Woombye kids to light way at annual Lantern Parade

Lisa King, Milo Frawley, Hayley Saunders,  Jill Kuramoto, Stephen Marshall and Henriette Scheepers.

THE kids of Woombye will light the way towards Christmas at the annual lantern parade on Thursday, 7 December.

The parade is a laidback, gentle affair suitable for families and others who want to enjoy a Christmas event without craziness and carparking chaos.

Staged by the Woombye Community and Business Association and Bendigo Bank, Woombye, the lantern parade has been part of the countdown to Christmas for locals for 14 years.

Bendigo branch manager Hayley Saunders said everyone was welcome to attend.

“All you have to do is make a lantern but we also have people bring candles,” she said.

The event will begin about 5.30pm with a nativity play at St Margaret’s Church in Woombye’s  Blackall Street.

The lantern parade will follow its usual route along Wakefield, Keil and Park Streets.

Hayley encouraged householders along the route to light up and decorate their homes for the walk past.

The walk finishes at the bank where there will be Christmas carols, cake and lighting up the Christmas Tree before the event wraps up in the early evening, in time for children to be home in bed by 8pm.

The lantern parade will be a prelude to the Christmas on the Field event at the Woombye Snakes football ground on Saturday, 9 December, from 4-9pm.