Calling all Christmas helpers

Lets keep the Christmas spirit in Maleny going

Diane, Scarlett and Dawn enjoying the 2017 festival

A Christmas festival has been held in Maleny for at least 75 years. For the past decade Maleny Commerce has hosted the annual event in Maple Street, held on the last day of the school year on a Friday night.

For the past few years much of the work has been coordinated by the very dedicated Karen Shaw from Forest Heart Nursery, who has worked with a small group of dedicated community volunteers and Christmas lovers to bring the festival to life.

Karen said she really loved the street party atmosphere of the event, the thrill of closing the main street, showcasing the local musicians and dancers, and the fun of being able to catch up and relax with friends and neighbours.

Maleny Commerce president Nicole Hilton said that Karen had done a wonderful job in creating a truly unique community celebration. Sadly for the chamber, Karen has decided that it is time to pass the baton to other enthusiastic community members.

Nicole said to ensure this important community event continued, the chamber had recently called a meeting of all the major service groups and clubs in Maleny to discuss the idea of sharing the tasks of coordinating the Christmas festival between the groups.

“Fortunately, as Karen has put together a comprehensive task list and instructions/ directions for what the job entails, these will be a great asset to the future organiser/s,” Nicole said.

“I’m really pleased to say that both our local Lions and Rotary clubs have already committed to getting involved and we are now keen to spread the net wider to see if there is anyone else in the community who would be happy to volunteer their time to keep this community tradition alive.

“The hard reality is that the event won’t be able to continue without additional volunteers putting up their hands to help,” Nicole said.

If you are interested in finding out more or coming to the next meeting please contact info@malenycommerce.org.au.