

Total Events was awarded the contract back in late September, meaning that the turnaround in beginning preparations has been a quick one, Mr Parker said.

Workers have been hustling to pull together three new Christmas soundtracks, which then needs to be approved by council.

Once the soundtracks are approved, Total Events begins creating the lights show based on those soundtracks.

Amongst all that, gathering gear and preparing the installation will be the final step in producing the show as a whole.

Total Events strives to make each show better than the last, so they have made a few changes to this year’s tree to make that goal evident.

Changes include different lighting fixtures on the inside of the tree and the new digital fence panels to add different effects internally and externally.

Meanwhile, Total Events will also be bringing back the interactive app that allows onlookers to change the effects of the tree from their own phones.

The hashtag for 2021 is #GeelongChristmas. For more information visit geelongaustralia.com.au/christmas.