Christmas in Geelong to receive creative boost

CHRISTMAS in Geelong will be bigger and better than ever this year, with the City of Greater Geelong committing to strengthening its festive program.

The council recently voted to support a notice of motion from Cr Eddy Kontelj, which aims to increase the Christmas in Geelong program’s positive influence on the community and local economy over the next four years.

In his notice of motion, Cr Kontelj said a report presented to the council in May 2018 showed that 164,872 people viewed the floating Christmas tree on the waterfront during the 2017-18 Christmas period.

During that same period, the Christmas in Geelong program injected an estimated $17.3 million into the local economy.

As part of the commitment, the city will appoint a creative director to help shape the program.

A proposal will then be developed with ideas on how to enhance the program, with the chief executive officer to report back to council on the proposal (including a business case) by no later than March.

A total of $50,000 has been allocated towards the role from the 2019-20 financial year.

Cr Kontelj said since the Christmas program had wrapped up, now was the perfect time to review the Christmas activities and develop new ideas to be considered in future budgets.

“We can do more to improve the Christmas in Geelong program, which will in turn engage a broader portion of the community and continue to stimulate our local economy.

“The program has significant potential, particularly in terms of stimulating the local economy, generating community pride and building on our reputation of being the Christmas City. It’s time to be adventurous.”