{"id":174324,"date":"2025-11-14T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=174324"},"modified":"2025-11-13T12:16:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T01:16:04","slug":"get-into-the-christmas-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/get-into-the-christmas-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"Get into the Christmas spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

IT’S no secret Highton sleighs Christmas, and Yule love what’s planned for this year’s festivities.<\/p>\n

The fun begins at Highton Village on December 5 with a Friday evening full of festive cheer.<\/p>\n

The Highton Village Christmas Festival kicks off at 5pm featuring free fairy floss, popcorn and facepainting, buskers and musicians, and a sausage sizzle by What’s for Dinner? and local Rotarians.<\/p>\n

The festival, now in its second year, also includes a free raffle and Christmas school poster competition, with prizes donated by the Highton Village traders, along with visits from Highton Fire Brigade and, of course, Santa.<\/p>\n

And the jolly man in red is set for a very busy December in Highton with three fun family-friendly events coming up.<\/p>\n

Christmas on the Hill runs from 4pm to 7pm on Saturday, December 6 at South Valley Baptist Church with pony rides, a petting farm, a free BBQ and the church’s choir leading the carols.<\/p>\n

Just down the road the very next day, the carols will commence again at Highton’s OneHope Baptist Church.<\/p>\n

OneHope Carols – Barrabool Hills is a free outdoor community event with food and coffee vans, kids’ activities, face painting and live music from the OneHope carols band.<\/p>\n

This event is part of the Christmas in Geelong program and runs from 5.30pm to 8.30pm on Sunday 7 December.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks later on Sunday, December 21, Carols in the Park returns to Highton Reserve featuring beloved local kids band the Mik Maks, Geelong Youth Choir, soulful singer-songwriter Gabby Steel and St John’s Highton’s Meta4 church band.<\/p>\n

It’s good to see this event again become a yearly fixture on Highton’s Christmas calendar after returning last year following a brief hiatus during the covid pandemic.<\/p>\n

As your Barrabool Hills Ward Councillor, I’m thrilled to see such an impressive line-up of Christmas events in Highton and I’m proud that Council is supporting all of these.<\/p>\n

But the local festivities are just a part of a massive, jam-packed Christmas program this year that will have Geelong ready to jingle all the way!<\/p>\n

Celebrations begin with two beloved traditions \u2013 Denis Walter’s Carols by the Bay and the lighting of the Floating Christmas Tree at Steampacket Gardens next Saturday, November 22.<\/p>\n

The Floating Christmas Tree will continue to light up Corio Bay with a six-minute show every 15 minutes between 8.30pm and midnight until January 7.<\/p>\n

New to the program this year is the Christmas Performance Trail, featuring choirs, musicians, dancers and street performers popping up in three locations from November 28 to December 14.<\/p>\n

The CBD will also come alive with projections, window displays and family activities throughout the festive period.<\/p>\n

And for those who want to join in a Christmas singalong in their own backyard, we have local carols happening all across Geelong too.<\/p>\n

So get into the spirit, join in the festivities and discover why Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year in Geelong.<\/p>\n

Plan for the festive season at geelongaustralia.com.au\/christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

Cr Ron Nelson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barrabool Hills Ward, City of Greater Geelong<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IT’S no secret Highton sleighs Christmas, and Yule love what’s planned for this year’s festivities. The fun begins at Highton Village on December 5 with a Friday evening full of festive cheer. The Highton Village Christmas Festival kicks off at 5pm featuring free fairy floss, popcorn and facepainting, buskers and musicians, and a sausage sizzle […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":174618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-174324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGet into the Christmas spirit - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get into the Christmas spirit! 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