Carols by Candlelight – a Melbourne institution
When I was growing up in country Western Australia, there was a comforting predictability to Christmas Eve. After we came in from a swim at the town pool, or finished up what we had been doing for the day, we’d have a casual dinner, then settle in front of the TV to watch and listen to Carols by Candlelight from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne while we wrapped up the final presents to go under the tree.
Now the name ‘Sidney Myer Music Bowl’ caused me no end of confusion when I was really young. I don’t think I’d ever seen it written, I’d only ever heard it said…and I could not work out why the presenters kept referring to the city of Melbourne in the background of the broadcast. Surely they meant Sydney?
Eventually I worked it out.
Melbourne’s Carols by Candlelight became something I closely associated with the city itself, a familiar institution which rolled around like clockwork each year. So when I moved to live in Melbourne, I was keen to go along in person.
We’ve been to Carols by Candlelight twice (plus ‘kind of’ been to it on one other occasion…more about that later).
The event itself starts at 8pm on Christmas Eve, but the gates open at 4:30pm, so although it is ticketed (but mostly not reserved) seating, people get there early. On a warm evening it can be a long, sweaty wait. More than 100,000 people squeeze onto the lawn, some with blankets, others with beach chairs. You can stake out a personal-space patch of lawn, and guard it fiercely, only to discover, at 7.55pm, that an entire family has manouvered their way under your knees and have their faces wedged against your armpit. You have to like being up-close and personal with your fellow man to enjoy this event!
Carols by Candlelight has been going since Christmas Eve 1938 when it was first held in Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens and attended by a crowd of 10,000. Its popularity grew, and in 1958 the event moved to the current home at the Sidney Myer Music bowl.
Since 1959 it has been held in association with the the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind (now Vision Australia) and it was first broadcast on TV (initially to Melbourne only) in 1969. It is now seen Australia-wide on Channel Nine. 
You can watch the Channel Nine telecast on big screens at the event itself, which is always good for getting a close-up view of some of the performers.
By the time the performance starts, it is upright seating only on the lawn. And it is still broad daylight (the sun sets around 8:45pm at that time in Melbourne), but everyone dons their Santa hats and lights their candles.
The evening’s line up is usually a mixture of traditional carols, with which the crowd joins in, and Christmas songs. All are led by a number of Australian performers and backed by the Carols by Candlelight Choir.
This years’ hosts are Channel Nine TV personalities, Lisa Wilkinson and David Campbell, and the long list of performers includes: Silvie Paladino, Marina Prior, Tim Campbell, The Cast of Les Miserables, Anthony Callea and Kate Ceberano to name a few. An unusual addition is interior designer, Shaynna Blaze (of The Block fame) who will also be singing.
Santa usually makes an appearance about a third of the way into the performance (which is a good time for littlies to see him on TV, put out their stockings, and then head off to bed).
From memory, the performance concludes around 11pm. So, by the time you pack up and walk back to the car (which you probably, to be honest, parked several suburbs away) it makes it quite a late Christmas Eve. The year we took a 7 year old Impossible Princess, she was struggling to stay awake by the end.
Which brings me to that time we ‘kind of’ went.
It’s not so widely known, but the night before Christmas Eve (i.e. December 23rd) is The Rehearsal Night at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and it is also open to the public, with tickets being sold at the gate.
Entry to the rehearsal costs $15.00 for adults and $7.50 for children (under 16) – which makes it a much cheaper option than the event itself. The gates open at 4pm, and again, the evening finishes around 11pm, but I wouldn’t feel so bad about taking children home earlier if I’d only paid $15 for my adult ticket, compared with the $70 the following night.
Rehearsal night is also a great night, with refreshments and Vision Australia merchandise on sale, and you get to see all the performances in a sneak preview of the show.
As a rehearsal, there will be sound checks and they may repeat some bits, and do it all in a different order to the final performance, but it definitely gives you a sense of what the actual night will be like. And then you can turn around and watch it all again on TV at home the next night!
The Details
- Book tickets for the actual Christmas Eve Event through www.ticketmaster.com.au.
Adult: $180
Concession: $90 General Admission Lawn Seating
Adult: $70
Child (under 16) and Concession: $40
Family Pass (two adults, two children): $180, Children under three admitted free.
Wheelchair: $60
- Buy tickets for The Rehearsal Night by turning up to Gate 1 at Sidney Myer Music bowl. The gates open at 4pm, and the year we went, a queue had already formed by 4pm, but there was plenty of space once you got inside. I can’t vouch for what it’s like nowadays. Entry to the rehearsal costs $15.00 for adults and $7.50 for children (under 16).
- There’s also Live Sites which have entertainment and kid’s activities from 5pm, and from 8pm you can watch the broadcast on large screens at Melbourne’s Federation Square and Brisbane’s Courier Mail Piazza.
- And even if you’re watching the telecast at home while you’re wrapping the pressies, you can still assist the work of Vision Australia by ‘lighting a candle’ at the website.
Have you been to Carols by Candelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl? Is there something similar where you live?
