By Corey Everitt
Pakenham’s Christmas Carols will be unfortunately missed this year, as unexpected weather rained-out the event and Cardinia Shire Council has explained rescheduling is not possible within the time frame before Christmas.
The weather gods seemed to be slow at picking up the Christmas spirit this year, as they introduced summer with a downpour for the first few days of December.
Alerts went out on Saturday morning 1 December from the council announcing that the annual Christmas Carols were cancelled, due to the wet weather making Toomuc Recreation Reserve not viable for the event.
“Council was disappointed to announce that the 2023 Pakenham Carols by Candlelight event had to be cancelled due to wet weather,“ a council spokesperson said.
“It was a tough decision to make, but with the site waterlogged, everyone’s safety was the priority and we just couldn’t guarantee that if the event was to go ahead. ”
Residents understood the unfortunate circumstances and questions arose as to if it could be rescheduled, unfortunately the council has confirmed the carols are out for the year.
“Rescheduling this event is not possible at short notice as events like this take months to organise and many of the performers are committed to other events,“ the spokesperson said.
The array of services from food, traffic, waste and much more also compound the difficulty in this busy time of year, while the council will still have to engage in the contracts they have committed to for the cancelled carols.
“We encourage residents to visit What’s On Cardinia and participate in other festive events across the Shire,“ the spokesperson said.
“Council will honour any contracts entered into with event suppliers.”
